Issues with leaving hydraulic and engine block heaters plugged in during the winter?

[eKretz]

The condensation thing from leaving the block heater on continuously sounds like a load of bollocks to me. Condensation generally occurs when something is cold and then gets brought into a warm space - think like when you take a can of beer out of the fridge and it immediately gets condensation all over it. If you have a warm can of beer (like the tractor with the block heater on and warmed up) and put it in the fridge, ever seen it get covered in condensation? No? Me neither.

Now it *could* present a problem if you constantly and repeatedly turn the block heater off and on. If you start with an ice cold engine, then the block heater warms it up, you're bound to get some amount of condensation there. Generally that's not an issue as long as you're running the engine after it gets warmed up with the block heater as most people do, because once it's running and comes up to temperature it will evaporate most of that moisture with the heat.

But if you just run the block heater over and over on a timer from ice cold to warm, but don't ever start the engine and get it up to full operating temperature, I could definitely see it gathering some water in the oil over time.

 

[Topzide]

If you can get a wifi signal to where you have you tractor parked, a wifi plug will give you a timer for on or off and remote turn on from your phone. The feature that I use for my 3500 CTD is, set up an automation scene that turns on between a certain time when below a set temperature! That way, if I need to go rescue the DW, the truck is ready to hook up trailer and go without waiting to warm before getting up the road! I've been her "tow truck" for years. Then have a later time period for weekends. Can always turn on from the phone if needed before even getting dressed! Have found that the truck needs about 60 - 90 minutes pending temps. The little 3 cylinder Iskei only needs 45 minutes. Set it up when plowable snow is forecast. JM2C.

 

[stevensdo]

My daughter’s boyfriend is a Diesel mechanic for an implement chain and he said that it was ok to leave the my block and hydraulic heater’s plugged in on my JD 4600. I thought you couldn’t do that…. Is it ok to leave them plugged in?

We’ve had some really cold temperatures up here in Minnesota, so I have been going back and forth to plug it in. He said to leave it be. Thoughts?

Thanks!

-Bob

I have my Mahindra Max 25 plugged into an Amazon smart plug. I have Alexa turn it on about an hour before I'm going to plow snow. Live in northern Wisconsin.

 

[Cycledude]

I live in area with some of the most expensive electricity in the state of Wisconsin so I prefer to not leave stuff plugged in unnecessarily
Being plugged in for an hour or two ahead of time seems to help my tractor start plenty easy.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

If you can plan your usage, plug it in 24 hrs prior.

Supposedly a factory Cummins 6.7 block heater doesn't need more than three hours before the temp peaks.

I have never used mine since it rarely goes below -10 here, and I really don't feel like messing with a cord when leaving between 2 and 5 AM.

 

[rmonio]

Thank you for all the replies. The idea behind the WiFi Plug is a pretty good idea - I’m going to try that and see if I can make that work in the barn (I Have WiFi there) - so I should be able to control it from my phone.

I’ll let you know how it works for me! Thanks!

-Bob

 

[WinterDeere]

Thank you for all the replies. The idea behind the WiFi Plug is a pretty good idea - I’m going to try that and see if I can make that work in the barn (I Have WiFi there) - so I should be able to control it from my phone.

I’ll let you know how it works for me! Thanks!

-Bob

I went with ZWave, which was already widely-used in 2011 when I made that change. It has mesh networking capabilities, which means that most devices on the net act as range extenders for other more-distant devices on the same net. But I think there are a few proprietary variants of ZWave now (e.g. Zigbee).

Mine is integrated with our alarm system, and despite having changed alarm system equipment manufacturers twice in that time, these ZWave devices have worked with all three systems. It's nice, because I have all of our outside lights programmed to go on at sunset and shut off at midnight, and various decorative indoor lamps on their appropriate schedules. Even my espresso machine is plugged into a ZWave outlet, programmed to come on and start pre-heating at 5am.

We also have ZWave flood sensors and a whole-house water shutoff valve, so it will shut down water to the whole house if a washing machine ever blows a hose or if our 3rd floor water heater ever springs a leak. And since the alarm system controls it all, it will also turn on all our outside lights if there's ever a break-in attempt in the middle of the night.

That said, I'm not sure if there's a new standard out there that's even better or gaining wider acceptance, as ZWave is at least 20 years old now.

 

[rmonio]

I went with ZWave, which was already widely-used in 2011 when I made that change. It has mesh networking capabilities, which means that most devices on the net act as range extenders for other more-distant devices on the same net. But I think there are a few proprietary variants of ZWave now (e.g. Zigbee).

Mine is integrated with our alarm system, and despite having changed alarm system equipment manufacturers twice in that time, these ZWave devices have worked with all three systems. It's nice, because I have all of our outside lights programmed to go on at sunset and shut off at midnight, and various decorative indoor lamps on their appropriate schedules. Even my espresso machine is plugged into a ZWave outlet, programmed to come on and start pre-heating at 5am.

We also have ZWave flood sensors and a whole-house water shutoff valve, so it will shut down water to the whole house if a washing machine ever blows a hose or if our 3rd floor water heater ever springs a leak. And since the alarm system controls it all, it will also turn on all our outside lights if there's ever a break-in attempt in the middle of the night.

That said, I'm not sure if there's a new standard out there that's even better or gaining wider acceptance, as ZWave is at least 20 years old now.

We’re not a wired home when it comes to outlets - but we do have a mess of Arlo cameras that we use for monitoring. I will check out the Zwave - if other folks have suggestions, please share! Thanks!