25 replies to this topic

[dan1zo]

I think you might be disappointed with the result. 3.5kw is less than half the output of the mini heater!
It would have been a whole lot easier to replace the matrix and flushed the hoses?

Surely the original couldn't be over 7kw? That would be in the realms of heating pretty large rooms in houses right?

Thought i read somewhere it was either 2.8 or 4kw?

 

This small replacement puts out 11,000btu, so thats got to be plenty to heat a mini right?

[dan1zo]

So after fixing my electrical problem with my fuel pump, i hooked it all up and got Coop running.

 

It does actually heat up quite nicely and the fan kicks out the air pretty hard, especially into the footwells, and having my little potentiometer means i now have better variable speed.  I think i need to adjust the windscreen vents to seal them better, but it does a really good job.

 

On thing i am thinking is that i need to source some brackets to keep the unit flat, with the angle it is at, i don't think the water is flowing into the matrix as effectively as it could (although i could have had an air lock), but still heated up easily as fast as the old unit and certainly pushed more air through.

I made the mistake of touching the metal part where the water feeds in and promptly burnt my fingers! 

 

All in all i'm pretty happy with it. Save for a few adjustments and putting all my switches back on, i'm ready for winter.

 

I'll post some pictures of it in place once ive tucked all the wires away and put the panel back.

 

At some point i'll try and add a bit of a 'How to fit one of these' instructional so others who want to do it can do so without the trial and error i had to go through.

 

Dan

Edited by dan1zo, 20 May 2019 - 12:09 PM.

[riktanius]

So after fixing my electrical problem with my fuel pump, i hooked it all up and got Coop running.

 

It does actually heat up quite nicely and the fan kicks out the air pretty hard, especially into the footwells, and having my little potentiometer means i now have better variable speed.  I think i need to adjust the windscreen vents to seal them better, but it does a really good job.

 

On thing i am thinking is that i need to source some brackets to keep the unit flat, with the angle it is at, i don't think the water is flowing into the matrix as effectively as it could (although i could have had an air lock), but still heated up easily as fast as the old unit and certainly pushed more air through.

I made the mistake of touching the metal part where the water feeds in and promptly burnt my fingers! 

 

All in all i'm pretty happy with it. Save for a few adjustments and putting all my switches back on, i'm ready for winter.

 

I'll post some pictures of it in place once ive tucked all the wires away and put the panel back.

 

At some point i'll try and add a bit of a 'How to fit one of these' instructional so others who want to do it can do so without the trial and error i had to go through.

 

Dan

 

eager to see that

[dan1zo]

Hey interested people

 

I managed to tidy up the car and get the dashboard back together.

 

If anyone else is thinking of doing this too, make sure that you tighten ALL of the jubilee clips  . I left one loose and had to quickly run for a bucket when it started dripping and then tighten it before its soaked the carpet!!   

 

I took a couple of snaps.

 

This is the switch panel back on, excuse the horrible knob i put on for the fan speed control, it was the only one i had that fitted! I'll get a nicer one soon.

You can hardly see the unit underneath. 

 IMG_20190521_191530.jpg   61.96K   4 downloads

 

This is it underneath the dash. I just need to tuck the wires away a bit better, probably just wrap them with some tape.

On thing clearly obvious is now its such a small unit, the carpet doesnt cover the footwell properly as the old unit would have hidden the cutouts.

 IMG_20190521_191636.jpg   66.79K   7 downloads

[dan1zo]

I should also say that it heats up pretty fast and really does a good job.

I think it'll be more than up to the job over the winter.  I'll have to give it a proper test on a chilly morning, but at the moment the weather is too nice.

 

I did put it on today but it was way too hot!

 

Dan

[brivinci]

The space saving is incredible. Very cool you got it all sorted.

[rich_959]

You can now play footsy with your passenger! 

Edited by rich_959, 23 May 2019 - 07:39 AM.

[A-Cell]

Glad you got it installed and working ok. Nice job.

[A-Cell]

I think you might be disappointed with the result. 3.5kw is less than half the output of the mini heater!
It would have been a whole lot easier to replace the matrix and flushed the hoses?

Surely the original couldn't be over 7kw? That would be in the realms of heating pretty large rooms in houses right?
Thought i read somewhere it was either 2.8 or 4kw?
 
This small replacement puts out 11,000btu, so thats got to be plenty to heat a mini right?

Heaters in cars are very high output. This is to cope with the huge losses because you are heating a very poorly insulated metal box travelling fast through the air chilling the metal box very rapidly. Add large single glazed areas. Then airflow through vehicle (modern ones have extractors at rear, not Mini). So essentially you need an overkill.
Medium cars like Maestro, Montego had 24Kw available!

[A-Cell]

It will be fine. It's a nice new installation so the heat exchanger will be working properly. You can look forward to a nice warm car next winter.
By contrast. A partially blocked standard Mini heater would be a very poor performance!

[Bobbins]

I must admit to being a little sceptical when you started on this project but having seen the space saving, if the output is as good as an o/e heater then it's pretty impressive. Not going to help save space with my air-con model though!