TWELVE (12) volt engine BLOCK heater?

If you are going to go to the trouble of hauling a battery out to the car, simply take out the car's battery and heat it up in a bath of warm water. It will then start the car easily no matter how cold it is outside, especially if you switch to synthetic oil.

There are propane fired engine block heaters available that plumb into the cooling system, if you insist on having the engine heated without access to 120VAC.

A normal (in Sweden) block heater is over 500W. That would require about 42A @ 12V, which would probably drain your battery when it is cold.

You would probably be better off with a real heater like:

Thomas

Tom, you did NOT fully understand/read the question. The battery used to pre-warm the engine is NOT cold; it is a separate DEEP-CYCLE battery toted out from a WARM townhouse.

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I doubt it.

I think it's a lot easier just carrying and plugging-in a second battery than removing/replacing the regular duty battery at minus -30F degrees below zero with a 25mph north wind!

Yup, that synthetic oil really helps; I use Mobil 0W - 30

Way cool, I mean hot. Where do I get one of these propane block heaters?

>

And it will take a couple of hours to nicely pre-heat that engine.

A couple of hours of 42amps? How big a battery are you hauling?

FWIW, I haven't plugged a car in in about 20 years. Modern (ish) ignitions and oils, etc.....

Steve Ottawa

I have lived and driven in very, very, very cold places. While there is no substitute for a preheated engine, the benefits in a vehicle in proper repair aren't so much about fast starts, but are more along the lines of immediate heater output and reduced severity of cold-engine operation side effects. I was able to get going routinely in subzero weather in vehicles with carburetors and points-condenser ignition systems; a vehicle with fuel injection and high-energy electronic ignition usually starts easier under extreme conditions.

There's no such thing as a 12V engine block heater, that I'm aware of. Good thing, too -- such a device would take HUGE amounts of current and would exhaust just about any battery you could "tote" long before bringing the block to any kind of usefully increased temperature.

An engine heat retention blanket or a propane-fired engine heater is your best non-120VAC option, or you could simply spend the effort and money on putting your car into the condition required for reliable starts at extremely cold ambient temperatures.

DS

It isn't very difficult to add an outdoor outlet. All you need is an electrician for about $150 or so. Then you can use that electric heater.

No kidding....until you phrased it like that, it hadn't dawned on me.

All the _energy_ he'll need to raise the temperature of a cast iron engine block, heads and everything else, in a Minnesota winter....he'll have to

*carry*, in one go. Ugh. Hope it isn't icy.

Get some 0W-30, fresh plugs, and clean injectors.

Steve Ottawa Gets cold here, too, eh?

Don't need to "nicely" pre-heat the engine, just need to nudge it up a small amount (10 -15 degrees). The engine is in pretty good shape, but the operator will be a car-challenged woman. She can handle a simple plug-in, but jumper cables is expecting too much.

Ottawa? That's the tropics compared to Minne-SNOW-ta. We are more like Onterio, dark, 30F below, higher wind.

Then you phrased your question improperly.. You said "I" in your post, not "a car-challenged woman".

It's suggested that you have 150 watts per liter of engine size so assuming a smaller engine of 2 liters you'll need 300 watts of power and with a 12 volt battery you would be drawing 25 amps. The most expensive NAPA marine gel battery you can purchase (for $329) has a reserve capacity of 450 minutes. The cheapest deep cycle would be $159 and has a reserve of 175 minutes.

If she can't even hook up jumper cables, how is she going to connect the battery to heat the car or to charge the battery? It sounds like you're giving her too much credit. Anyone can plug in a 110 electrical outlet. Why rule out the easy route? Plus she's going to have to tote this battery to and from the warm townhouse. If I were her, I'd be pissed at you if you made me do that every day. Spend the money and save your "car-challenged woman" a lot of hassle and headache.

-Bruce

I still contend that in proper condition with a good battery and large-gauge battery cables, and with the proper starting procedure for the car in question, there should be no problem with the car starting for even a car-challenged woman on 30-below days,

It's "Ontario", and Ottawa is located there.

DS

Try the synthetic oil. Worked great in my snowblower. Before it I had to use electric start but after I could use just pull start to get it going.

"Wm.\ Warning" ( snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net) writes: > Hi Group:

Ottawa, Ontario. Dark doesn't matter.

30C below. Wind doesn't matter either.

I hate to spoil the fun but this subject was discussed in this group last Jan 28. The heading is " Use a battery and inverter to run block heater?" I found it on page 41. In my opinion the idea should work but I saw no mention of an actual test. best wishes to the first to try the approach.

Walt in Chalk River ON

I put two 800 cold amp rated batteries with 2 gage cables along with Syn Oil in my car and it starts OK at

-25 degrees. If you have room try it, my second battery I put in the truck. Batteries and cables for less than US $150. You might try this. Oh I ground the battery in the truck and ran the two gage cable to the plus terminal in the engine bay, this gives 1600 cold amps to start with.

Wasn't this newsgroup.. was alt.trucks.ford.

Let's think about this though.. the OP would carry a battery out approx 15 minutes before they wanted to start the vehicle. I don't think 15 minutes would be enough time using a 600w heater; might have to double the heater size.

If they had more time, they could run the 600w heater for 30-60 minutes.. the inverters I've measured are about +90% efficient, so

600w on 120 output would be about 60 amps input on 12v. Conveniently enough, Interstate Batteries rates some of its commercial/industrial at a 75 amp rate..

Keep in mind that the inverter will stop operating at approx 10.5v, and that the higher the discharge rate on the battery the less it will be able to provide.

Interstate's U1850HC has a reserve of 110 minutes at 75 amp draw.. sounds like the battery to use. It also weighs 116 lbs. And would have to be recharged each day.

It looks like it would work, but there's probably a better way.

regards,

Jim

If you were to use a synthetic oil a very low pour point (say 50 to 60 degrees F) wouldn't that prevent having to have any type of block heater? I live in the south and have been fascinated to up to the Twin Cites or Duluth and see people plugging in their cars. Can't this be avoided?

David

Like the man said, sometimes electrical outlet just isn't an option. Not everyone gets to park their car in their driveway or even on the street in front of their house, you know.

Jasper

I had a similar heating system on my SAAB 900, but it used gasoline. Worked like a charm.