Tank type block heater?

[Black dawg]

Of course, if you REALLY want to get the thing warmed up good, then you could get an Eberspacher ( Espar ) diesel fired block heater. Those things are wicked. Small self contained furnace with a 12v circulating pump. Set it to turn on 20-30 minutes before you go out and you can also wire it in to your defrost blower and not only will the engine be up to operating temp, but the cab will be toasty and you glass will be clear Just don't ask about the price

any idea of fuel consumption on one of those? I have one, just been to lazy to put on.

 

[RLDSL]

any idea of fuel consumption on one of those? I have one, just been to lazy to put on.

They list the consumption rates on their website. I think they will warm it up on a about a cups worth or less. The consumoption rate is so low that one of those things could be a real lifesaver to someone in blizzard country if stuck out on the road in a drift.

 

[Sycostang67]

I've always worrind about the magnetic pan heaters getting too hot and burning the oil on the bottom of the pan. I used one of the dipstick heaters when I was in high school, I was running 20-50 in a 4.9 so it was kind of neccessary if I wanted it to start in the morning. Sounds like they dont get as hot as I think they do. Do you have to remove the magnetic heaters before driving or do they stick on that well?

 

[Black dawg]

the oil pan heaters are pretty low watt.

 

[Simp5782]

You can buy the battery pad heaters from carquest that are 40-100watt you can wrap around a hose and velcro it off around the hose. Or I have an inline heater I would sell. It runs off of 5/8 heater hose and is pretty low wattage. Keeps my truck right around 130degrees when plugged in for 45mins.

 

[BigRigTech]

I use a stock block heater, works A1 but I can't plug it into my outside GFI's as it will trip...I run the cord under the shop door. If it says Espar or Webasto it means expensive......Those friggin things work well and make lots of heat but god help you if it breaks as the parts are wicked expensive. My buddy has a 2006 Freightshaker classic long nose, he has a Webasto heater. It was cheaper to buy an entire new heater kit on sale for $899 than it was to buy the parts he needed to repair the old one. Made it easier for me to install as it was identical..

 

[RLDSL]

I use a stock block heater, works A1 but I can't plug it into my outside GFI's as it will trip...I run the cord under the shop door. If it says Espar or Webasto it means expensive......Those friggin things work well and make lots of heat but god help you if it breaks as the parts are wicked expensive. My buddy has a 2006 Freightshaker classic long nose, he has a Webasto heater. It was cheaper to buy an entire new heater kit on sale for $899 than it was to buy the parts he needed to repair the old one. Made it easier for me to install as it was identical..

You can buy the parts off Ebay germany or Ebay UK for a fraction of the price of what they go for in north America. The distributors here think they have some kind of special thing going on and gouge teh heck out of the prices, but in Europe , where fuel is uber expensive, and finding places to plug in is near impossible, most new cars come with the things as dealer options, so replacement parts are much more common and prices are downright civilized even after shipping ( standard slow boat air shipping costs about the same as UPS 2-3 day in teh states and usually takes about 1-1.5 weeks customs included ) Last time I needed an Espar water pump and fuel pump and some seals I got them all from teh UK for roughly 1/3 the cheapest available price in north america ( which is in Canada )

 

[BigRigTech]

I guess they figure if it's -30C outside Mr trucker will be more than willing to pay the retarded prices.....99% of the time it's the GP and burner that craps out and won't light.

 

[Pino2234]

Concerning draining the radiator, on all of my engines/vehicles, I remove the entire pit-**** gizmo and install a pitcock that has both sides threaded, then a long nipple, then an ELL that points down, a short nipple, and a pipe-cap.

As for the inline canister heater, I have had excellent results so long as they are plumbed according to instructions.

Mount the heater low on the left frame-rail.

Put a TEE in the radiator-drain, such that the open leg of the TEE feeds the INLET of the heater.

Route the OUTLET hose up and over to "Y" into the lower "return" heater-hose.

Cover the OUTLET hose with one of those split foam pipe-sleeves and then wrap with that shiny bubble-wrap insulation.


If you follow these instructions, on a sub-zero morning the temperature gauge will be up a mark or so.


If you just cut a heater-hose and put in the heater, you are just wasting electricity.

Read it again.

The INLET comes from the bottom radiator drain port, through the heater who's INLET is in plane with the radiator drain, with the heater's OUTLET hose then being "Y"ed into the lower/return heater-hose.

Heat goes UP; if the heat cannot go UP, it will NOT circulate and does little good.


These are simply the basic instructions that come with a canister heater.

I don't understand your set up. What are the benefits/differences in using the drain port, (return) heater hose method as opposed to just using the lower radiator hose. Are you refering to the pump style heater or the inline convection hose heater.

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Lower Radiator Hose Heater

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Circulating Tank Heater

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When I had the big KATS tank-heater, 2500-WATT if memory serves, plumbed onto the old 6.9, it by far outperformed any freeze-plug heater I ever used.

When I pulled the engine, I cleaned and boxed it all, but have not yet had reason to re-install it on the 6BT, as the block-heater on the 6BT has thus far been more than sufficient.

Should the block-heater ever fail, I would not hesitate to re-install the big KATS.

Do you have any more information on the kind of KATS heater you have?

 

[Kevin 007]

What about an oil pan magnetic heater. Just stick it on and it will keep the engine oil warm plus.. Its low in the block so heat raises. Or try to wrap a heater around the oil cooler on the side of the engine. They are fed from the rear of the block and the coolant flows towards the front. Just oppisite of the oil flow...

The magnetic ones fall off. I have lost a couple. The glue on ones however are not bad. I had a large one that covered the entire bottome of the oil pan on a 1.6l VW diesel and it was just enough heat after about 6 hours to notice any difference in starting. So I don't think they would work for our large oil sumps. AND, the need a complete flat surface to stick to. And we have a drain plug smack dab in the middle of our pans...so....I would refrain from a stick on pan heater in out case.

 

[eastsideauto]

The 7.3 IDI school bus chassis that we used to use at work had an optional oil pan heater. It was a screw-in deal that was screwed in to the oil pan. I know that the newer Cummins b-series engines have this as well.