Improvised Block Heater

Oh man ...you are good! got a few fish on that one! Wish I had thought of that one....

Say, are you related to the guy that said NASA claims hydroplaning is relative to tire pressure?

WHoooo weeee that was a good one! And I'll bet part of your way of thinking is "there is one born every minute"

Thanks .....I'm still laughing

It wouldn't be politically correct for me to tell you what we refer to that kind of fix as, in my neighborhood.

Hey, let us know how your block heater works.

Make sure you have a friend that'll pick you up and let you use their computer.

-Bruce

But that fire extinguisher ain't gonna help when the OP is asleep...

Scroll up and read where the OP says he puts it on it's highest setting.

- The Masked Marvel -

- Nehmo - Once, while I was in Advanced Auto Parts, I saw an advertisement that said something like 75% of engine wear happens during start-up when the oil has yet to circulate. I kinda think that percentage was exaggerated, but the thought raises a question: How come they don't have electric oil circulation pumps that start *before* the rest of the engine? With something like that, the wear could be reduced.

I just went out and started the truck. It's now 26°F (-3°C). The engine started fine, but it's not cold enough now for a real test.

i think there are a couple companies out there that make a "pre-oiler". but with reasonable care, its not uncommon for an engine to last 200k miles. usually the body rots, or another major ($$$) system goes that causes the owner to get rid of the car.

I checked the owners manual on my iron, it must be a really cheap one because it does not have a setting for oil pans.

Ken W

The OP can do whatever he wants. The rest of the commentators have raised the issue of safety. SAFETY. Get it?

You can think whatever you want as well, but I wonder about your comment when you cannot even identify yourself. Troll on, if you want.

The OP asked for an opinion and pretty well everyone nixed it on the safety issue.

I wonder if you just use a screwdriver, crescent wrench and hammer for YOUR automobile repairs. Just wondering, you don't have to answer.

Ken

snipped-for-privacy@nospam.au wrote:

- snipped-for-privacy@nospam.au -

- Brent P-

- Nehmo - I looked at the iron, and it's labeled at 1,000 watts. The advertisements for magnetic oil pan heaters state 150 W for a car and some heaters are a 1,000 W for a tractor. I'm going to turn the iron down about half way. It's not that I fear full blast would be a hazard. A thousand watts is nothing compared to what the running engine puts out. It's that I like to be conservative with utilities.

LOL!

I think it's the same setting as for cotton. :)

JazzMan

You made that sound way too easy. "Why don't you just pull a frost plug?" I think I know the answer to that one.

Stop screwing around. Just get a hot water tank heater element and epoxy the damn thing to the bottom of the oil pan. Problem solved.

Rita

Uh.. You're digging yourself deeper into a hole. You're almost through to china..

yes, you're right, a thousand watts is nothing compared to a running engine but that 1000 watts does not originate from the oil pan. Why don't you just be conservative with utilities and buy a magnetic oil pan heater and save yourself 850W every time you use it.

Just for fun, if you used 850W for 5 hours (of course you're not going to wake up in the middle of the night to turn on your "block heater") every day that's 5 kwh's per day for.... let's say 3 months. that's roughly 450 kwh's at $.10/kwh. Total, you're paying almost $39 a year. Look at all those savings! Conservative with utilities, my butt.

Good work.. You just gave entropy a nice push.

-Bruce

Oops, I changed 1000w to 850 and didn't change the number of kwh's.. that'd be 383 kwh's at $.10/kwh

Started the car yesterday after it had sat for a few hours at -18°C. Took a bit of extra cranking to start, and it was idling a lot faster when it did start. Almost took off down the street when I put it in gear.

Tonight is supposed to go down to -23°C. Good night to have the block heaters plugged in.

-3°C is nothing.

- Brent P -

- Nehmo - I think the concern is of the hot part of the iron touching some flammable material, like the clothing. I suppose this could happen if it tipped over. I notice the modern irons have auto-off safety features.

- Nehmo -

- Brent P -

- Nehmo - You mean all of a sudden burst into flames. I don't see how. Besides, I have it in the upside-down position against the oil pan. Heat going up, the plastic handle stays cooler than in normal operation.

- Brent P -

- Nehmo - Where would we be if none of us were adventurous?

Some risks are worth it, some aren't. Risking the whole car to have warm oil isn't worth it.

- Nehmo -

- Brent P -

- Nehmo - You risk the whole car just by driving down the road. The question is, How risky is it? You have to establish a danger mechanism and then evaluate the probability. I haven't seen anybody yet explain *how* this iron is likely to misbehave.