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100% Efficiency Used To Be Cool - Diesel Heater Exhaust Heat Exchanger

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Cast iron radiates heat for a long time, because it's not good at radiating heat. The end.

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If you would like a fan, check out these links. Other sizes available.

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If you would like to support me and my projects, I have created a Patreon account. Regardless of the amount, every bit helps, will be put to use and is awesome motivation. Thank you so much !!

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The Joel Arseneault YouTube channel where I do mostly jetski stuff that is much more edited. @joelarseneaultyoutube

Actual Description. In this video, I test a copper tube, aluminum fin heat exchanger to see 1. if it works at all as a exhaust heat exchanger, 2. if it does work how efficient will be, and 3. What will the condensate PH be, what will the CO levels be and will it make soot.... etc.

This video was made in response to a comment section of another video. That youtuber claimed 200% efficiency, used a 150+ pound cast iron heat exchanger. He says it keeps his shipping container warm, even after the diesel heater shuts off.Absolute nonsense.

My 16x16 inches heat exchanger is 13 pounds and rated for 160kBtu/h... In contrast, a cast iron radiator is rated for about 90Btu/h per square foot (12x12). That means, a 24x24 inch cast iron radiator, would have a heat output of 360Btu/h (not 360K... 360) and it would weigh over 200 pounds.

Many people will argue that cast iron radiates heat long after your heat source goes out, and the same argument is made for sand batteries. The problem with this is that, if they were good at radiating heat ... they wouldn't be storing heat. Milk containers are great at storing milk... you can tell because the milk stays inside. Cast iron radiates heat for a long time, because it's not very good at radiating heat.

No... I don't really think that cast iron sucks. It's great for flying pans....Milling machines and lathes... drill presses. It is even okay at being some other things like wood furnaces and boilers, but not because it stores heat well.

20 Comments

@rizzey73 1 year ago (edited)

Hey! As a fellow Calgarian I appreciate your videos.

I am a plumber, and I can tell you the condensate will destroy the copper coil. It's not so much about pH as it is the make up of the condensate. It is an electrolytic sulotion and the condensate is carbon based. Electrolysis will destroy any copper or brass fairly quickly.

Over the years I have had several employees couple condensate drains with a brass or copper fitting. It will be completely eaten away within 6 to 8 months.

If you want to do an experiment, put a few ounces of condensate in a Pyrex cup, add a copper fitting. That would be a really interesting time lapse, actually. Measure the pH along the way.

@OverlandOne 1 year ago

3 degrees F where I am camped tonight. I am relying on my Vevor diesel heater to continue to keep me and my cat warm in my van. This is my second cold winter on the road full time using this heater and I love it. I am very grateful for all of your videos because I am now much more familiar with my heater, and its operation and maintenance. You are helping a lot of people out here, more than you will ever know. Thank you.

@memadmax69 1 year ago

I think of the cast iron radiators like a battery.
Takes an hour for it to charge and lets out heat for an hour.
It has its uses for certain applications.
Our diesel heater is not of them as its running 24/7 at this time. So there is no heat cycling as the cast iron is meant for.

@shpoople96 1 year ago

Cast iron objects are known to stay warm for a long time because they are usually much thicker and heavier, allowing for much more stored thermal energy overall. Also, you're getting thermal conduction mixed up with thermal radiation. While cast iron is a poor thermal conductor, it is an excellent radiator, having significantly higher emissivity than either copper or aluminum.

@tomirwin4819 1 year ago

Hi Joel, I installed 3 Vevor Diesel heaters in the bays below my 2016 Tiffin 36’ Motorhome … I am 4 season now and have been running with full water, etc. nice, quiet, smooth. My 2 propane furnaces are back ups and refueling is only a very short trip to the gas station.. Michigan 👍

@UrubuFPV-666 1 year ago

Keep the good work. Your own way to test and explain all this saves us a lot of money and testing. anything you play with I'll be here watching

@IW4DBX 1 year ago

❤ As a boomer I can keep the focus on the whole video.
I'm using the welded steel radiator in my house, it's not accumulating much heat but it's able to dissipate all the heat.
It may work with a cast iron type but I don't have it to try.
I really like your scientific method and skills

@throngcleaver 11 months ago

I rarely watch videos over 30 minutes long, but this was worth every second of my time. Plus, it earned my subscription.

Thank you! 😁

@TheZigZiggy 1 year ago

Very cool experiments. Thanks for taking the time to do them.

@mattschamel6550 1 year ago

First time viewer here! You earned a sub!
I'll be digging through your videos every chance I get!

@clarkfamilyvideo207 1 year ago

Truly appreciate all your work. I’ve learned a lot of great information. Thank you.

@Dusty-Builds 1 year ago

53 minutes isn't all that long for good information. I, for one, look forward to your videos.

@philipreich7035 1 year ago

Hi Joel,
Thanks for doing all this testing.

Cheers from Oregon,
Philip

@marionmcvey9703 1 year ago

Idea for a part two. Run the SS exhaust pipe thru a water path made with a drywaller mud pan(s). Make the water flow, by gravity (hot to cool circulation, can be done passively), or worst case use a small hot water circulation pump from a house boiler (about a hundred $). Water flows around exhaust pipe absorbing the heat efficiently, runs to your heat exchanger fan assy, then back to the mud pan(s). You already have 90% of the set up now. If you want build a top to the mud pans, plexiglass would work nice for showing in a video. probably need an expansion chamber in the fan radiator loop to allow for water in the closed system to expand when heated. Probably just a verticle leg of bigger pipe for an air compression chamber.

@nathanmorrow6981 1 year ago

The reason for the cast iron radiator is not to heat the area quickly. That is what the heater is for. It keeps radiating heat after the heater is shut down. A copper core radiator will indeed captture and release heat from the heater exhauct. Whis is better depends on what use you have.

@richardduke9788 3 weeks ago

Diesel heater time again 😊 !

@user-ei3fx2vj2c 1 year ago

Ace video again! Thanks for showing people how effective a real heat exchanger can be! People will say ‘it’ll clog up’ so would be good to see if you can test for a decent amount of time and then confirm or not (I don’t think it will).

@klaidaslaurynaskalade9001 1 year ago

Nice. Coolest video about cdh and the heat exchanger for so long.
Very good job 😊

@ronjaybarnett 1 year ago

I use diesel heater to heat garage work shop. works great with 16' long stainless steel standard heater exhaust pipe. I used exhaust pipe it came with at the end then a 4' pipe and 10' pipe all spliced together with the cheap diesel mufflers that came with heater. I place the high efficiency 2024 Hcalory Toolbox 2 heater high self in my garage and run exhaust in a straight line diagonally down along the wall. From other YouTuber I used steel wire to create brackets to safely space off the wall. Also from a commenter on YouTube I covered the Hot end of the pipe stack with 32 extra large Stainless Steel Scrubies to pull extra heat into air w/o the need of a fan or a proper heat exchanger. Also i can touch the Scrubies with out burning myself as they spread the heat are not a great heat conductor. Result, when all is said and done, Temperature drop from 510 deg F to 115 Deg F. ...when I used thermocouples tightly secured at both ends of exhaust pipe with hose clamps,
Thank you for your thorough informative Video. I prefer my setup over yours because of it simplicity. However I acknowledge my system will not work in a tent. One last comment my exhaust Carbon Monoxide measured between 15 and 28 ppm.
Thank you for your Video!