When temps stay in the lower teens to below 0 how do you use your engine heaters? Plugged in all the time , on a timer, a few hours before needed? I just use my 2940 4x4 to clear snow when need and its been often lately. Temps here in Iowa are going to be brutle next several days and I want to be ready w/o a electrical fire worry. I've read timers are a fire hazard.
- Thread starter Randy G
- Start date
Timers are the best but you must get a timer rated for the circuit. Saves on the power bill and the heater element. Get a commercial or industrial duty lighting contactor. Don?t get the cheap type you plug the house lights in to when you are on vacation. Again it must be rated for the load. 20 Amps at least.
One like this is what we use. Work great and is safe.
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/3419/ELEC-T101.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1pvAh_yJ4AIVSbjACh11eAcyEAQYASABEgKJE_D_BwE
Timer Contactor
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/3419/ELEC-T101.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1pvAh_yJ4AIVSbjACh11eAcyEAQYASABEgKJE_D_BwE
Timer Contactor
The other day when I used my IH584 I hooked up the battery charge to the battery and plugged In the block heater and came into the house for around 30 minutes. Went out and touched the side of the block and it was warm so tried to fire it up and it fired right up. Temps at the time where around 30. What I do when I need the diesel tractor is just a I said and I check it a couple times and once the block is warm to the touch it starts. Now back when I was still drinking truck I would plug it in right after I parked it and it stayed plugged in all night
I believe the tank heaters have a thermostatic shutoff, but the block heaters do not, so they must be switched on/off. Keeping it warm from a condensation point of view is best, but there is very little moisture in the air sub zero and you will lose BTU's to the ambient.
Bob Bancroft
Well-known Member
- Location
- Aurora NY
It depends, on the weather, what I'm doing, etc. The two the I am apt to plug in are parked together, and I have a timer I can use for either if I choose to.
The Ford 655A backhoe has a low power automotive freeze plug heater. I have left that plugged in full time lately because of the weather [it's my snow plow] and for other jobs I've had lately.
The other is an L10 Cummins truck engine. Also with an in block heater, but I think a good sized one as it came in it, and it warms it up nicely. When I'm going to use it, I'll plug it into my timer[nothing special] and have it heat for two or three hours before I think I might be starting the truck. Never have had a problem.
Is your heater in block or external tank? I prefer in block as it seems you get a lot more heat for less watts. Tank heaters can be thousands of watts where the in block ones I recall were in the hundreds.
The Ford 655A backhoe has a low power automotive freeze plug heater. I have left that plugged in full time lately because of the weather [it's my snow plow] and for other jobs I've had lately.
The other is an L10 Cummins truck engine. Also with an in block heater, but I think a good sized one as it came in it, and it warms it up nicely. When I'm going to use it, I'll plug it into my timer[nothing special] and have it heat for two or three hours before I think I might be starting the truck. Never have had a problem.
Is your heater in block or external tank? I prefer in block as it seems you get a lot more heat for less watts. Tank heaters can be thousands of watts where the in block ones I recall were in the hundreds.
Well I leave mine plugged in when it is below zero. Son did not plug it back in when he parked it yesterday morning. I needed to blow the neighbor's lane last night after the wind died down so his wife could get home from working second shift. I plugged it in at around 6 PM and went out at 10PM and it took off but really hammered. The thermometer showed -15 when I came in after blowing it out.
It only costs about $1 a day for a heater to be plugged in. I will gladly pay that to be able to start and use a tractor whenever it is needed. At each farm there is one tractor with chains and a loader/snow blower. That tractor has to start. So it is either plugged in 24/7 or in a heated building. I have tried timers but it seems like I need them when the timer is off too often. I have wired a cord to a thermostat so when it warms up the power goes off.
I will tell you this. The saved wear and tear on the electrical system and reduced engine wear will more than pay for the cost of using a block heater.
It only costs about $1 a day for a heater to be plugged in. I will gladly pay that to be able to start and use a tractor whenever it is needed. At each farm there is one tractor with chains and a loader/snow blower. That tractor has to start. So it is either plugged in 24/7 or in a heated building. I have tried timers but it seems like I need them when the timer is off too often. I have wired a cord to a thermostat so when it warms up the power goes off.
I will tell you this. The saved wear and tear on the electrical system and reduced engine wear will more than pay for the cost of using a block heater.
boberjagel
Member
Son plugged in 4000 to auger corn next morning as we were leaving the shed. When I shut shed door it bumped the auger and we had sparks. Totally confused us. Minutes later the cord to the block heater went off like an arc welder. Apparently heater shorted out and current was throughout the machinery. Son said good thing we were there .Could have been fire.Now im afraid to plug them in overnight.
I do not know of any coolant heater that will cycle there either on or there not period. But most are in such a place that the heated coolant will move around and be just fine if you leave them hooked up an hour or over night. The block heater in my big rig which is a 1963 Diamond-T sits in one of the freeze plug holes and looks like a small water heater element like what in in a home water heater
I like a timer set to get the heater going a few hours before I need the tractor. At a JD service school I was at they told us Deere doesn't recomend leaving a tractor plugged in all the time because it keeps the engine warmer than normal shutdown temperatures. This causes the oil film on the upper cylinder walls to migrate downward and you start the engine with less than normal upper cylinder lube. This in turn means more cylinder wear. I also had a fire in an F250 7.3 power stroke caused by the wiring in the truck. It was in my car port, in the middle of the night when it burned. If someone driving by at 1:30am hadn't stopped I would have lost my house.
Bud Sather in MT
Member
- Location
- Glasgow, Mt
I use a kats 2000 watt engine heater. I plug it in 2 hours before I need it and it is ready to go. Bud
Jim.ME
Well-known Member
- Location
- central ME
Most tank heater have a thermostatic control in them. Kat's advertises theirs as between 135F and 175F. Photo of a Kat's 13100 series Circulation Tank Heater below. Other types may have metal housings instead of aluminum. I think at least some of the JD ones are aluminum body Phillips Zerostart brand.
We've been expecting snow here off and on the last few days, hasn't materialized, seems to go south. My 4430 and loader sets outside and I've been keeping it plugged in. It has the block heater. Generally though I plug it in when I use it or give it a little shot of ether in the top of the air cleaner stack.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
Heaters vary from 250 to 2000watts . Run the heater until the side of the cylinder head is warm to the touch .
Russ from MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Bemidji MN
All the tank heaters that I ever installed had thermostats, block heaters do not.
Russ from MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Bemidji MN
I think all the newer GM vehicles have a thermostat in the cord on the block heaters, they will only turn on when the ambient temperature is below 0F.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
That is why I cut that thermostat wart off the end of the GM block heater cord . And install an illuminated plug.
I went out to fix a tire in a 4230 several years ago. Every time I touched the darn thing I got a good shock. I walked around the tractor and seen the darn block heater plugged in. I unplugged it, fix the tire. Plugged it back in and told his wife it needed fixed. She said he knew that. He would get off the tractor and plug it in.. when he needed the tractor, he would unplug it before he touched the tractor. She said he had been doing it for years
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