Deuce heater options

[cranetruck]

........

As mentioned before, I've had so much trouble trying to get the fuel burning heaters I have working, that I probably won't be using them.

Too bad, it makes for such a great project. What kind of fuel are you using? Have you taken your heater apart yet?

 

[CUCVFAN]

...i hear the fuel ones will make the windows crack though.

This is true. The TM specifically says to let it warm the cab for several minutes before switching to defrost to keep this from happening.

 

[cbvet]

I've tried diesel & kerosene. I don't even bother trying to burn the wmo/gas mix I use for the engine. And I've had them apart & cleaned the fuel control valves.

When the fuel burning heaters work, they definitely put out a lot of heat. Just not sure they're worth all the trouble or whether I even need all that heat.

I drove Deuce One 960 miles with temps between 10 & 30, & was in shirtsleeves once the engine warmed up. That's with the heater under the dash, recirculating heated cab air.

In my case, the instant heat would be the only advantage. You still need the engine warmed up before the truck runs well going down the road.

Maybe if I had more time for another "great project" I would work on them more, but now I'm trying to get the generator in the M51 trailer working.

 

[OPCOM]

If you use the hot water heater and install it yerself- be sure to cross the air hoses at the diverter as shown in the manual. The hosepipe at the right goes to the left defroster vent. That is the stronger airflow for defrosting the driver windshield.

 

[nhdiesel]

So far from the responses on here and what I saw when I checked out one of my father's Deuces, I'm leaning toward the aftermarket hot water heaters. Yes, the radiator will be blocked...thats SOP up here anyway. From seeing the room thats available in the trucks, I think I'll try the heater I already bought mounted to the firewall on the passenger side (unless I can get it to fit in the center), on the inside of the cab- so it will be recirculating already warm air.

If for some reason that heater doesn't cut it, I can use the firewall heater solely for the defroster, and mount a 2nd heater under the passenger seat to supply the actual cab heat.

For any trucks for resale, I'll do the easier cab sealing, like around the shifter and a few other areas, things that won't take away from the original look of the trucks, or their function/utilitarian appeal.

However, once I have one of my own, I plan to really insulate it, and I do like the idea of the fuel fired heater. I plan to give the heater its own fuel source, so that it will burn whatever they like best, and the truck can burn...whatever I happen to have that burns. The cab will be well sealed, and insulated well.

Jim

 

[GoHot229]

Well, then whats the better water type everyone's liking?, hows Boyce Equiptment's one stack up? its @ $200

 

[nhdiesel]

The one I picked was THIS ONE. No real reason I chose it, other than it was pretty cheap, looked small enough to give some mounting options, and I think 25k will be enough. Its only 12v, but for what little amperage its rated for drawing, I'm just going to wire it to one battery.

I can report how it works after my trip home from Louisville if I can ever get approved.

Jim

 

[IMA944T]

I had post on the other forum for Duece about heater last week. Installed OEM hot water heater and not impressed so far. But engine temp stays around 160 so therstat change is in the works. Bought the heater new so I know everything is clean and working good but just doesn't get really really hot even in 40 degree weather. After about 10 min of driving it gets hot enough that you shut it off but I thinnk it should burn you out right after engine warms up. So I'm going to try hotter thermo.

 

[cranetruck]

I had post on the other forum for Duece about heater last week. Installed OEM hot water heater and not impressed so far. But engine temp stays around 160 so therstat change is in the works. Bought the heater new so I know everything is clean and working good but just doesn't get really really hot even in 40 degree weather. After about 10 min of driving it gets hot enough that you shut it off but I thinnk it should burn you out right after engine warms up. So I'm going to try hotter thermo.

Do a little trouble shooting before changing the T-stat, it probably isn't opening as it is. 160 deg F sounds about normal for the driving you describe.
Check the flow of coolant, the correct "in" and "out" connections and bleed the lines at the heater (valve on top).
The heater may be rated 30,000 BTU, but it is a function of the coolant temperature. In comparison, a fuel burning heater will put out 20 or 30 K BTU depending on setting and the discharge air is hot!, much hotter than the coolant temp will ever be (I have measured temps over 270°F)....

 

[IMA944T]

Hooked coolant lines as per manual pic. One to water pump and one to manifold behind thermo. Heater core doesn't have a in and out on it or does the heater box it goes in. I don't know that it would make much a difference which hose goes to which tube on the heater core. Didn't know about crossing the defroster hose though. I'm hoping the 180 or 195 T stat will help as increasing the engine rpm's while warming up.
Bled all lines as I was installing. Also the heater core has petcock to bleed it after engine it running.

 

[cranetruck]

This is how it's supposed to be plumbed up. The heater is in a "bypass loop" to the main flow of the coolant.

 

[GoHot229]

Heres a thought how to get some heat to the box (guts) of the heater. As your coming off of the motor with the water line, come back and do some wraps/coils around the exhaust with the apropriate size of copper tubeing as close as practical to the turbo housing or first part of the j pipe and then into the firewall/cab to get some suplamental heating by convecton. Might raise it some measureable degrees, enough to make the difference. I recall my friend in Anchorage saying He didnt like Diesel because they didnt make heat. S'pose He'd know being up there on the Slope so much.

 

[greenjeepster]

Heres a thought how to get some heat to the box (guts) of the heater. As your coming off of the motor with the water line, come back and do some wraps/coils around the exhaust with the apropriate size of copper tubeing as close as practical to the turbo housing or first part of the j pipe and then into the firewall/cab to get some suplamental heating by convecton. Might raise it some measureable degrees, enough to make the difference. I recall my friend in Anchorage saying He didnt like Diesel because they didnt make heat. S'pose He'd know being up there on the Slope so much.

