How safe is heater booster?

[luftvagon]

How safe is the heater booster? My heater booster safety switch housing has begun to crumble which makes me wonder about the safety operating this little neat contraption.
Another thing that scares me, is how hot the floor gets above the heater. It will melt a plastic bag in a heart beat. Which makes me wonder if the overheat switch works.

I inspected the fuel lines, and they look to be in good shape. What maintenance would you recommend prior to attempting to heat one for 1000 miles?

[SlowLane]

D'you mean the BA-6 Eberspacher gas heater? Kinda surprised you'd have one. They're much more common in Canada.

They are very well engineered and provide lots of safe (sometimes smelly) heat, if maintained correctly. Got a Bentley? Section 82 is devoted just to the "heater booster". Pp 82-2 through 82-11 are specific to the version delivered with air-cooled vehicles.

The floor above the heater shouldn't get anywhere close to hot enough to melt plastic, so I think there's somethng wrong there. The heat coming out of the vents can get uncomfortably warm if you hold your hand right over the vent,

A quick Google of "eberspacher BA-6" turned up several informative links, such as this one: http://type2.com/bartnik/ba6art.htm

[luftvagon]

Yes, I have all the manuals -- but sometimes there is always that guy that knows all about these contraptions. My van came from Washington, and spend some of its life in Colorado.

[airkooledchris]

I had an 81 westy with the BA6 as well. I used it ALL the time, but it *never* got that hot where you could tell where it was under the body. Ever.

I drove from Minnesota to California in January and ran it most of the way - the floor where the heater happened to be (underneath) never felt any hotter than the rest of the floor.

Not sure what might be wrong, but something is very wrong.

[luftvagon]

I've read about several guys having the same thing, but there was no solution.

[Amskeptic]

I've read about several guys having the same thing, but there was no solution.

Not a good way to address it. Anything! that you read must be filtered through what you understand of human nature. Many people will say, "I never found out what was wrong with it, so I guess it's OK."
Colin
(absolutely test temperature limit switches or replace them)