Camper heater replacement?

[exMember]

It took a dump again it seems. First the heater burner went out, replaced that with a custom one, then the valve went out, replaced that with a 43 year old new old stock and today, its not working again :evil:  Never had one year without trouble with this thing. The camper was made in 1974, but this heater has more $$$ into it than its worth and not reliable from one trip to the next.

Im looking at this to put in place of the old heater. I have a mr.buddy heater without the fan and it did a good job when the heater first went out, but much to small. The camper is under 300 sq ft. 26 or 28 footer.

This one comes with a fan, And I thought about building a cover to hook up the 2 heater ducts to it. If not, the cabinet door has a nice big screen opening for it to blow through. I can even hook up some 12 volt fans to push it a little more if needed.

This is 30,000 btu, has the fan and will do 1000 sq ft.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mr-Heater-30-000-BTU-Natural-Gas-Blue-Flame-Heater-F255539-MHVFB30TBNG-/152243072707?epid=127493468&hash=item237264eec3<img class="emojione" alt="Ⓜ" title=":m:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/24c2.png?v=2.2.7"/>mJxV8yWOZJijh3sXxU_I_2Q

 

[Marty1]

My indoor propane stove throws 22,000 BTU's.  30,000 should be plenty for 300 s.f.

 

[patocazador]

I had a cab-over camper in the back of my truck and it had a propane powered catalytic heater that took up almost no room. It hung on the wall and only stuck out about 3". It kept my wife and I toasty warm at 10,000' while elk and moose hunting in Wyoming.

 

[exMember]

On a good note, we went back out during the night and tried it again. WORKED  perfect! We think it was still to warm in the camper and the thermostat wouldnt allow it to turn on just yet. Let it run on pilot all night and tried it again tonight, working fine.

Will have to build a better exhaust system tomorrow however, The factory lets it out to close to the side of the camper and it gets hot. Just make a little shield to direct the heat away from the siding a bit.

whew! Its good to see there are replacement options out there. Just hate having to deal with this old stuff unless its needed.

 

[BrownBear]

Wish I could provide the details, but a friend in Montana has a hobby that would interest you. He buys old travel trailers and fully restores them for sale as classics.  The detail I can't remember is where he gets replacement parts. I recall that there are several places in the Northeast that deal in used RV parts.  Googling might send you down the right path if you need anything more for your work.

 

[Buck Conner1]

I've use a floor model heater made by these folks for by garage, works fine other than being a gas eater.

 

[Buck Conner1]

Wish I could provide the details, but a friend in Montana has a hobby that would interest you. He buys old travel trailers and fully restores them for sale as classics.  The detail I can't remember is where he gets replacement parts. I recall that there are several places in the Northeast that deal in used RV parts.  Googling might send you down the right path if you need anything more for your work.

I have a friend outside St. Louis that buys, rebuilds and sells old Airstream trailers. The Air Stream travel trailers are pretty neat units with all there ahead of their time designs. I would buy one and probably never use it, not much of a traveler anymore after being on the road for the phone company for 30 years. Other than that, I really enjoy looking at some of the older trailer and the cool ideas they had for their construction and how an item had several functions.

 

[BrownBear]

You'd laugh at my bud.  He recently found the Holy Grail of used travel trailers.  It had been stored up on blocks in a Montana barn for over 60 years. Beneath all the dust it appears unused. Still has the plastic covers on the seats and mattress and the little casting nubbins on the tires. 

He's proud as punch to own it now, but there's a problem.  There's absolutely nothing he can do to it!

 

[exMember]

Well, the two 40 gallon propane tanks were filled up today. Run $45 for 70lbs! Not bad at all. One less thing on the To do list. Now tomorrow to de-winterize it.

 

[BrownBear]

...two 40 gallon propane tanks.... $45 for 70lbs....

Man, that just a little short of what we pay to fill a single 40# bottle.... Welcome to Alaska! 

 

[exMember]

We made the little deflector shield today. Just took a aluminum square tube and a body shaping hammer from body work days, and carefully folded it, drilled the mounting holes and trimmed off what wasn't needed. The heat rises, hits the shield and goes outward, away from the camper now. One less thing to worry about!