While taking the camper to Bendigo recently for a gas conversion early in the morning, I discovered that the previous owners had disconnected the heater hoses, making for a VERY cold drive early in the morning!
So the first job I did when I got the Beddie back with its new LPG conversion (runs better on gas than it runs on petrol!) was to investigate the heater issue. I assumed the hoses must have been cut due to a leaking core, so I removed the whole unit and tested the core using mains pressure. Perfect. The tap was a bit suspect, and also had been fitted incorrectly, meaning it never actually turned off, so I assume the hoses were removed simply to stop the cabin from getting hot.
However, I also noticed that the fan was very noisy, and that the heater core was clogged with butterfly wings, grass seeds, locusts, and everything else that had disappeared up the intake since 1973!
The stray wildlife issue I cured by simply fitting a fly-screen grille to the air intake before refitting the whole unit. Simple. Effective. Photo below.
The noisy fan turned out to be the fact that the air intake housing had distorted over the past 38 years, meaning that the outer ring of the fan blades contacted the housing. I first thought I'd rotate the three mounts for the fan motor so it pushed the housing out to the right shape, but settled for a much easier fix which will last forever. Just a bit of scrap aluminium tubing (I removed the old analogue TV aerial from the house, which gave me plenty of aluminium tubing!) cut to size with a slot, which was pushed into place inside the housing to spread the collapsing top and bottom, and simply held in place with a dob of silicone to hold it in place.
Plus a few drops of machine oil in the oiler at the back of the motor...
Works a treat! Great air volume, great heat, and nice and quiet!
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