Vevor diesel air heater

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Updated – January 8, 2024

Vevor is a manufacturer of, among other things, very affordable diesel additional heaters, such as the compact design XMZ-D2 with a nominal heating output of 8 kW for around 100 (hundred) euros! The devices have CE conformity and are delivered with all electrical and mechanical accessories.

The heater is installed inside the vehicle. The interior air to be heated is guided along the heater's die-cast aluminum radiator via the built-in fan and delivered via a standard warm air hose. An existing warm air installation on the vehicle can therefore still be used.

The connections for the exhaust pipe with silencer and combustion air and diesel supply are made below the vehicle floor.

Identical to Webasto Air Top Evo 55D?

Its design is similar to that of Webasto Air Top Evo 55D with a nominal 5.5 kW at around 2,500 euros.

The Vevor LCD display is comparatively simple but functional. Commissioning works straight away. The thermostat, which can be adjusted from 8 to 36 °C, keeps the selected temperature constant. According to the data sheet, consumption is 0.16 .. 0.62 L/h.

The only, but striking, difference to the Webasto Air Top Evo 55D is according to the data sheet comparison ( Vevor / Webasto) the permissible operating altitude went from a remarkable 5,500 m to just 2,200 m.

Vevor – installation measures

The enclosed metal template is helpful for installation preparations: positioned at the desired location in the vehicle (note the alignment of the exhaust and supply air hoses), the holes marked and executed, edges deburred, provided with rust protection, and the installation preparations are complete.

The diesel supply line and pump must be installed under the vehicle, the exhaust pipe and silencer as well as the intake air filter must be installed.

An important aspect arises from the “wavy” structure of the vehicle floor: the heater housing requires a flat mounting surface. The question is therefore how to create a flat surface in order to achieve an (exhaust) gas-tight connection of the heater housing to the vehicle floor.

It is possible, for example, PETEC K+D, an adhesive and sealant that is heat-resistant up to 90 °C, with which you can completely fill the grooves, including the surfaces of the metal template already mounted under the vehicle floor.
The metal underbody of the heater is also provided with plenty of sealant over the entire surface.
Please note: cover the connection for the diesel supply line with insulating tape, as well as the two connections for exhaust and combustion air if necessary! This prevents sealant from getting into the supply connections when the heater is inserted into the body holes.

After checking that all “mountains and valleys” are filled with sealant and that a continuous level has now been created, the heater is carefully guided with the connections through the body holes and pressed lightly into the sealant. Make sure that the heater remains horizontal in both directions and does not tilt!

After about three to four days, the sealant will have hardened to 4 mm in 24 hours. Now the four nuts under the vehicle floor or the metal template can be screwed onto the threaded rods attached to the heater body and tightened evenly all around with feeling.

Challenge – MB Sprinter 906

Connecting the diesel supply line may be the biggest challenge: on the Sprinter 319 CDI Type 906, the diesel pipe is installed in the tank. This means that you cannot simply install a branch behind the diesel filter (which is also supposed to be “forbidden”), because without a pumping diesel pump, i.e. a running engine, no diesel will flow here.

A possible remedy is, for example, to dismantle the tank flap, including the sleeve surrounding the filler neck, and then drill a 6 mm hole at around 10 o'clock (from the inside of the neck) in order to connect the supplied plastic hose to the diesel tank bottom push.
Before you start the drill, you should insert a sponge very tightly into the tank neck to catch the drill chips to prevent them from accidentally getting into the tank. Wrap the sponge with a wire so that it can be easily pulled out after drilling.

The enclosed plastic diesel hose is guided from the outside through the drilled hole in the tank neck and pulled out as far as the distance from the filler neck to approximately the lower edge of the body, in order to then push it into the tank neck down to the tank mouth.

The remaining end is connected with a rigid, single-core cable (e.g. NYM 1.5 mm2), which is inserted into the hose and secured with insulating tape to prevent it from slipping out, along the filler neck and pipe and down through the gap between the floor seal and the pipe guided under the vehicle on the outside.

Now it's time to suck diesel out of the tank. Thanks to the transparency of the plastic hose, the suction process can be easily controlled. You vacuum while standing, not lying underneath the vehicle, and stop as soon as about 20 cm of air remains in the end of the hose.
Holding the end of the hose sealed with your thumb, you go under the vehicle and finally push the plastic hose onto the diesel connection piece of the heater. Beforehand, you hold the plastic hose away from you so that any escaping diesel doesn't hit you, take your thumb from the end of the hose, wait until the air has escaped, the first diesel comes out and quickly push the end of the hose onto the heater connection.

The excess plastic hose is stored in the space between the filling pipe and the vehicle, so there is enough reserve if a hose leak occurs at some point.

Since the plastic hose can come quite close to the exhaust pipe, it makes sense to run it along the cold air intake pipe with cable ties.

Vevor – Electrical connection

The electrical connection is quick and easy. All connections are uniquely coded; only plus and minus 12 V have to be connected to put the heater into operation.

Vevor – commissioning

When the power supply is connected, the control panel display lights up. After pressing the middle one On/off button the fan starts at the lowest level. A clicking noise indicates that the diesel pump has started. Since the air remaining in the heater itself is quickly displaced in the system, ignition occurs quickly. The speed of the fan increases steadily and after five minutes you can clearly feel warm air.

Vevor – control

Using the two arrow keys on the control panel or the remote control, Left / right, the temperature can be reduced or increased in ten steps. With a setting range of 8 to 36 °C, one step corresponds to approximately 2.8 °C. Incidentally, this also applies - unfortunately - to the slightly more expensive Bluetooth version of the remote control. A bit roughly structured, but good... for the price...!

The setting to “3” is sufficient to create a comfortable temperature for working in the vehicle even when outside temperatures are just above freezing. The position “10” is likely to create temperatures far beyond the transpiration threshold in the – uninsulated – vehicle even when the outside temperatures are double-digit minus.