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NIGHT HEATERS

14th June 2001, Page 35
14th June 2001
Page 35
Page 35, 14th June 2001 — NIGHT HEATERS
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IN independently fuelled air heaters warm the cab when the vehicle engme is switched off They typically cost around £600. The latest models from Eberspacher and Webasto have been made more compact, and are designed for easy installation and maintenance. Eberspacher's Airtronic range, for example, can be maintained without removing the unit from the truck.

Noise levels are also lower—older models of cab heater switch themselves on and off during the night depending on the temperature, and this can disturb sleep patterns. More precise electronic controls reduce this problem. The control unit on Webasto Air Top units, for example, does not suddenly switch to a lower capacity when the preset temperature is reached, but shuts down gradually to prevent abrupt changes in the noise level.

There are three Air Top models: the 2000, 3500 and 5000, with outputs of 2kW, 3.bkW and 5.5kW respectively The Air Top 5000 has a booster stage which switches on automatically when the temperature falls below VC and increases its capacity for a maximum of 30 minutes.

Air Top units use Webasto's patented Ferro-Tec burner system which eliminates soot deposits—a major cause of reliability problems, according to the company Distribution and vaporisation of the fuel take place in a twostage sintered-metal burner. The glow plug and flamer detector are combined in a single component. An electric current flows through the tungsten filament; the filament is enclosed by a ceramc sheath which heats up the glow plug. Once the pre-heating phase is complete the filament functions as a flame detector, informing the control unit that the start procedure is complete and the flame is burning.

Eberspacher's latest Airtronic has two capacities: the D2 2.2kW unit and the 04 4kW model for high-roof top-of-the-range cabs. The heat exchanger unit is a new ribbed design which needs less space than the old design to generate the same amount of heat.

The units have been made 14% smaller and 21% lighter than previous models; power consumption is claimed to be 20% lower than on the older D1L series.

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