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Pick · 10-08-2005, 09:11 PM

At $6000, it is a bit heavy and pricey for a trailer, but a boondockers dream.This would be really cool and more practical on a motorhome. Check out the fuel consumption figures.

http://www.ponypack.com/products.htm

overlander63 · 10-09-2005, 07:23 AM

The railroads have been toying with this for a few years. It is a great way to reduce emissions in urban areas, as well as reducing fuel consumption. The average new locomotive currently costs well over $2 million, and $6,000 is a drop in the bucket. I haven't seen too many of these on semi trucks, but they would probably be a great idea for busses.
I guess if you are real handy with money, you could put one on a MoHo.

74Argosy24MH · 10-09-2005, 07:44 AM

Webasto makes a similar system for diesel motor homes but it uses a burner for the heat source. When stopped the burner heats the engine, interior and hot water. When the engine runs it heats the interior and hot water.

The Webasto system is about twice the price (installed) so doesn't sound like a real great deal compared to the pony pack with an ac compressor, 2 cylinder engine, and alternator. With diesel over $3 a gallon and manufacturers now recommending that engines be shut down for extended stops these sound like a viable alternative.

Chaplain Kent · 10-09-2005, 08:06 AM

When they installed the new engine in Chummy I had them put in an old fashioned electric block heater. We do a lot of winter camping, but with the cost of diesel now I use it to warm my engine before starting to reduce the long idle time. When I'm camping in the winter time all I need to do is plug in a 110 cord to an outside outlet and warm the engine before I start it up. I have been assured by an Isuzu mechanic that this system will raise the temperature of the oil as well as the coolant. The block heater was $75.00 installed.

overlander63 · 10-09-2005, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaplain Kent

I have been assured by an Isuzu mechanic that this system will raise the temperature of the oil as well as the coolant. The block heater was $75.00 installed.

The engine block heater almost always is installedin either a coolant hose, or where an expansion (freeze) plug is located in the block. Warming of engine oil in the pan is minimal at best. Very few heaters also include an oil heater in the oil pan. I don't think it would have been only $75 to install both these items in your engine. Sorry to burst your bubble. If I am wrong, please let me know, as it is possible the mechanic did you a favor because of the oil-out incident, and gave you a cheap upgrade.

SafeHarbor · 10-09-2005, 10:42 AM

Hi, folks,

I had one of the infamous GM via Oldsmobile diesel engines in a '79 GMC Sierra Classic pickup. (In fact, I had three of them, but that's another story.) I don't recall where the wires entered the engine on the block, but overnight in freezing weather the block heater would make the entire engine warm to the touch. I remember poking my finger in the coolant and feeling the oil in the dipstick one cold morning, and they were satisfyingly warm.

I think given enough time, there's enough of a transference of heat from the oil or the block to warm the entire engine.

There was also the time the neigbor's dog decided to chew through my pricey silicone extension cord... Woke us all up at 3 AM.

Best regards,

Lamar

john hd · 10-09-2005, 11:37 AM

http://www.padheaters.com/description.html

there are similar units for pre heating your batteries as well.

john

overlander63 · 10-09-2005, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john hd

http://www.padheaters.com/description.html

there are similar units for pre heating your batteries as well.

john

That looks interesting. Do you have one on any of the trucks you drive? If so, how well do they work?
I had to get a truck started one night when it was -20. The block heater had been on since the truck had been shut off (about 2 days). While the coolant was not cold, maybe 70 degrees or so, the lube oil was so thick the oil pump couldn't pull it into the engine. I finally wound up under the truck, behind a barrier of cardboard boxes, with a quart can of burning diesel fuel under the oil pan to get the oil warm enough to flow.

john hd · 10-09-2005, 02:48 PM

terry

everything i drive has block heaters. they work fine for wisconsin. some of our line machinery has heaters like these on the oil pan and hydraulic tanks.

i ran a backhoe years ago that had just battery heaters, that worked too.

however you do it by heating oil, water or batteries it will start.

nothing beats a heated garage!

john

wahoonc · 10-09-2005, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlander63

I had to get a truck started one night when it was -20. The block heater had been on since the truck had been shut off (about 2 days). While the coolant was not cold, maybe 70 degrees or so, the lube oil was so thick the oil pump couldn't pull it into the engine. I finally wound up under the truck, behind a barrier of cardboard boxes, with a quart can of burning diesel fuel under the oil pan to get the oil warm enough to flow.

When we lived in South Dakota, I remember my dad draining the oil out of the car at night and putting the pan in the kitchen, then pouring it in the car for those cold morning starts. We had a garage but it wasn't heated and at -30 below....

if it didn't start on the first couple of go arounds...it weren't gonna start.

Aaron

john hd · 10-09-2005, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wahoonc

When we lived in South Dakota, I remember my dad draining the oil out of the car at night and putting the pan in the kitchen, then pouring it in the car for those cold morning starts. We had a garage but it wasn't heated and at -30 below....

if it didn't start on the first couple of go arounds...it weren't gonna start.

Aaron

my grandfather burned up his kitchen doing exactly that!

next year he had a heated garage, and was banned from the kitchen by grandma.

john