Any body used a portable mini heater up front for supplimental heat ?any luck?

I have seen several compact mini heaters that are dash mount or underdash mount on ebay.They plug into your cigarette lighter and have a small internal fan.I was thinking of picking one up as we all know in the winter months the vw heat system takes a while to get warm.Im not expecting amazaing results or anything just something to knock off the chill until the motor warms up.
Thanks

maybe something like this? http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/usa-made-12-volt-ducted-heater.html

or look into big rig cabin heaters...

I think your just going to run into a prob of getting enough juice from your generator to create any real heat.

a much smaller unit,plugs into cig lighter.just something to use with the factory heat

I tried using something similar to this: http://www.air-n-water.com/product/401060.htm?utm_source=pricegrabber&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_term=Koolatron&utm_campaign=SpaceHeater&utm_content=401060&ver=wide

I found it at Walmart for $5 and just got it to see if it would be any good. Plus, you can't beat $5.  But, it didn't produce any noticeable change in temp.

Some of the guys up here in Chatt town area use the small Mr. Buddy heaters that have the carbon monoxide sensors for their pre heat ups. Have them mounted in the back and fire them up before going any where, then leave them on while driving.
They say that it is a big help.
I always just bit the bullet and redid the heater assemblys in the buses I have owned. It will never get hot, but was always enough to defrost the windows and get it luke warm in the bus.
I had always though that a partition in between the front and back (removable like on the splitties) would be a good improvement for someone who is driving their bus as a daily in the winter.
You could make it out of lexan and make it removable so you could still see what was going on behind you.
Just my $0.02.
KC

They are only good when. You put it close to you and holding it close to the window you want to defrost. Personally I redesign the heat system you can do it for under 50-60 dollars.

zabo wrote:maybe something like this? http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/usa-made-12-volt-ducted-heater.html

Anybody know of someone that has used one if these before? Any reviews?

I like my buddy heater when we go camping and I have used it in the bus going down the road also.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200395499_200395499

There's an ad for vw heaters in hot vw's. I forget the link though. Maybe if someone can find it or I can find it later.

Gabass wrote:There's an ad for vw heaters in hot vw's. I forget the link though. Maybe if someone can find it or I can find it later.

I think this is it: http://www.vwheaters.com

Yeah, that's it. Might not be the best option but it seems like it would work and not take much room.

There is a pretty good write up on how to put that kit together from a boat store.
There are reviews of the various fans, (Bilge fans), and testimonies of how they work and for how long.
They are PVC housings, so if placed too close to the heat exchanger, they will melt and deform.
There are some suggestions on how to mount to find that sweet spot so that they are close enough to the HE to pull the hot air, but far enough away to not melt the housings.
I always wondered why no one offered a metal housing.
It seems the motors can handle the heat, but the housings usually deform and lock down the impeller, and burn up the motor.
Search the samba under the Bay Window forum, I read extensively about it when I was contemplating one for my bay.

I have a better solution, but the parts are kinda hard to source...
I have a blower from a 1972 Z600 Honda Car that was air cooled, all metal housing, 12V, and has a size and angle that would allow installation under the belly pan right where the dash / defrost pipe elbow is.
Shown here: http://estore.honda.com/honda/parts/view-honda-parts-catalog-detail.asp?m=1972-z600-coupe-2-4mt&sn=&b=B++1101&dl=

I have kept it Just in case I ever got a bus to keep, but I have never found just the right bus to keep (I have had 8 of them...LOL.)
Pipes going in and out are also just right...
KC

ASBug wrote:There is a pretty good write up on how to put that kit together from a boat store.
There are reviews of the various fans, (Bilge fans), and testimonies of how they work and for how long.
They are PVC housings, so if placed too close to the heat exchanger, they will melt and deform.
There are some suggestions on how to mount to find that sweet spot so that they are close enough to the HE to pull the hot air, but far enough away to not melt the housings.
I always wondered why no one offered a metal housing.
It seems the motors can handle the heat, but the housings usually deform and lock down the impeller, and burn up the motor.
Search the samba under the Bay Window forum, I read extensively about it when I was contemplating one for my bay.

Rich just did this conversion in his 63. He said it works great!

I've always thought about using an RV propane furnace. I have two laying around. They are relatively small, but my only worry is that it's ment to heat up a 30ft RV, not a small vw, so id imagine it would be an insane overkill even on low, lol.  It would be pretty easy to instal a small propane regulator for use with a small bottle.  If I have time I might try it out and get back to y'all.

Someone mentioned a semi truck heater.  you might could use an espar heater if u can get one cheap.  shouldn't be too hard from a wrecked truck, but I'm not sure if they can also run off gas instead of diesel.  

My semi truck is a company truck and we weren't allowed to use an inverter, so I took a 1000 watt inverter and took 2ga jumper cables and cut the ends off one end and attached to the inverter, that way I could hook the inverter to the batteries with the jumper cable ends.  Anyhoo last year I used it to power a 1500 watt heater (only 750 watts on low), and was plenty of heat for my bug.  This worked out great because nothing was installed permanently.  And I didn't have any electrical issues.  Just don't leave the heater or inverter on overnight, lol.

I can get a hold of some battery separators so that you could add another battery. It lets the main battery charge and when its full it will let the second battery charge. The second battery will discharge without affecting the main battery. I plan on adding a second battery to power a radio and heated seats eventually.

I kno camping world sells battery isolators, but amazon prolly has it cheaper. Pretty much every Motorhome has one. IIRC I think orilies carries them too.

Works Great