How to use the funny Chinese diesel heater controller

You bought a Chinese diesel heater, but it came with a funny controller that you can't find on the internet!

Silly boy.

Ah well, now you have to figure out how to use it. Well, as luck would have it I've done that for you!

Identifying the strange and rare Chinese diesel heater controller

How do you know you have the one I'm talking about?

Firstly, it's rare. So you are unlikely to have it. That is how you know.

Secondly, the controller looks like this:

It measures approx. 7.5cm x 6cm. Button icons from left to right are: fan, power, triangle.

There are bulb-shaped mounting holes on the back and a cutout that looks like a sonar symbol but is actually just a grille for ventilation or a speaker.

There is a similar-looking controller that is more common. But that one has a margin down the right side of the screen, and the big numbers are at the top and small ones at the bottom. Don't confuse them!

You can also identify the heater model as a "Car Oil Heater" model NF202A. Manufacture date approx. 2022.

Inside the main heater body you can look at the control board (ECU). If you unscrew it, you can see the bottom of the board where everything plugs in. It is just a plain green board with three tubular electrolytic capacitors on there. And one small red-coloured diode at the edge of the board. No other components are visible on this side of the board. The other side is covered with a plastic cover.

This heater and its controller are not compatible with the popular Afterburner third-party replacement controller. But I have created an alternative replacement, which you can find here.

Temperature mode instead of pulse rate / power level

Are you looking how to set it to temperature mode, rather than power levels 1-8?

If so forget it. I can't figure out how to do it. I don't even think this heater has the function.

How to use it

Power on: Press and hold the power (middle) button for a few seconds until the display shows "ON".

Power off: Press and hold the power (middle) button for a few seconds until the display shows "OFF". You have to wait until the heater has cooled down and the fan stops before it can be restarted. Once it has cooled down the display changes back to battery voltage again.

Change power level: With the heater on, press the triangle (right) button briefly. The display will cycle through the 8 power levels, showing "P-1" to "P-8". The heater takes a little while to ramp up or down to the new power level.

Go into ventilation fan mode: Switch the heater off and wait for it to cool down and the fan to stop. Then press and hold the fan (left) button for a few seconds. The display shows "P-F" and the fan will ramp up to full speed.

Switch off ventilation mode: Press the fan (left) button briefly. The fan will stop.

Prime the fuel line: With the heater off and the fan not running, press and hold the triangle (right) button for a few seconds. The pump will start clicking and fuel is drawn through. After a few minutes it will time out and switch off. If you haven't finished priming you will need to restart it.

Stop priming: Press the triangle (right) button briefly.

Clear an error: If the heater detects a problem, the display shows "E01" to "E99" depending on the error code. IF THIS HAPPENS, DO NOT TRY TO START VENTILATION OR PRIMING MODES! The heater will malfunction if you do this! Instead, clear the error by starting the heater normally (press and hold the power button), then turn it immediately off, before it gets the chance to fail with an error again. This will clear the error code and allow all functions to work again. Alternatively, you can wait 5-10 minutes and the error will clear itself. The display goes back to normal, showing the battery voltage.

Monitor temperature: Press the fan (left) button briefly. The top display will cycle between the heat exchanger temperature and the control board temperature (incoming air temperature). H means control board (or incoming air), L means heat exchanger temperature.

Access advanced secret hidden settings:

  1. First make sure the heater is off and has cooled down (fan not running).
  2. Press and hold both the fan (left) and triangle (right) buttons for 3 seconds until the display shows "---".
  3. Release both buttons for a second.
  4. Then press and hold the triangle (right) button for 6 seconds until the large digits show "1-3" or something similar.
  5. Release the button. You are now in the secret settings menu. The first digit is the thing you're adjusting, the second digit is the value it's currently set to.

Change the secret settings:

WARNING! You can bugger up your heater or even make it dangerous by fiddling with these! At least have a carbon monoxide detector and a fire extinguisher handy.

  1. Briefly press the triangle button to cycle around the 7 available things you can adjust, indicated by the first digit.
  2. To change something, press the power (middle) button briefly. The second digit (value) will flash.
  3. Brief presses of the triangle (right) button will change the value.
  4. Press the power (middle) button briefly to confirm and move to the next thing you can adjust.
  5. When you have finished adjusting everything, you must save the changes. Press and hold the power (middle) button for about 3 seconds until the battery voltage re-appears and flashes. The button can be released now, settings are saved and the secret menu is closed. The settings are memorised even if you disconnect power from the heater.

What do the secret settings do?

God knows! At least one of them will adjust the fuel/air mixture. The last one (number 7) appears to select whether the heater is a 2kW or 5kW model. Must be set properly for your heater!

This controller is crap!

Yes it really is a pile of rubbish.

So I created an open-source replacement controller with many better features.

You can find out about the replacement controller here.

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