JD 3720 BLOCK HEATER

[marshallcro]

Would anyone know the minimum amount of time a block heater needs to be plugged in for the engine to start at low idle immediately for a JD 3720. Or is there a chart for this. I understand that it depends on the outside temp., but roughly. Thanks in advance.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Every engine is different. That's a pretty small Diesel, and like you say, it depends hugely on ambiant temperature. An hour would be a good starting point. I have a broad range of Diesels, and they all behave different, so you have to go by your experience. Some want to be glowed, no matter how long plugged in. Others will start at an idle with no preheat.

 

[Beltzington]

Per the manual temp colder than 32F you should be using cold start procedures and temps below 0F you should be using block and diff heaters. Just as a baseline you are aware pushing the key in dumps hot air into the intake for cold starts? I'm curious what bothers you about the high-idle?

I could not find anything on what temp the high-idle is activated but even if you knew you would than need to determine how long the heater took to warm the block to that temp which would depend on several variables, Here is a comment from another Deere forum member on his experience so take it at what it is worth.

Hi. I just tried out my block heater in the 3320 for the first time on Sunday. Plugged it in for about 30 minutes and then tried it. That little Yanmar started up after turning over just a couple times. The temperature was about 7F (-14C)

 

[Industrial Toys]

Quality is quality!

I built this timer out of a timer motor some time ago, with a cam and a microswitch It can turn something on for ten minutes on and twenty off or the other way around (since the microswitch is SPDT). No fragile electronics to program or blow up. It's great for putting something you may or may not want to use on standbye, without heating the great outdoors more than necessary.