Has anyone fitted a Webasto heater to a Bingo?

[Ultrawomble]

Should be replacing our EV2 Citroen C8 in the early New Year with a K9 Bingo. Now one of the things I will be looking to do is fit a Webasto ( or similar) pre-heater to the car for winter months.
Seriously, its like night and day being able to flick it on 10 to 15 mins before you want to set off and getting into a fully defrosted warm car rather than fannying about with hot water, di-icer and the blower going full chat.
Also useful if you overnight in your car for whatever reason.

The C8 already has one of these fitted which makes warm up and defrosting on cold mornings a doddle on something as big as it is with so much glass. Ive searched the internet though and not seen anyone fitting one to a Berlingo, let alone one of the newer K9 variants and just wondered if anyone on the forum already had one fitted either professionally or DIY and how / where they had it fitted.

[torle]

Hi

I fitted an Ebar in a 2012 Berlingo for some years ago.

I most have used this deskription, in German...

[boop]

I was looking at block heaters. Apparently the K9 1.5 BlueHDI only has an option for oil pan heater not a coolant heater. Plus a cabin heater, of course.

K9 has a heat pump so it starts blowing warm air immediately when the engine is running, regardless the engine temperature.

[Ultrawomble]

I fitted an Ebar in a 2012 Berlingo for some years ago.

Thank you - thats quite interesting.

I was looking at block heaters. Apparently the K9 1.5 BlueHDI only has an option for oil pan heater not a coolant heater. Plus a cabin heater, of course.

K9 has a heat pump so it starts blowing warm air immediately when the engine is running, regardless the engine temperature.

I think you may have been looking at the same system that I have - the Defa 220v system? I didnt know about the heat pump on the K9 DV5 - ive looked over all the litarature I have and none of it mentions this at all.  Is this a UK spec one or one for a cooler climate country such as Scandinavia?

The Defa system looks quite good and fairly inexpensive compared with the Webasto type set ups ( and Im afraid I dont much fancy sacrificing boot space for one of those Chinese Webasto clone petrol heaters. And aside from feeding a 220v armoured cable through the bulkhead (25mm) the installation is easy.



In the main its for defrosting the car rather than economical running that I want the heater set up - the car is my wifes main mode of transport and used for her business ( Child care) so she cant leave it running in the driveway to heat up. A 220v heater on a timer or internal switch means that she can defrost the car from within the house and have a warm cabin when she sets off. In the UK its not many days of the year we need it, but the C8 has been frozen solid on too many times over the last 14 years and this freezes shut the rear sliding doors causing the motors to trip out and shut down for safety.

The oil pan heater seems to max out at 40c so Im not really sure if there is much benefit to fitting one.

[boop]

Yes, it may be regional but who knows. I have the automatic climate control. I didn't see a heat pump mentioned anywhere either but it starts blowing warm air in freezing temperatures immediately, so it cannot be a coolant based solution.

I think I looked at both heaters, Calix and Defa.

[Ultrawomble]

it starts blowing warm air in freezing temperatures immediately, so it cannot be a coolant based solution.

The Calix system seems to be very difficult to get a hold of in the UK - there are more suppliers of the Defra set up willing to sell to the UK I also like the fact the Defra heater in the cab appears much slimmer and less obtrusive. Price wise they seem broadly similar.

There are a couple of factory fit warm air systems - one is similar to the Webasto that burns fuel and another (also Webasto) uses a glow plug in the blower circuit to provide warm air - Ive not really been able to find out if PSA use either ( though your experience suggests they use one or the other) Our C8 has one of the PSA diesel based heaters but its not worked for many years having succumbed to road salt and water. Its also buried in the depths of the back of the engine, so very difficult to get to.


If Im honest it didnt make a huge difference even when working.

[boop]

I need to correct myself here: according to the dealer the K9 has an electric interior heater, 3kW.

[Sol]

I need to correct myself here: according to the dealer the K9 has an electric interior heater, 3kW.

As does the B9. It comes on with the mirror heating / rear screen demister button when the air & coolant temps are low enough.

[boop]

Still, I wonder why there's no coolant heater option. What's so much different in the construction of the 1.5 BlueHDi that the's no chance of installing one for coolant. It's possible with Webasto equipped engines but that would be overkill.

[Sol]

The M59 had the coolant version, using two glow plugs in a block that the water flowed through. But they were prone to frying the wiring from sticking on.