radiator heater - plugged in too long?

MikePA · Dec 23, 2004

my dealer warning me not to leave it plugged in for more than 1-1.5 hours. 
I'd call the dealer and (1) Ask him if he does give this advice and, if he does, (2) Why. Afterall, he knows what heater he sold you.

Egon · Dec 23, 2004

They do have an internal thermostat. You could leave it plugged in forever. In cold weather one can actually hear the heater cycling on and off.

Egon

44trxfun · Dec 23, 2004

( I'd call the dealer and (1) Ask him if he does give this advice and, if he does, (2) Why.)

I called the dealer. They said no problem--that some folks leave 'em plugged in for 12 hours or more, but that there really is no more benefit to doing that than just plugging them in for an hour or so before starting. Not a problem today as it's almost 40 degrees here this morning and RAINING!

RickB · Dec 23, 2004

I won't speak to hose or tank style heaters, but I never, ever saw or heard of a frostplug style heater that had an integral thermostat. Sure would like an example. TBN has been filled with info lately that somebody remembered hearing once, or some such thing. The advice to call the selling dealer was spot on, and yielded the correct answer.

Egon · Dec 23, 2004

You wish an example:

Just look at any frost plug style block heater. There are many of them in use.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

QueBota · Dec 23, 2004

I have a ThermoCord on my Dodge Cummins. Standard block type heater with a twist. The cord connects to the block heater on one end and to a temp sensor on the other end. The third end of the cord plugs into a standard 3 prong 110v power source.

The temp sensor is installed a water passage on the head. It is set to close when the coolant reaches 120F and make when the coolant drops to 90F.

Works pretty well. Don't have to fool around with a timer and the truck is always warm and ready to go. Comes in handy when I am on call.

It is made my KimGlow/Hotstart. Probably could be adapted to the block heaters on the Kubotas, the two prong connector with ground tab at the heater end are almost identical.

Dave

RickB · Dec 23, 2004

I look at them all the time. All I am familiar with are ON when plugged in. No thermostat, no cycling on and off. Which ones do? You have responded without answering.

Egon · Dec 23, 2004

Its a built in thermostat. Don't know how it works but know it works. Just like the temperature regulating heat tapes.

Know I can leave any of my vehicles and tractot plugged in for ever and they will not boil over.

If you beleive this is a fallacy come north and look for all the vehicles which have a block heater and are plugged in boiling over.

Brick walls are hard.

Egon

RalphVa · Dec 23, 2004

I'll bet most of those block heaters max out at about 1500 watts. That's about 2 hp. That's enough to warm up the water in there to up near operating temperature but won't put enough heat into the system to boil the antifreeze. The thermostat on the engine would open long before that would happen and dump a lot of heat through the radiator.

Even if they're 3000 watts. That's still only 4 hp.

Come on. Let's get realistic. They're great for warming up an engine in the winter time, but they're not anywhere near powerful enough to boil the antifreeze/water mix.

Ralph

RickB · Dec 23, 2004

( Don't know how it works )
They don't boil because 600 to 1000 watts won't heat the coolant and block and cylinder head anywhere near the boiling point. I deal with enough cold here; it topped out at 4 deg F a few days ago. I freely admit I am hardheaded, if that is what you were trying to get at. At least the guy with the Dodge knows what he has. I will take that at face value. Thanks for the help, Ralph.