Pre-start autonomous heater of the Webasto car engine (Webasto) - compact device-heater, designed to warm up the engine and interior (or just the cabin) diesel, as well as in some cases of a gasoline car before starting the engine. Webasto is a standalone solution (weight is from 3 to 7 kg), connects to the fuel system, electric onboard network of the vehicle. Webasto will also be connected to the engine cooling circuit to warm up the engine.
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Presence of a preheater of Webasto allows the easy start of the diesel or gasoline engine in the conditions of low temperatures, allows to reduce wear of the loaded details and increase in motor resource of the engine, reduces the level of toxicity of the exhaust when starting the engine and provides reduced fuel consumption. It is also worth noting the increased comfort, as Webasto provides supply of warm air in salon without need of warming up of the engine. Webasto's stand-alone work also means, that battery charge (Battery) only partially spent on the operation of the preheater, at the same time the further stable start of the motor is provided.
Types of Webasto preheaters
Let's start with that, that the term Webasto is a kind of nickname and comes from the name of the company, which was the first to introduce heaters of this type on the market. The worldwide popularity of Webasto stand-alone heaters is due to this, that this device is installed on many German and other cars normally, that is, it is an element of the factory equipment with all the obvious advantages.
There are two types of heaters:
- air preheater;
- liquid preheater;
The air autonomous preheater is located in the interior of the vehicle. Webasto liquid heater is installed in the hood space. The main task of air heaters (dry hair dryer) is to create and maintain a comfortable temperature in the cabin when the engine is not running, that is, heating occurs autonomously.
Liquid heaters provide autonomous heating of the entire engine and engine oil, since the working fluid is heated in the engine cooling system and then maintain the set temperature. Let's consider the principle of operation of Webasto liquid heater on the diesel or gasoline engine in more detail.
How the Webasto preheater works
As an air autonomous heater, and liquid, run on fuel, which these devices are taken directly from the fuel tank. The air heater resembles a hair dryer, in which instead of an electric heater is installed ??special nozzle for creating a torch.
In the case of passenger or commercial diesel cars, such a heater runs on diesel fuel, which is obtained from the main or additionally installed fuel tank. Diesel fuel mixes with air, which is also removed from the outside, lit by special candles (glow plug or spark plug) and still burns inside the special ??closed camera. This chamber is blown out by a fan, due to which hot air enters the car.
Liquid heater is a more complex device. As already mentioned, the solution is connected to the circuit of the engine cooling system. Heater, which has its own fuel pump, on a separate highway pumps fuel from the tank. After that, the fuel is detected in a special chamber, where it burns. As a result, special ceramic heater pins are heated.
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At a certain heating there is an automatic inclusion of the circulating pump of cooling liquid. This pump works like a standard water pump cooling system (pumps), passing cold coolant through the heated pins of the heater. After the heated liquid is fed into the engine.
Heated coolant after the liquid heater moves through the channels of the engine cooling jacket, and also gets to a radiator of a standard heater (stoves), that is, circulates in a small circle.
Thanks to such circulation effective heating of all systems of the power unit becomes possible (cooling systems, lubrication systems, etc.) After the coolant is heated to a temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius in the automatic mode is the inclusion of the fan heater. The result is a warm engine and a warm car before the trip.
The whole heating process is fully automated, the number of cycles and the heating temperature is set by the user. After heating, the system provides a mode of maintaining the set temperature, automatic or forced exclusion. Some diesel engines are equipped with a "lightweight" version of Webasto, which does not have separate governing bodies, is switched on on the working engine and only on condition of temperature outside from +5 and below. The task of this solution is to maintain the operating temperature of the engine for efficient operation of the regular oven.
Which is better, liquid or air pre-start stand-alone heater
Each of these types of devices has certain advantages, and shortcomings. The disadvantages of the air heater include the inability to warm up the engine and realize a confident start in severe frosts, as well as increased demand for fuel quality. Work on winter diesel, which contains many additives, able to quickly disable the device. For this reason, it is recommended to install an additional tank, where only high-quality and clean diesel fuel will be poured.
The undeniable advantages of air heaters include 25-50% more affordable, low power consumption of air preheaters and low fuel consumption. These advantages allow autonomous heaters of this type to be widely used in areas with temperate climates.
As for the Webasto liquid preheater, this solution allows you to significantly increase the comfort of operation and increase engine life in the case of constant use of the car in extremely low temperatures. Liquid pre-start stand-alone heater reduces the load on engine parts and attachments (generator, starter, etc.), provides a confident start in severe frosts.
The disadvantages include high cost and high fuel consumption (close 600 grams / year) compared to an air heater (close 200 grams / year). Also, the liquid preheater consumes more electricity, which requires increased attention to the condition and charge level of the battery.
Finally, let's add, that stand-alone preheater (as a liquid, and air) unable to work in that case, if the diesel fuel is already frozen in the main or auxiliary fuel tank. With that in mind, that autonomous preheaters are not adapted to work on winter diesel fuel with a high content of additives-antigels and quickly fail for this reason, to counteract the waxing of diesel fuel on diesel cars, it is also recommended to install diesel fuel heaters separately.