Anyone using a WAVE heater???

[tentcamper]

I have a WAVE-8 catalytic heater left over from my other campers. I have not yet installed the propane fitting. But with the cold days/nights around the corner. I figured I need to get to it before I do any dry cold weather camping.

Anyone using a WAVE catalytic heater? Where would you tap into the propane line?? Where do you place the heater?

I'm currently thinking to tap into the Furnace propane line under the camper and putting a LP quick disconnect fitting there and running the hose up between the seals on the side?

Heater placement: Right now I'm thinking in the hall point forward during the day and at night near the door, pointing to the rear?

[TM Pilot]

I personally would never use a non-vented propane heat source in my TM. I understand the benefit of this heater not using a fan for dry camping, but having to open a couple of windows in the cold weather seems to defeat the purpose of a heater. And forgetting to open the windows or not opening them enough could be fatal. No way I could sleep not knowing if I or any of my family members were going to wake up alive the next morning.

But each to his own. If you're set on using this heater, why not tap into the propane gas line inside the TM behind the stove?

[tentcamper]

Alll need to do is open the vent between 1/2 to an 1 inch. This is about the same amount that I open the vent when I run the furnace to keep the humidity down.

[Riwright]

Putting a quck disconnect down below sounds like a good way to do it. I had a new heater installed in my camper by a guy who was a certified technician. He said that he was trained never to tap into a propane line above the floor. He said that breaks in the line are where leaks are most likely to occur and if you can put a break outside the living space that was best. Made sense to me.

Opinions vary on the "you could wake up dead" issue. I think that if the heater is used according to the manufacturers instructions that it will be safe. But I don't give those who err on the side of caution a hard time.

I installed a vented catalytic myself (platinum cat).

I also run two indepedent carbon monoxide detectors. One runs off the 12 volt system and was a replacement for the original propane detector. The other is a battery powered unit that lives in the bedroom. It's the carbon monoxide that you need to be worried about.

[tentcamper]

I did not think about cuting the line inside the camper. Very good point about leaks.

[Panamapat]

Originally Posted by tentcamper

I have a WAVE-8 catalytic heater left over from my other campers. I have not yet installed the propane fitting. But with the cold days/nights around the corner. I figured I need to get to it before I do any dry cold weather camping.

Anyone using a WAVE catalytic heater? Where would you tap into the propane line?? Where do you place the heater?

I'm currently thinking to tap into the Furnace propane line under the camper and putting a LP quick disconnect fitting there and running the hose up between the seals on the side?

Heater placement: Right now I'm thinking in the hall point forward during the day and at night near the door, pointing to the rear?

I installed a Wave-8 with a 10 foot rubber hose so that I can move it around as needed. It is wonderful not to have the noise and battery draw of the factory heater and propane usage is much much lower.

I'm sensitive to Carbon Monoxide poisoning potential and oxygen depletion, so I'm careful to leave a window cracked open and the ceiling vent slighly cranked open. I also installed a CO monitor with a digitial display and it shows no indication of CO buildup.

If you need pictures, I can put some up.

Pat

[tentcamper]

That is a good point about CO tester.

If a cat is running correctly you should only get H2O, CO2 and heat as output. No CO or HC.

Now if you start to get oxygen depletion the cat will not burn correctly and and you will get CO. So I like the idea of a CO tester because it will warn you of oxygen depletion.

I have been using cat heaters from back in the 70's when tent camping. I'm on my 4th cat heaters. Much improved from my first white gas coleman cat heater. I really like the wave heater. Currently I have a long low pressure hose that I made for my previous camper for use with the stove outside or the cat heater. So I have a lot of flexibility to move it around