Block heater

[dave wells]

well here in alabama its been in 20 last few days and at night dips down to single digits


its not because it hard to crank it just the opposit it i never hear it crank it just fires up it is a great truck an i wanna help keep it that way and part of it is me bein a baby and want the coolant warm so heater warms up quicker

 

[prairie]

...everybody uses 1500 watt circulating heaters on ther tractors , big trucks or skidders you want the head hot not just warm

Same here in NE Nebraska. For every day reliable use, farmers and ranchers rely on circulating tank heaters.
Frost plug heaters sometimes are not enough, maybe if you had two or more.
If plumbed properly, the 1500 watt circulating tank heaters work much better. Maybe not as power efficient, but much more effective.
I wouldn't even mess with the frost plug or in-line radiator hose types, unless they are already installed.

Kat's

 

[dave wells]

any one got some pics of the freeze plug heater on their 6.2


noob ? but where are the freeze plugs at on 6.2

 

[mgramann]

Reporting back the results of the 600w inline radiator hose heater:

I'm sad to say, it isn't good. Perhaps I have a bad heater, but when I went out this morning, I felt no recognizable heat anywhere, including near the heater itself. I am going to get a circulating heater and be done with it. Probably a Katz 13150.

Any advise on this would be appreciated. I found a few things on the site, but more info is always better. I plan to replace the existing radiator hose heater with the t-connection, and then tapping into the heater hose-per post #26 here-http://www.steelsoldiers.com/cucv/28824-block-heater-tank-style-3.html

Again, any pointers would be appreciated.

 

[mgramann]

Another update:

I have installed the circulating Tank Style heater. It works fantastic. It needs to be mounted pretty low in the engine bay, so directly behind the radiator works well. I had to remove the fan shroud. I had planned on modifying the shroud to fit around the heater, but will probably install an electric pusher/puller fan setup.

There is one issue with the plumbing of this heater. The hot water output on the heater taps into the heater core hose after it leaves the engine. The cold water input on the heater taps into the lower radiator hose. This creates an open loop for water to bypass the heater core, making for a cooler cab. To prevent this, I installed a ball valve to close off the heater when I am not using it. I only use the block heater in very cold weather, and will have to open the valve when I use it. I may get a vacuum operated valve that will take care of this automatically. When the engine is running, vacuum will close the valve, preventing the heater core bypass. When the engine is off, the valve will automatically open, making it idiot proof.

Looking back, the freeze plug style would maybe have been easier. Oh well...

 

[WARWAG]

I picked up my KATZ Freeze plug block heaters for $21 each! They are worth there weight in GOLD!

 

[erniemigi]

if any body decides to get the block heater for there MV, Oreillys has them. the part # for the 600watt is 3100057, and the 1000 watt is 3100059, they do come with the cords.

 

[BIG_RED]

Here is my thread on this:

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/cucv/44083-two-freeze-plug-block-heaters-4.html#post728084

I would highly recommend Freeze Plug heaters. They are by far the best in my experience. Good luck no matter what you do.