Diesel Heater Servicing Review- HEATPORT

It's been a few years since David wrote his one & only blog post for me (a Takacat dinghy review) but he has now written another review for my blog.

We have been living full time on the road in our fifth-wheeler for over 10 years now and after spending the last five out of six winters in the South Island we have never regretted our original decision to run with diesel heating. Here’s our blog on the original diesel heater installation.

Lake Ruataniwha, Mackenzie Country

As many of you will know, my wife Shellie is a very passionate photographer and adores the Mackenzie District especially during winter with the incredible hoar frosts and snow falls amongst other things. Also, with us now having an interest in Twizel (Night Sky Cottages) it has meant spending more time there and our heaters were very often working overtime during the many days & nights of sub-zero temperatures. 

The heaters (we have two 2.2kw heaters) were starting to show signs of excessive smoking at start up and servicing was well overdue. Although I consider I am reasonably handy and certainly quite capable of removing the heaters from their locations, I was reluctant to strip them down for servicing even after watching several very informative You Tube clips. 

Another surprise I found out after doing quite a bit of research on the internet was that some parts were indicated to be in short supply for our model heaters mainly due to shipping delays and the current low stock levels held in New Zealand. 

During this research I came across a company called HEATPORT who specialised in diesel heaters. They are located in Cheviot, North Canterbury and as we had a trip to Christchurch planned I decided to extend our travel and visit their operation. And I was very glad I did.

Although located off the beaten track, I was immediately impressed the moment I entered HEATPORT’s factory and the photos included in this blog post should clearly endorse my first impressions. 

Also, after talking to the owner, Pango, and his serviceman Tomas, it was obvious that their knowledge for diesel heaters was extensive and that they were very enthusiastic for what they were doing. Consequently I had no hesitation in booking my two heater units in for a thorough service.

Tomas & Pango with friendly dog Sarah

We based ourselves just up the road at the NZMCA Park at Parnassus and it was arranged to take one heater at a time to them over the next couple of days which at least left us with one heater to deal with the cooler nights. 

NZMCA Park, Parnassus, North Canterbury

Part of their recommended service plan is to firstly do a full heater diagnosis to analyse the heater’s overall condition followed by a visual inspection and also to test the pump for the correct flow. The results showed most things were working fine but both the heat chambers were quite badly contaminated. By far the cheapest option was to replace the parts. One heater was also found to have a damaged glow plug assembly which was probably caused by some poor servicing in the past. This also needed replacement.

After servicing I reinstalled both units back into our van and they are back to working just fine. 

Letitia testing heaters

Finally there is certainly a lot of varying views expressed on social media forums regarding diesel heaters and spare parts that are manufactured in China. I for one, was very sceptical to begin with, but I was very well satisfied that HEATPORT are being diligent and very selective in only using the best products from the top manufacturers out of China.

Tomas at work

All in all I am very happy, also impressed with the lower costs involved and certainly have no hesitation in recommending this company.  

HEATPORT show room

Heat, Glorious Heat

This down time we've had in Tauranga has had a few benefits; David has been able to carefully research a few things that need to be done on the fifth-wheeler & ute before we are back on the road. First up and most importantly (after spending a cold night at Lake Okareka) was the heating system in the van for when we are off the grid.

The two choices were LPG or diesel. One of our concerns with LPG was the effect very low temperatures can have on the bottled gas & also we would be putting all our eggs into one basket by relying on one energy source for cooking, hot water & heating. On the other hand, diesel offered a considerably lower running cost albeit a more expensive installation & especially now that we have elected to run with two smaller units instead of one big unit.  After a lot of thought & discussion we now have two  Eberspacher Airtronic D2 (2.2KW )diesel heaters fitted.

Underneath inlet & exhaust installation

One has gone under the stove & vents out under the fridge to heat the galley & lounge area & the other is located in a below floor compartment under a side cabinet in the bedroom.

It vents out through the shoe storage box which forms the step up to the bed. We have lost a small amount of storage space but gained a drying container for the shoes from the small amount of transferred heat as it passes through the hose to the vent.  But best of all, we can use the shower box as a drying room by opening the door & directing the vent straight in there. In the future we may need to add a flexible hose to the vent & run that into the shower depending on how quickly things dry.

The heaters run independently so we only need to use them as & where we need the heat. There's a small amount of noise in the initial start up but nothing compared to the heater on the air conditioning unit when that is on and once the heater has reached temperature they are very quite.

The only area of concern for me so far is the small ticking noise as the diesel is pumped through, it's hardly heard when you're up and about in the van but I think you will be able to hear it in the dead of the night if the heater is running. Like a rain drip.......drip.......drip...... Maybe it'll put me to sleep, who knows but it'll be a small price to pay to have glorious warmth on tap! Especially next winter. Down south.

There is no noticeable diesel smell outside & again just a small amount of noise that drops right off once the temperature has been reached. A 20lt tank has been installed into one of the outside forward side storage cabinets & this can easily be filled each time we fill the ute.