Oil Heater for RTV900

bczoom · Nov 19, 2004

Thanks for the info George,

I'll order 1 of each this weekend.

Did you use the Wolverine Model 9.0 for engine?

Not sure how cold it's been in Taxachusett but have you had the chance to use them? I'm wondering how long they need to be on to warm things up.
I have a power inverter on my RTV so I was thinking of connecting to that but I probably wouldn't want to run more than 30-60 minutes each. Just wondering if that's enough time.

Brian

lloyd123 · Nov 19, 2004

Yes, I have the Wolverine 9.0 on the oil pan. I have the same thing on a 2003 VW Passat and I have a timer turn it on each morning for about four hours before starting it up. I begin this routine once the temperature gets below 32F. I 'll probably do the same thing for the RTV900 heaters. If it's real cold (0F) then I would probably leave them on all night - if I had a reason to start up the Kubota the next morning. They don't get hot enough to "cook" the oil so you really can't do any damage by leaving them on too long - just eating up the kilowatts.

bczoom · Nov 20, 2004

George,

Just went to order the heater for the tranny.
The Proheat 512 is for hyd. of 10 to 30 gallons. Isn't that overkill since the RTV only holds about 3-4 gallons? Any reason I shouldn't go with the Model 154 which is 1-10 gallons (and 1/2 the wattage)?

Brian

lloyd123 · Nov 20, 2004

The larger capacity for the hydraulic fluid is for a tank. I think that the 512 would be better for the transmission as it has a lot more mass with all the pumps and gears. The smaller heater would probably work OK but would take longer and not heat up the fluid as much. This is all speculatuion as I have no prior expierience putting one of these on a transmission.

I have both heaters plugged in right now and will check on them in about an hour. I'll let you know how warm everything gets. It's about 35F outside here.

lloyd123 · Nov 20, 2004

Well, after about two hours both dipsticks felt warm - not hot - with the engine oil feeling a bit warmer than the transmission fluid. Part of this is due probably to the fact the dipstick for the engine is right over the oil pan where the heater is attached while the dipstick for the transmission is farther to the rear than directly over where I attached the heater.

I don't think the 250W heater for the transmission is too large.

bczoom · Nov 20, 2004

Thank you sir.

I'll order the 512.

Brian

ttowne66 · Feb 5, 2006

lloyd

Thanks for the info. To the guys worrying about the thing pealing off, you can mount somewhere besides the very bottom of the pan. Whoever manufactures these things must not understand heat transfer very well. HEAT travels in all directions.....HOT AIR rises. Big difference. So mount the thing wherever you want. perhaps applying a little 1in foam insulation would enhance the performance?

lloyd123 · Feb 6, 2006

Tom,

I would agree that heat travels equally in all directions in a solid but I think putting the heater on the bottom of a oil pan/transmission would speed the heating process when heating the fluid inside. The oil/transmission fluid would act very much like hot air - hot fluid will rise and cold fluid will sink - thus speeding the heating process. I believe air is considered a fluid in many respects - I seem to recall from physics class many years ago.