Mrs T Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Now that I am not able to be mobile we have sold our Rapido 987M so Mr T is thinking of a VW T5 for himself. As advertised they have diesel heating. We have heard that its noisy in some other MH's. does any one have a T5 the same and can make a comment? Mrs T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I've used Volkswagen campers fitted with diesel blown air heating for over ten years. During that period they have been two T4s and two T5s. Yes you have been told correctly, they do make a noise. How much noise is very dependant on how they have been fitted, all can be fitted with both exhaust and inlet silencers to the combustion air circuit. The heating air tubes do transmit noise and again depends on the fitting, little can be done to alter this except for fitting outer insulation to the tubes if they are of sufficient length to do that. If you are looking at an after market fitting then there are a number of choices for the location of the heater. My personal choice is under floor where VW fit the OEM unit with heating air inlet in the right front door step and outlet plumbed to blow out under either front seat. Which seat depends on what else the builder wished to fit under the seats. VW do offer a factory fitted heater in the location as described above. 2003 - 2009 models were fitted with a Webasto 3500 Airtop whilst the later 'Facelift' models have an Eberspacher unit of similar output again in the same place. The downside of the factory fitment is that it blows hot air out from the bottom of the right 'B' post (the base of the right body upright behind the door). This is not ideal if the vehicle is constructed with the kitchen furniture fitted down the right side of the vehicle. Your best course of action is to test a vehicle in as near a campsite location as possible. Start the heater up from cold when parked and hear exactly what the noise level is. At this point you will almost certainly say it is too noisy! Be patient and wait for the initial boost heating to subside and then asses the sound level when the heater has settled down to modulate at the required working temperature. With regard to fuel consumption it is minimal in all but extreme cold conditions. Electricity consumption is a thing to consider, there is a drain on the leisure battery which must be considered especially if the heater is to be used over night. I have two 100Ah leisure batteries fitted to enable successful use of both the heater and a compressor fridge. There is good information available on the use and technicalities of these heaters from both the Webasto and Eberspacher websites should you require it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecmhetalktalk.net Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Came across this whilst looking for info on factory fitted VW T5 heater timers for somebody I know. To give you some background I am a Webasto trained sales & service dealership, though marine not RV. Marine and RV heaters, unlike standard vehicle ones are the same so can probably give some useful advice, with the RV installation they are a little noisy though not massively so but if you fit a marine silencer it will reduce that significantly to a level acceptable to those around you. Now to the actual air duct noise, lagging it will not help except that it will improve heat output if the duct runs are long, what is needed if the noise is unacceptable is a process air silencer which fits between the heater and duct, that will reduce the noise. That's how I do it on boats, including my own and it reduces the noise level to the extent you can go to bed with it on quite comfortably. Unfortunately it does come at a cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 ecmhe@talktalk.net - 2013-03-09 6:10 PM Came across this whilst looking for info on factory fitted VW T5 heater timers for somebody I know. To give you some background I am a Webasto trained sales & service dealership, though marine not RV. Marine and RV heaters, unlike standard vehicle ones are the same so can probably give some useful advice, with the RV installation they are a little noisy though not massively so but if you fit a marine silencer it will reduce that significantly to a level acceptable to those around you. Now to the actual air duct noise, lagging it will not help except that it will improve heat output if the duct runs are long, what is needed if the noise is unacceptable is a process air silencer which fits between the heater and duct, that will reduce the noise. That's how I do it on boats, including my own and it reduces the noise level to the extent you can go to bed with it on quite comfortably. Unfortunately it does come at a cost. No disagreement with any of the above however the space under a T5 is so limited it would be difficult to fit a silencer in the heating air duct. One on the combustion air inlet is a possibility. This poster may like to look on my website at http://www.vwbooks.co.uk/t5.htm for some links to details of T5 Webasto & Eberspacher installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecmhetalktalk.net Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Looking at the T5 specific photo's on the webasto dealer potal there is ample room for both a marine silencer in the exhaust line and a process air silencer in the duct, though the air silencer would need to be inside the vehicle. The documents reproduced in your link confirm it, also they show a combustion air intake silencer tube already fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 We currently have a Webasto Air Top blown-air diesel heater and also a Truma Trumatic LPG heater all plumbed into the same distribution system. When asked to provide the same sort of heat output they are both about as noisy as one another inside the truck - but the diesel heater is noisier outside. I fitted a standard RV silencer and also rubber mounted the supply pump. Both these are fundamental to installation in my view and mean we ourselves are not disturbed at all whilst inside. We don't camp on sites but if we did I'd be a bit embarrassed running the diesel heater in close proximity to other people. The Webasto does not modulate well and though the heater is very good at bringing the truck up to temperature the 'constant modulation' feature is not very good at maintaining a set temperature (yes I wired in the remote room-mounted temperature sensor). The LPG system is way more capable in this regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 ecmhe@talktalk.net - 2013-03-09 6:38 PM Looking at the T5 specific photo's on the webasto dealer potal there is ample room for both a marine silencer in the exhaust line and a process air silencer in the duct, though the air silencer would need to be inside the vehicle. The documents reproduced in your link confirm it, also they show a combustion air intake silencer tube already fitted. Yes, I have an exhaust silencer fitted, I think Autosleepers fit two in series. It was the air silencer that I reffered to when commenting about the space available. Unfortunately if the air pipe is brought out under a seat it curves through 90 degrees and immediately exits to the habitation area via a standard rotatable outlet. Do you have a picture and dimensions of the air silencer? If so would you be kind anough to post it on here or email me direct then maybe I can try to incorporate one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecmhetalktalk.net Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I will see if I can dig out the drawings for you, what sized process air duct are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Thanks, I am on 75mm ducting, tried 60mm but the route was too long causing the heater to trip out on over heat. My duct runs from the heater in the standard VW position to under the left front seat via a 'tunnel' between the exhaust shield and the floor. The 'tunnel was created by cutting the shield and pop riveting a half round aluminium part and it into the cut-out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecmhetalktalk.net Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Sorry for being so long getting back, my business has been going mad with work, shouldn't complain really. Can't find a drawing anywhere, in fact not even available from Webasto, the thing is listed as a part and I have fitted them but can't find dimensional details anywhere. When I do another I will take a photo and mark the dimensions and file it away with my manuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 We use to have Webasto & Eberspacher diesel heaters in our trucks, all you could hear was a low hum, a bit louder outside where the exhaust was but nothing really annoying to others. They were quite warm. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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