Instant heat made by volkswagen America Inc. ???

any one got any info on these things ? some bloke was rambling on to me about one at work the other day and how he had one back in the day, but he is known for his story telling , i did a quick samba search and didnt really come up with any solid info on them.

thanks guys

Not sure what you are referring to - do you mean the Eberspacher petrol heater? That was an optional accessory on Beetles and Buses in cold countries, and was fitted as standard to the VW 411/412. Never seen one in Australia, but I suppose someone must have one.

See http://www.aircooledheaven.com/blog/Article/12.html

yeah i have a UK VW magazine from the 90's showing how to install one, i can scan if interested.

pyr0,
Some specific info about what you are referring to would be immensely helpful.........a specific part number or name, a net link, almost anything more than what you have provided the forum would be most helpful.
Don't expect much natural intuition about what you are referring to without more substantial info.

I suspect you might be referring to a gas heater.
But then again I might be in Las Vegas, and on a roll.

Kind Regards,
Steve

Phil74Camper wrote:Not sure what you are referring to - do you mean the Eberspacher petrol heater? That was an optional accessory on Beetles and Buses in cold countries, and was fitted as standard to the VW 411/412. Never seen one in Australia, but I suppose someone must have one.

See http://www.aircooledheaven.com/blog/Article/12.html

It wasn't fitted standard to the 411..

sounds like the eberspacher gas fired heater ( 311-261-103- factory option M60)

to day mobile homes use a heater like the old vw's so do search for motor home heaters

sorry about the vagueness steve there was a customer at work telling me about one and i had never herd of such a thing before the information you guys have provided has been really helpful as now i know i have to chase the customer down next time he comes into work and see if he still has it.

thanks guys

MickH wrote:It wasn't fitted standard to the 411..

Nope - you are correct

...but they were an option on the 411's - they were also an option on European delivered Beetles and Kombis (not sure about the Type III's - probably).

They work really well, but I am told that they are hard to find second hand, complete and in working condition - even in countries where they were common. 🙁

My parents 411 has one fitted and my late Grandma's (euro delivery) beetle has one too. Both of them have been disconnected due to the poor condition of the fuel lines that feed them - wouldn't take much to re-connect them though. Probably won't happen any time soon as there is not much need for them in Queensland! 😀

R 🙂

Sorry, should have been more specific, I meant to say that the Eberspacher was fitted standard to US-spec VW 411s; they were optional on Euro models.

http://www.type4.org/technology/technology_html

I'm familiar with these to a slight extent because they were standard equipment on '73 VW Things (Type 181) here in the US. BN4 was the model number.
They put out incredible amounts of heat, but are somewhat finicky in operation, especially if not used often or if they haven't been fired in years.
Here are two photos showing two different Eberspächer heaters.
Top: Eberspächer BN 4
Bottom: Eberspächer B1 LC



Here are some other useful links for those who might have interest or curiosity.

Heating FAQs - BN4 Gas heaters & heating related topics
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=332848&sid=5420c4c539584215e3fef589faf46c7c

The Life and Death of a Gas Heater
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=80886

PDF service manual for the BN-4
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/F-3_Fresh_Air_Heating_1969/VW_Workshop_Manual_F-3_Fresh_Air_Heating_1969.pdf

Heating
http://www.type2.com/library/heating.htm

Obviously, really cold winter weather is not a concern in most of Oz, but these things will almost run you out when they are working properly. Guaranteed.

Regards,
Steve

I have a few petrol heaters for beetles, i have the full workshop manual for installing and servicing them also.
I think they work really well but you would want to keep an eye on it .😵