$1800 for Epar D2 installed

[lowrange]

Make that, 'Espar'. That's high, right? About 14 and a quarter for the unit, the rest is labor. Mike and Rev and Solo and...what have you guys been paying?

[Maniac]

I paid $900 last year and put it in myself, here in Jersey Edison Truck repair gets $1300 installed.

You can get the unit for around $1000 from the guy in Buffalo NY where I got mine.

Mobile air inc
716-825-3118....Tom

[BigDiesel]

1800 bucks !!! Must be a Kevin Rutherford special......

[lowrange]

I paid $900 last year and put it in myself, here in Jersey Edison Truck repair gets $1300 installed.

You can get the unit for around $1000 from the guy in Buffalo NY where I got mine.

Mobile air inc
716-825-3118....Tom

Great Maniac, thanks. It's too bad, I'm down here in Houston with a little time. The right price and I'd have had it installed today.

I looked at the Webasto website and they seem to have many fewer distributors. I guess I'll keep an eye out as I bounce around from city to city until I've got time, the Espar distributor has time, and the price is right. That combination could make for a cold winter...

[lowrange]

1800 bucks !!! Must be a Kevin Rutherford special......

No, but I've been giving Rutherford a pretty hard time on his own website. I still don't know what's up there, he doesn't seem like a POS. I listened to the show last night and didn't hear a Turbo 3000 commercial until it was over. He's going to have to come clean.

[Maniac]

Good price here on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Espar...ehicleQ5fParts

[mike3fan]

Good price here on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Espar...ehicleQ5fParts

better jump on that one,any shade tree mechanic could install that for probabably 200-300 bucks.

I paid 3100 for bunk and coolant heaters installed.

[Malaki86]

From the looks of the Webasto (I'm assuming the Espar is similar), the installation isn't too bad. Our mechanics install them in about an hour. That's just the bunk heater, no coolant heater.

[lowrange]

better jump on that one,any shade tree mechanic could install that for probabably 200-300 bucks.

I paid 3100 for bunk and coolant heaters installed.

Thanks you guys, thanks for finding that, Maniac. I called today, they said call back in the morning when their ebay guy comes in. I never bought from ebay before but it's one of those things I've intended to get to. It sounds like they have physical locations in the midwest, they're not just an online retailer. I guess if any ebay seller has credibility these guys ought to.

Maybe it's just me, but saving $500 off of the quote I got today sounds like a good thing!

[lowrange]

From the looks of the Webasto (I'm assuming the Espar is similar), the installation isn't too bad. Our mechanics install them in about an hour. That's just the bunk heater, no coolant heater.

I think I saw today Espar's website saying three hours. If that's the case, this place today only wanted $125/hr for the install...

...I don't even want to think if it could be done in an hour.

I don't think the D2 has an actual thermostat, though. I didn't see one for the Webasto, either. I may need to look into that more. I'm sure the control works, but there is nothing like setting a desired temperature and forgetting about it.

[Malaki86]

We use the Webasto Air Top 2000. This is from the product manual:

9.1.2.1 Installation of an External Temperature
Sensor (Air Top 2000 Diagnosis)
General
The heater Air Top 2000 regulates the desired temperature
best when its temperature sensor is exposed to the
air temperature of the most probable surrounding in use.
This might not always be possible due to the installation
conditions with the temperature sensor being integrated
in the heater. In such case the best temperature control
may be achieved by installation of an external temperature
sensor in the relevant room area.

Here's the link to the product manual:
http://www.techwebasto.com/heater_ma...hop/776891.pdf

The unit has a control knob, which looks like a rotary temp knob on a dash. Also, it has an internal temperature limiter built into it. The internal unit senses the incoming air temp and regulates through it. So, the best way to install it would be to have a return air duct hooked up, as well as the heated air outlet duct. They install ours into the sideboxes without a return duct, so it's essentialy sensing the air temp of the air inside the sidebox, not the air temp of the cabin. With the external sensor added (which is a tiny thing, about the same size as a temp sensor for one of the cheap outside thermometers you can grab at any truckstop). Then it'll use that for sensing the temp instead of the internal sensor.

Hope that makes sense ;-)

I know it'd be easier to use the external sensor. The reason being that if you put the return air duct close to the floor, it will be sensing the temperature there, not high up in the sleeper. Remember, hot air rises. So, you'd end up with the bunk being comfortable, but as soon as you stand up, you'd be going into the hotter air.

[lowrange]

I hope the Espar has something similar because I just bought one of those on ebay a few minutes ago. I really hope the Espar has something similar, thermostatic control is just 100x better than moving a switch up and down and up and down and, well, up and down and...

[Rev.Vassago]

The unit has a control knob, which looks like a rotary temp knob on a dash. Also, it has an internal temperature limiter built into it. The internal unit senses the incoming air temp and regulates through it.

That's what mine has, but that wasn't what I was complaining about initially. I wish it had a control panel that I could set it to a specific numeric temperature, like a home thermostat. I remember Oldsmobile came out with a car in the late 80's (i think) that had an actual numeric thermostat in it. If you wanted it to be 72 degrees in the car, you set it to 72. I can't believe that manufacturers of trucks and cars still use red and blue colored lines for indicating where the temperature is set at.

[Malaki86]

Gotcha Rev. I had an 80-something Oldsmobile Toronado that had the electronic climate control. That thing was the absolute KING!!! You put in your temp and never touch the thing again. It'd turn on the heat or a/c as needed, it'd move the vents automatically (including switching to defrost as soon as you turned on the wipers). I want that in a truck.

[Rev.Vassago]

EXACTLY. There is no reason that a truck manufacturer can't develop a more sophisticated climate control than what is currently available - both for the cab and the sleeper. We are using 1960's technology in 21st century vehicles. It is pathetic.

[Malaki86]

The '05 Volvo I ran for a few months was labeled has having "climate control". Sorry, setting the temp doesn't qualify for that. Hell, it didn't even turn the a/c on by itself.

But, I'd love to have that system from the '05 in the '02 I'm in. The slide-levers are crap in this thing - the temp lever only has a range of about 70% and if you move the thing 1/64th of an inch you go from way too cold to way too hot.

[mike3fan]

Atleast my Pete has a setting for dual heater/defrost,in my W900 my damn feet would freeze if it was snowing and I needed some defroster.

[Malaki86]

Ya, isn't that just lovely - having to choose one or the other.

[Jackrabbit379]

EXACTLY. There is no reason that a truck manufacturer can't develop a more sophisticated climate control than what is currently available - both for the cab and the sleeper. We are using 1960's technology in 21st century vehicles. It is pathetic.

That aint no lie!

As much as trucks cost now days, you'd think they would use some of this technology.

[solo379]

here in Jersey Edison Truck repair gets $1300 installed.

Not anymore! I wish i did it earlier...