Magnetic block heater mounting?

[David_Kb7uns]

Only thing that I found the block heater was good for was putting it on the hydraulic pump for the log splitter so it started easier. Did not help any on the Massey 35, taking a torch to the intake manifold helped more then anything else. Have block heaters on 3 out of 4 Kubotas the little D782 on the G2160 lawnmower has only a inline hose heater available but the mower never gets used in the cold weather anyway. But we do not get very cold here think the lowest usually is around 12F. A larger problem here is the B20 diesel not being winterized very good.

David

 

[Bill601]

What brand and wattage are you using and where on the engine do you attach it?

Thanks,
Bill

We don't get as much sub zero weather here in KY as y'all do up north and I find that the magnetic heater makes the little Kioti engine turn over a easier on twenty degree mornings. Of course that small an engine doesn't take much to warm. Anyway it is just my opinion that if heated even a little the oil will circulate and start lubricating a little quicker than if cold.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

What brand and wattage are you using and where on the engine do you attach it?

Thanks,
Bill

I have a Kioti CK20, 22-hp, so it is a small engine. I will post tomorrow what brand and wattage. I put it on the oil pan and if possible leave it overnight. It takes a long time to get the metal warm. If the tractor is sitting outside I don't think it does much good unless you cover the hood with a tarp. Seems like it never gets warm if there is any wind.

I do think it helps though there are few days when I actually use it. Usually after we had had a big snow and I'm going to clear driveways. I just have to remember to put it on the night before.

Back in the sixties my dad would put a drop light under the hood of his old pickup near the water pump. Said the 100-watt light bulb made it much easier to start at 3AM. So I guess any heat helps.

RSKY

 

[Bill601]

I have a Kioti CK20, 22-hp, so it is a small engine. I will post tomorrow what brand and wattage. I put it on the oil pan and if possible leave it overnight. It takes a long time to get the metal warm. If the tractor is sitting outside I don't think it does much good unless you cover the hood with a tarp. Seems like it never gets warm if there is any wind.

I do think it helps though there are few days when I actually use it. Usually after we had had a big snow and I'm going to clear driveways. I just have to remember to put it on the night before.

Back in the sixties my dad would put a drop light under the hood of his old pickup near the water pump. Said the 100-watt light bulb made it much easier to start at 3AM. So I guess any heat helps.

RSKY

Thanks RSKY. I look forward to seeing the details on the heater when you get a chance to look at them and post them. I've got a Boomer 24, so probably similar engine mass to heat.

Bill

 

[fried1765]

I have a Kioti CK20, 22-hp, so it is a small engine. I will post tomorrow what brand and wattage. I put it on the oil pan and if possible leave it overnight. It takes a long time to get the metal warm. If the tractor is sitting outside I don't think it does much good unless you cover the hood with a tarp. Seems like it never gets warm if there is any wind.

I do think it helps though there are few days when I actually use it. Usually after we had had a big snow and I'm going to clear driveways. I just have to remember to put it on the night before.

Back in the sixties my dad would put a drop light under the hood of his old pickup near the water pump. Said the 100-watt light bulb made it much easier to start at 3AM. So I guess any heat helps.

RSKY

I have the 200W Zero Start brand oil pan magnetic heater.
My tractor is stored inside, and I never use the tractor when the outside air temp. is below 32F.
That said: I like this little 200W magnetic heater, because it does get the pan oil warm, which makes for a nice easy start.
I plug the Zero Start heater in, the night before I plan to start the tractor.
Without a little heat, I have to listen to that poor little 32HP diesel shake - rattle & roll, and I feel sorry for those pistons/rods/valves.

For colder temperatures, a block heater, or "tank heater" would be a much better source of heat however.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
Back in the sixties my dad would put a drop light under the hood of his old pickup near the water pump. Said the 100-watt light bulb made it much easier to start at 3AM. So I guess any heat helps.

RSKY

Back in the '60's in Northern Vermont, my Dad would put an electric frying pan up tight under the oil pan of his little VW for those really cold nights (20 below and worse). Seemed to work for him.

 

[RSKY]

What brand and wattage are you using and where on the engine do you attach it?

Thanks,
Bill

Mine is a Kat's 1153, 200-watt available from Amazon for $32.99. I didn't get it from Amazon, don't remember who I ordered it from. But it looks like Amazon is "temporarily out of stock" on all their magnetic block heaters. Gee....I wonder why.

As I told on another thread my Kioti had trouble with water in the fuel and would only run for 3-5 seconds before shutting off. It sounded like it was hitting on a cylinder and a half. Smoke would billow out and stunk the front yard up. I put a space heater blowing on the injector pump for about thirty minutes and it cranked like it was summer. It was sitting outside in the wind when I did this. I had also put the magnetic heater on the bottom of the fuel tank to see if that would help.

RSKY

 

[John_Mc]

Back in the sixties my dad would put a drop light under the hood of his old pickup near the water pump. Said the 100-watt light bulb made it much easier to start at 3AM. So I guess any heat helps.

That's an old trick that pilots use with piston-engine aircraft. It does make a difference, but the light takes a lot longer to heat up the engine than even a similar wattage heater that is attached to the engine. Throwing an old sleeping bag or blanket over the engine to help retain heat can help with any preheating method, but especially with the light bulb trick.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Not to get too far off but I am having trouble convincing my neighbor that using a 100 watt equivalent CFL bulb (14 watt) is not the same as using a 100 watt incandescent to keep his pump house from freezing, said it worked and did not freeze......sometimes you just beat your head against the wall.

David

 

[4570Man]

Not to get too far off but I am having trouble convincing my neighbor that using a 100 watt equivalent CFL bulb (14 watt) is not the same as using a 100 watt incandescent to keep his pump house from freezing, said it worked and did not freeze......sometimes you just beat your head against the wall.

David

That’s a special kinda of stupid. Maybe it never got below freezing. Heck my cases of bottled water in the uninsulated shed took several days to freeze at around 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[John_Mc]

Not to get too far off but I am having trouble convincing my neighbor that using a 100 watt equivalent CFL bulb (14 watt) is not the same as using a 100 watt incandescent to keep his pump house from freezing, said it worked and did not freeze......sometimes you just beat your head against the wall.

Kind of the whole point of using a CFL or LED bulb: much more of the energy you put into them gets converted to light, and far less energy wasted as heat as compared to an incandescent. An incandescent bulb is about 2% efficient (if you define efficiency as light output): 2 watts of the energy you put in goes into light, the other 98 watts is lost as heat. A 100 watt incandescent bulb is basically a small heater that "wastes" 2% of its energy putting out light. If a 14 watt CFL is putting out the same amount of light, then it's producing only 12 watts of heat.

It's a basic law of Physics: Conservation of Energy. Energy can't be created or destroyed, just converted from one form to another. SO if a 100 watt incandescent is using 86 more watts than a CFL and producing the same light output, where does he think that energy is going? For a hands-on demonstration (literally), have him unscrew his 14 watt CFL bulb barehanded after it's been on for an hour. Then do the same with a 100 watt incandescent bulb.

For a good source on this, check out Watts, Heat and Light : Measuring The Heat Output of Different Lamps

 

[4570Man]

I’ve found that a single 100 watt bulb puts out a lot more light than two 50 watts. And a 300 watt throws a lot more light than three 100 watts. Why is that?