Engine preheater hose connector?

[DoyleX]

Until you get into the sticks and the generator wont start. Now what???

 

[watglen]

Block heater is useless when overnight temps get well below freezing. Could work if you plugged it in at end of day, and left it plugged in all night. Or multiple heaters. But yeah, we need to get the machine warmed up and ready to run in minutes, not hours. And there is no street power available.

 

[Shimmy1]

Minutes???? I don't know about other guys but getting the engine started is one thing, no way in hell is my machine going to move in less than 10 mins AFTER it's running unless it's coming out of a heated shop. Is this some sort of emergency service? I know of lots of contractors here in ND in the oil patch that use the diesel light plants. When its -20° I don't think there is anything that will get you moving in minutes.

 

[Welder Dave]

A propane Tiger Torch(weed burner) inside a piece of pipe is very common for getting equipment going out in the boonies. Just make sure the pipe is long enough and you adjust the flame so it isn't shooting out the end of the pipe. You just want the heat coming out the end. A 90 deg. elbow helps direct the heat up when placed under the engine on the ground. Some guys don't use them in a pipe but using about a 3' section of pipe is safer than using the open flame alone. Don't try to heat a cold engine instantly though or you might end up burning it to the ground.

 

[Delmer]

Block heater is useless when overnight temps get well below freezing.

You must have used a low wattage one (400W). If you have 1,500W it will warm up in half an hour. Want it faster you make your own bigger electric heater.

I've always wanted to make a pipe within a pipe heater like the "circulating" heaters that hook up with heater hoses. Heat it with propane torch or charcoal. But the plug is so much easier.

 

[Bill Smith]

I said A good generator

 

[Mobiltech]

I've been adding the espar diesel burning heaters to machines here. They come with a timer that starts the heater automatically. 2 hours is more than enough time to have the engine warm. You can also plumb it thru your hyd tank to warm it up. They come in 12 or 24 volt. Easy to install.

 

[komatkaze]

I'll agree with Mobiltech, the espars are the way to go, they'll cut in at I believe 70 deg F and out at about 170, just before the thermostat opens, keeping the engine at optimum temp. They are programmable, will come on 2 hrs before anticipated start time, yet 45 minutes are all they really need for starting at -30 deg F. Old school hooking up hot pickup engines to -30 engines was done for years, and it cracked heads for years too, a 200+ degree change in seconds was too much to take for a lot of heads. They can be bought for about $1000 here in Canada, and are easy to install, they have they're own water pump, so no worries about convection circulation of water. They're simple to operate and troubleshoot, I'm thinking if you can figure out how to post on this forum, you can set them and retrieve codes.