Or risk turning the heater core into an in cab steam bomb.

 

[GoHot229]

Well if thats no good, help me out here, theres got to be a way to get excess motor heat turned into water heating heat beyond the 160-180 the thermostat will give. I'm not talking about wraping the whole pipe, just one or two loops , or go to the other side and a fiew loops on the oil filter cans? then to the heatercore

 

[GoHot229]

Or risk turning the heater core into an in cab steam bomb.

your probably right

 

[greenjeepster]

Wrapping the lines around anything to increase the heat before it enters the heater core circumvents the purpose of the thermostat; to keep the water in the cooling system from reaching high temps and building pressure as steam, blowing the cooling system to the moon and melting down the engine.

Civilian diesels do not use anything but water heat systems so I am not sure why anybody needs anything more than that? Even rear engine diesels like city buses and concrete mixers put out enough heat through the cooling system to operate them in the winter. The lines for them travel 20-30 feet inside the frame of the truck before it hits the heater core in the cab area and it still puts out enough heat.

If you need more heat try insulating the lines, blocking the radiator from air flow or replace the thermo, but altering the system to bi-pass the thermostat and add more heat is a bad idea in general.

Anybody see the mythbuster where they took the thermostat off of a hot water heater and turned it on? It ended up being a very large boom

 

[yeager1]

If you need more heat try insulating the lines, blocking the radiator from air flow or replace the thermo

I agree.
I also think there may be an issue with the stock heater not raising the temp of the incoming outside air enough when it's very cold because it is moving to much air to get enough heat gain. It would be interesting to block some of the heater input (outside the vehicle- maybe with a magnet?) to see if you could make it blow less, but much warmer air. It's just like a variable temp heat gun, when you turn the temp setting up, it just blows less air through, so the air is heated more. Just need to seal the holes in the cab up first to keep the warm air in. If it weren't 75 out, I'd try it.

 

[SasquatchSanta]

Here is a link to a thread I posted a while back.

View topic - Forty Below Zero Deuce :: Steel Soldiers :: Military Vehicles Supersite

I elected not to go with the standard military fuel burning heater becase I feel it is complex (hard to install --- takes up a lot of room, AND I'm afraid of them.

One thing I found in cold weather is that with the truck sitting, even with the engine idled up, the engine doesn't warm up enough to allow the defrosters to knock the frost off the windshield. Until you get these trucks rolling (working) they don't build heat and in cold weather to run good let alone operate the defrosters. This is a good argument for a fuel fired heater but like I said earlier, I'm afraid of the fuel fired heater. To solve that problem I installed an electric 24 volt radiator fan and removed the 13 HP stock water pump fan.

Here is a link for the fan project: View topic - DISCUSSION - Slobbering Multifuel Cure? :: Steel Soldiers :: Military Vehicles Supersite

I should note that after this post was published I later built a better fan mount --- see attached pics. Note --- I don't mean to hijack this thread by talking about fan stuff BUT building engine heat is part of the challenge in operating these trucks in below zero weather.

I supplement the standard deuce cab heater with an auxiliary after-market heater mounted under the pasengers seat. Because we installed a pre-lub pump and needed the engine compartment room we modified (shortened) the stock deuce cab heater and mounted it under the dash. It now serves as a defroster only unit with the aux under seat heater as a cab heater. I feel moving the heater from the engine compartment to inside the cab increased it's heating efficiency. Some pictures of the cab heaters are also attached.

I realize this is probably a lot more than you want to tackle but it gives an idea of some of the options I choose.

 

[nhdiesel]

A hot water heater, especially with a cooling system with the capacity of a Deuces, should be plenty to heat a Deuce. It just might take more than the stock heater to do it. I have a small 3.9 Cummins in my Durango, and in the winter with the radiator completely blocked and a good t-stat in it, it still runs down around 130-150 degrees. Even so it has no problem heating the Durango in just about any temp. When we were in northern Maine at a little below -40 it kept us warm while moving, and just barely kept us comfortable while idling for a few hours, but it did the job.

I'll try experimenting once my Deuce is home...IF it can ever come home.

Jim

 

[acesneights1]

Here is a link to a thread I posted a while back.

View topic - Forty Below Zero Deuce :: Steel Soldiers :: Military Vehicles Supersite

I elected not to go with the standard military fuel burning heater becase I feel it is complex (hard to install --- takes up a lot of room, AND I'm afraid of them.

One thing I found in cold weather is that with the truck sitting, even with the engine idled up, the engine doesn't warm up enough to allow the defrosters to knock the frost off the windshield. Until you get these trucks rolling (working) they don't build heat and in cold weather to run good let alone operate the defrosters. This is a good argument for a fuel fired heater but like I said earlier, I'm afraid of the fuel fired heater. To solve that problem I installed an electric 24 volt radiator fan and removed the 13 HP stock water pump fan.

Here is a link for the fan project: View topic - DISCUSSION - Slobbering Multifuel Cure? :: Steel Soldiers :: Military Vehicles Supersite

I should note that after this post was published I later built a better fan mount --- see attached pics. Note --- I don't mean to hijack this thread by talking about fan stuff BUT building engine heat is part of the challenge in operating these trucks in below zero weather.

I supplement the standard deuce cab heater with an auxiliary after-market heater mounted under the pasengers seat. Because we installed a pre-lub pump and needed the engine compartment room we modified (shortened) the stock deuce cab heater and mounted it under the dash. It now serves as a defroster only unit with the aux under seat heater as a cab heater. I feel moving the heater from the engine compartment to inside the cab increased it's heating efficiency. Some pictures of the cab heaters are also attached.

I realize this is probably a lot more than you want to tackle but it gives an idea of some of the options I choose.

Links dont work ??