Diesel Warming Aids

Hey what warming aid(s) do yall like best for your Diesel equipment ?

Summer!!!

haha yes summer....

do you mean ether, or a anti-freeze heater that you can after market install?

Yeah, summer would be nice. But in this part of Canada, block heaters are standard equipment. A machine that is plugged in starts as well as in summer. Of course that only applies if an electrical outlet is nearby.

For most of the older equipment it's usually just a visit from the Ether Bunny.

I meant after market stuff such as the coolant warmer or plug in dipstick to warm the oil

Hi Skihigh:

Thinks we do here is use two heater hoses with quick disconnects on them and connect from your truck to the equipment you want to start.Connect let it circulate and then start the machine. Just my opinion worked for us.

Mailtrain

mailtrain
That sound really neat. Do you have any pictures of that set up I would really like to see how that works.

CD, basically you put two 'tees' in the heater hoses of the machine, and two in teh truck you drive. Of these 'tees' run hoses with quick connects on the ends. When you get to the site in the morning, plug them in, hop in your truck for a coffee, and after 10-20 minutes, the antifreeze in the machine should be getting warmed up fairly well.

Basically the same effect as a block heater, but doesn't need electricity to work. Some guys get fancy and put in shut offs and various setups, but that's it in a nutshell.

Never had much luck with battery heaters or dipstick heaters, Too small, not enough heat, too much gadgets in the works. Too much wasted money and maintenance.

A good sound pair of batteries, clean, tight terminals and cables and grounds. A good starter, no el cheapo from down the flea market. Good battery cables, 4 oo at least, bigger if you can afford them even out to 2 oo. Welding cable is good. No aluminum, melts too easy.

Block heaters are good, that is, good heavy duty electric or propane units, Never liked the Webastos, too complicated, and propane units tend to blow out their pilot lights. Electric is better. Plug into a stabile 240 AC circuit with reliable breakers and take care of it. Same with fuel heaters, waste of time/money mostly.

Set the unit up every time like you was going to hop right on and start it every day. Clean the trash out and mud out. work the thottle and make sure it's loose. Check the linkage, make sure it's loose. Drain water and sediment out of everywhere, don't shut off any pet cocks or valves, they will freeze. Cover the air filter intake so snow and rain can't get inside to freeze the filter. Keep a cleaner filter in winter time. Clean mud off tires and tracks and linkages. Make shift levers easy to move and use.
Clean fuel and fuel filters or strainers is an absolute must have in winter. Tight fuel hose and tube connections with good securement clamps. Use #2 diesel above 32-35 degrees F. Use #2/kerosene or #1 blend between 32-24 degrees. say 25/75%. Use 50/50 at 24-10 above. Below that use Kerosene or straight #1. After zero just go home and forget about it. It's too damn cold for bears or men.

Good set of jumper cables is imperative, no Wally world or Kmart specials, good way to get hurt. 2 oo is best with 500 amp heavy duty clamps Buy a case or two or three of good ether spray. Use sparingly. Don't use acetylene, gas, propane, or WD40.

Best not to use #10 rosebud to heat things up, It melts too much including your skin. Do use some good brake line antifreeze in an airbrake system to keep it from icing. Don't use torch around it to melt it loose., Don't use a hammer either.

There's more, but I forget half of it, best not to work in winter anyway!

move to australia and lap up the 12months a year work lol


your all crazy penguins imo, i would be sleeping in the fireplace if it were below zero lol

Canadian Digger; Graywynd explained it in a nutshell,as good as I would. With all the equipment you have listed a quick start might be more reasonable.
That is a large battery charger gas driven with three alternators on it.Used on in the 70's when I worked clearing power line ROW.

Mailtrain

greywynd said:

CD, basically you put two 'tees' in the heater hoses of the machine, and two in teh truck you drive. Of these 'tees' run hoses with quick connects on the ends. When you get to the site in the morning, plug them in, hop in your truck for a coffee, and after 10-20 minutes, the antifreeze in the machine should be getting warmed up fairly well.

Basically the same effect as a block heater, but doesn't need electricity to work. Some guys get fancy and put in shut offs and various setups, but that's it in a nutshell.

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This sounds pretty ingenious, something I never thought of. While it may work in some cases, I can't see it working in others. Most newer pickups, for example, have aluminum blocks and require special anti freeze to protect the aluminum. Heavy equipment on the other hand requires special diesel anti freeze that one would not put in a pickup truck. Hooking the two systems together would mix the different antifreezes and could cause premature corrosion and gasket failure. Or am I missing something?

Heating Equipment

Hello Skyhightree1,

I see your location is Virginnia. With all the HOT AIR from WASH DC , why do you need aids to start equipment ?? :beatsme LOL Joking :drinkup

Really, your in an area,where engine block heaters are sufficient. Your in a civilized area with electricity everywhere. Just run a electrical cord over to your equipment. Put it on a timer for preheat 2hrs before start work time.

And if it not really cold, use ether, make sure you use "Heptane" in the ingredient. It is for Diesel's .

In Alaska we run the equipment 24 hrs a day when it is REALLY cold ! ZeroF degrees to -50F , after that we don't work. It does warm up.

Far as fuel is , just use #1, to prevent gelling at the worst possible moment , when you need the equipment. Too many cheapskates get caught by Mother Nature ! Then there is a lot of BAD word' s said ! LOL

surfer-joe said:

After zero just go home and forget about it. It's too damn cold for bears or men.

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Cool! Does that mean I get to go home now? It's -28C here right now.

Seriously though, we just never shut anything off. It runs all winter unless it breaks or goes to the shop.

Brian

-28C... YIKES! My blood would gell for sure.

Thanks all of our for ur suggestions and experiences ... I am not sure which way to go but I know im not gonna use a dipstick oil warmer. When you all say battery warmer did you all mean the battery blanket or another device I ordered 3 battery warmers hope I didnt waste my money trying it out.

swampdog said:

This sounds pretty ingenious, something I never thought of. While it may work in some cases, I can't see it working in others. Most newer pickups, for example, have aluminum blocks and require special anti freeze to protect the aluminum. Heavy equipment on the other hand requires special diesel anti freeze that one would not put in a pickup truck. Hooking the two systems together would mix the different antifreezes and could cause premature corrosion and gasket failure. Or am I missing something?

Click to expand...

That is something one needs to be aware of. I don't have my stuff setup that way, but since I normally drive a Ford with the 7.3, my truck and my equipment use the same antifreeze. One advantage of driving old stuff!!

If you use the battery blankets, make sure the battery and the blankets are tightly secured. It doesn't take a moment for a heavy battery to shred a blanket if it's loose. Fan or road wind will also tear them to pieces. They don't like acid much either. Tie the cords down real well where you can get to the plug without having to dig thru snow and ice. Better yet, move way south.... Oh wait, it's snowing in Houston this morning, never mind.... Good Luck!

Not sure about this one but I read where a lot of people up North use "some" gas mixed in their diesel to help raise engine temp.'s to even feel heat out of the heaters. I do not know the effects of, or the longivity of the motor in doing this, so please investigate that one first.
I do know I have run out of diesel before and I can take a rag and put some gas on it, not a lot, and open the air filter lid, leaving the filter on and start the motor and it will run off the fumes til it primes itself back up.