webasco heater: good idea or fire hazard?

[rower]

I have heard many people say the webasco gas heaters created fires.

Does anyone know of an actual incident where the heater caused a fire, when it was well maintained? (I can imagine that these units didn't get proper service as the cars become older and were neglected until they were disconnected).

I am thinking about whether I should have mine restored: is it prudent and is it too expensive?

If they are truly safe, does anyone know of a good restorer?

thanks,

[Bill Simmeth]

Pretty good thread from last year. Damon Josz (SERIES900 in that thread) is the man for all things Webasto. (A lot of other things, too.)

[rower]

Thanks. Guess I need to spell it correctly first!

[friggens]

A webasco heater would be very hot indeed

[edmayo]

A million years ago when I lived up north I had a 58 VW van with a gas heater. It was totally reliable and was just the ticket in that climate. I loved the sound it made when it first fired up,,,sorta like a jet engine lighting off,,,,a little un-nerving at first, but you got used to it.

[friggens]

Well Ed, since you brought it up - VW Ebersbacher heaters are in my opinion another marvel of German engineering. The webasto is likely similar. It all depends on the condition... Not as many webastos around to choose from as far as I can tell.

This shot is an ebersbacher heater running - you can see the exaust marking the wood. A real gas fired turbine. I never ran this in my bus because I had dual carbs but in the beetle it would melt the snow off the glass before you got in the car Very high quality units.

[304065]

nah. . .only a crazy person would restore one. . . with NOS parts. . .fab his own identical wiring harness. . . and the right three different sizes of hoses and clamps. . . with replated hardware. . . put it in the car and fire it off. . . like a miniature SR-71 up there. . . . who would be nuts enough to do that?

[304065]

Pretty good thread from last year. Damon Josz (SERIES900 in that thread) is the man for all things Webasto. (A lot of other things, too.)

I hear he heats his shop with one or two.

[John912]

Interesting to note that virtually every transit bus sold in northern climates comes equipped with a Webasto heater to supplement interior heat, so the company is still alive and doing well!

[NorthernThrux]

Interesting to note that virtually every transit bus sold in northern climates comes equipped with a Webasto heater to supplement interior heat, so the company is still alive and doing well!

To the tune of 2 billion Euros in sales a year. It's a much, much larger company than back in the day.

Porsche did 13.9 billion Euros in sales in 2012 to put that in perspective.