Cheap Chinese Diesel Heater Stopped Working

The heater worked for 1 day. Then it stopped working.

2 days after installation we noticed that the fan had switched itself on and the heater was blowing cold air, as if it was in ‘cool down’ mode after it was switched off.

Pressing all the buttons on the control panel did nothing. Disconnecting the control panel did nothing. Driving fast over speed bumps did nothing.
It wouldn’t turn on or do anything other than blow cold air. In the end I had to disconnect the power to turn it off 😢 as the girlfriend got cold.

After many hours of googling and throwing tantrums I gave up and slept spooning the girlfriend to keep her warm.

There is a facebook group for these heaters: Chinese Diesel vehicle air heaters – Troubleshooting & Parts where I’d asked for advice. In the morning when I woke up cold and shivering I checked my phone, and someone had replied to my post suggesting it was a faulty overheat sensor, and that I should check the wiring.

So I took apart the heater and started pressing random wires and connections. Every now and then I’d get a curious elderly person stop and check it out, as we were parked near some nice touristy waterfalls.

After much prodding I found her special spot – pressing on one of the connections to the temperature sensor made the fan stop and the heater behave normally!!

So all I had to do was take out the sensor and solder the connection.

Luckily I had a 12V soldering iron and solder with me, as I was planning on installing more lights 🙂

After making the proper connection I put everything back together, and it worked again 😁👍🏽😁👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽😁🙂

Tonight we will be warm.