Oil Heater for RTV900

lloyd123 · Nov 7, 2004

I installed an oil heater on my RTV900 yesterday - see attachment. I've already put these Wolverine stick on oil heaters on two of my cars over the last several years and they have definitely shorten the warm up times.

Even though it wasn't that cold this morning I plugged in the heater for about an hour and then felt the dip stick - nice and warm.

The heater was about $44 and shipping was around $8.00. Very easy to install.

http://www.janyce.com/wolver/heat.html

Edit - I'm thinking that the Model #16 would probably fit on the transmission and help get the Super UDT up to temperature faster.

bczoom · Nov 8, 2004

Thanks lloyd123,

I'm looking for a block heater myself. I'll look at these.

bczoom · Nov 9, 2004

lloyd123

A couple questions on this heater.
On the web page it says they're "peel and stick". Looking at yours, it appears there's extra application sealant around the perimeter. Did you apply something extra?

For the heater itself, how durable would you think it is?Strapped on to the bottom of the oil pan, it's going to take a LOT of abuse from scrapes, submersion, rocks, sticks...

How long is the wiring harness? Is it setup where I can pull up for easy access? (I'm thinking the plug should be somewhere around the top of the battery).

BTW - What is that flat steel stock going around your oil pan?

Thanks
Brian

lloyd123 · Nov 9, 2004

Yes, it's peel and stick plus they include a tube of aluminum sealant to apply around the edge to seal out any chance of water getting in - not the prettiest but then again I went a little heavy on the application. These things don't come off. I've applied them on my cars two/three years ago and they haven't moved/lossened up at all.

It won't be subject to abrasion as the two metal strips (stock) you mentioned are the supports for a metal plate that you have to remove to install the heater. Once it's installed the metal plate goes back on with four bolts and it's pretty well protected.

To assure a solid attachment they give several recommendations on how to prepare the oil pan - just make sure it's clean and grease free. I placed the heater on by hand and then traced it's outline with a magic marker. Then I used a Dremel tool to remove the paint on the oil pan in that area and rough up the surface.

The cord is maybe two and a half/three feet long - I ran it up to just forward of the battery so I can reach down in there and pull out the plug to connect to an extension cord. They include a tie or two to secure it to the body along the way. They also include a a small squeegee to make sure the heater is firmly pressed in place.

Edit: It's hard to tell from the photo but there's at least an inch of space between the bottom skid plate and the oil pan. Plenty of room so the heater isn't touching the plate.

bczoom · Nov 10, 2004

( Edit - I'm thinking that the Model #16 would probably fit on the transmission and help get the Super UDT up to temperature faster. )

lloyd123,

I believe I'm going to go with this heater on mine. Let me know if you try one on the tranny.

Thanks
Brian

lloyd123 · Nov 10, 2004

I did some more looking around and came upon another company that makes stick on heaters:

http://www.engineheaters.com/cgibin/store/agora.cgi?cart_id=8766536.26601*hi62y2%25%CArt_id%25%25&xm=on&p_id=154&ppinc=Engineheaters

They give a capacity for engine oil, hydraulics and water. It seems a heater will be adequate for a lot more hydraulic fluid than engine oil - maybe you don't want to heat the hydraulic fluid as much as engine oil - then again they're talking about tanks and not transmissions. Anyway it might be better to buy a smaller heater for the transmission than you would for the engine of the same fluid capacity. There's a smooth flat area on the transmission right next to the drain plug that's about 3"x 6". A 9.5 (Edit-9.1, not 9.5) Wolverine or a similar sized ProHeat (125W) would fit very well in that space. The 250W Wolverine or ProHeat are just a little too wide (3 3 /4") to fit entirely in the flat area and would have to curve somewhat for that extra 3/4" to fit.

I may give a call out to Wolverine and see what they say.

bczoom · Nov 15, 2004

George,

Any updates?
I've been holding off on ordering the engine heater thinking I could combine shipping/handling and get one for the tranny at the same time.

Does this seem correct for the Wolverine?
Model 9.0 for engine
Model 9.1 for tranny

I haven't had a chance to check for a spot on the tranny. Will the 9.1 fit?

Brian

lloyd123 · Nov 18, 2004

Sorry - I've been on a business trip to sunny Miami since last Saturday. Just got back today and the ProHeat 512 was in the mail. I'll probably try to install it tomorrow. I'll give you an update when I'm done.

I went with the ProHeat 512 because it's a quarter inch narrower than the Wolverine.

bczoom · Nov 18, 2004

( Sorry - I've been on a business trip to sunny Miami since last Saturday. )

No need to apologize. I'm just jealous. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Thanks for the update and let us know how it goes.

Brian

lloyd123 · Nov 19, 2004

I installed the ProHeat 512 on my transmission today (see attachment) and it fit almost perfectly. It was a little hard to prepare the transmission surface as the support bars for the skid plates are in the way. I ran the plug up to the same spot I used for the engine heater. An advantage to using the Wolverine for the engine and the ProHeat for the transmission is that they have different style plugs/cords so I can tell which one is which.

If you order a ProHeat you may want to call the order in as their web site is not secure.