winter plug in alternative

[pointeca]

I found out today my boss won't let me plug my truck in at work for the winter. It's a 94 turbo. It gets fairly cold here, sometimes down to -30 celcius, and colder with the wind.
Is there anything I can buy or do to as an alternative to plugging the truck in?

 

[smokin69]

Could maybe get one of those small diesel powered coolant heaters, or if you have trouble starting it, a ether injection system off of a tractor.

 

[BigRigTech]

Me, I would get a new boss....What an ********.....Good batteries and working GP's for sure....Wether my boss likes it or not I'm plugging my truck in at work on cold days.

 

[RLDSL]

It'll cost a bunch, but you could get an espar diesel fired coolant heater You don't ever have to worry about finding a place to plug in again with one of those things. Just set you timer to come on a half hour before you need to leave and the engine will be nice and warm and it'll be toasty inside the cab. You can even get a remote to turn it on from inside a building a while before you're ready to leave.
They cost about $1400 , and unless you've fooled with them before it's not advisable to try and get around the kit price. Those things are tricky and componants will end up costing much more bought separately.

--------Robert

 

[pointeca]

Yeah, it pissed me off, he said it wouldn't be fair for the other employees, although I'm the only person with a diesel, I almost lost my job after I told him how I felt.
I have no choice than to keep this job, it pays the highest wages in the area.

 

[RLDSL]

There's one of those espar units on ebay canada here
and a Webasto unit that does the same thing in Calgary for quite a few bucks less, and a used Webasto for even less if feeling adventuresome.

Personally, if I lived in that climate, I wouldn't own a car without one. Has an added benefit of if you get stuck somewhere on a closed road, you can run those things to keep warm for days on end.

------Robert

 

[swampdigger]

ProHeat is another one. Or maybe it's made by one of the brands you guys mentioned?

All of the oil rig equipment I worked on had one. Who wants to make their own, and do a write-up?

 

[RLDSL]

Those Proheat units are made by Carrier and only sold through big truck dealers for some serious $$$. If you though those Espar units were costy

-----Robert

 

[argve]

with todays diesel fuels and additives for cold weather you can still start it if you have a good working glow plug system - just let it cycle fully then start the truck.

 

[92F350CC]

Not fair to the other employees? Ask him about smoking breaks, see what his policy is. I had a boss that said she was going to start requiring me to work every sunday(I don't work sunday at all due to religion) to be 'fair' to the other employees, even though they had never had a problem with me having Sunday's off. Well, I asked why smokers get to have more frequent and longer breaks. She said that it wouldn't be very considerate to say no to them.........

 

[BigRigTech]

Another option is to put in a pair of truck batteries in the bed with an inverter big enough to run your block heater for an hour or two before you leave....Wire it through disconnect switch so it will be disconnected from your charging system when the inverter is running so it won't kill your starting batteries but it will charge when the truck is running. Just an idea that is simple and not too expensive. You can buy CAT 850cca batteries at most Freightliner dealers for $89 or less....Espar, Webasto and Proheat heaters are good but they can be a real PITA when they start to act up and the parts are not all that cheap either.

I guess I'm lucky in my city, there is a big shortage of licensed big rig mechanics here due to the Alberta oil scene that it's driving my wages up every year and stupid little things like what's happening to you just wouldn't happen....They can't afford to **** us off or we will take our toolboxes to the shop next door for the same or better wages....My service manager and shop foreman are great. they treat me very well and in return I go out of my way to to do extra little things for them when asked....The old "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" theory.

 

[sassyrel]

I guess I'm lucky in my city, there is a big shortage of licensed big rig mechanics here due to the Alberta oil scene that it's driving my wages up every year and stupid little things like what's happening to you just wouldn't happen....They can't afford to **** us off or we will take our toolboxes to the shop next door for the same or better wages....My service manager and shop foreman are great. they treat me very well and in return I go out of my way to to do extra little things for them when asked....The old "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" theory.[/QUOTE]
maybe you should go be an ice road trucker mech--ill bet those boys pull in a ton of bucks for three months!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

The isolated batteries/inverter idea is a good one; you can also put a timer in the cord that will turn things on, just like it was plugged in at home.

I only buy NEW factory appearance blemished batteries (think "scratch and dent"); I get Group 30/31 for $38, all being big-name brands; I have not gotten a bad one yet; they last as long as the $98(or more) batteries I used to use; you could go this route and not spend a bundle.

The thing to do is PERMANENTLY mount these extra batteries, wired through a good isolater, or switch, and you can use them year round for all kinds of 12-volt accessories, auxilliary lights, and such.

Mounted permanently, no one is as likely to help themselves to some free batteries.

There are automatic starters that will fire the engine, idle it for fifteen minutes, about every couple hours.

You can stick a cheap generator in the bed, crank it up an hour before leaving.

If it is getting 30-below, I doubt any of the un-plugged gas-burners are going to start either.

 

[SASKR]

Get your hands on 1 of those small gensets, probably 1200 to 1800 watt, they weigh about 30 to 40 pounds, and are about 1' x1' x1' in size. Up in Canada they sell them @ Canadian Tire. I think Wallmart has them too. About $ 400 . It is small enough to bring inside the building so it will start easy. Then take it outside, chain it in the bed, plug in your truck a few hours before you want to go home. The genset will come in handy for summertime projects @ the cabin, running tools out in the field (building grain bins), rescueing other people who can't start their car because of cold or poor batteries( plug the batt charger into the genset if you can't get boost cables to reach) .. Good luck from the Great White North. Cheers Rick

 

[69oiler]

if it gets cold enough that you truly NEED to plug it in (i think -30 C qualifies) i think the mini-generator is your best bet. it will take more than an hour of run time though. i find 3 hours to be about right in cold weather. an hour did it for me yesterday but it was only around freezing.

the diesel fired coolant heater would also do the job

personally i dont think batteries/inverter will have the nuts to do the job. -30C = -22F. that's dang cold. but you will have the added cost of buying and fueling the generator. why not get a small gasser commuter?