Hey all,

Was reading some great posts of people's good luck of starting their D's in any temperature when plugged in for a while. I often have to visit client offices in the middle of nowhere and parking lots with no plug-ins near by. My car does start pretty well when cold, but below zero can't be a bit scary even after a few glow cycles.

I have a similar to one of these battery jumper units that has a AC inverter built in to it. My question, has anyone used one of these inveters to run their block heater for a short time to warm up before starting? Seems like it would work, even if for a short time.

http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=3548&cid=43

Could almost bring the block heater cord into the cabin so you don't have to pop the hood.

Thanks!

-m

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Now:
2018 Tesla Model X
1999 S500 Grand Edition 164k
1992 300D 2.5 Turbo 287k
2005 E320 4MATIC wagon
1991 Alfa Romeo 164L 99k (sleeping for a while)

Then: 96 Lincoln TC, 93 Lincoln TC, 87 560 SEL, 87 300 SDL, 80 300D, 89 560 SEC

haven't done that yet but was thinking of buying a schumacher unit for each car.

__________________
currently
[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
1983 240d 162+++ Anthricite grey w/ henna red interior and hella lights-wifes car-Red

the above two cars are for sale
and can be seen on the cars for sale thread here. pix also available.


240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

23" gt 21 speed still on original tires-still got the nubs
21" khs tandem

I think you will find that a Block Heater draws more current than most inverter supplies can handle. At the very least your battery supply would run down very quickly. Those inverter supplies are really designed for running your laptop or small TV.

__________________
1991 M-B 560SEL Arctic White/Grey 99,000 Miles
1987 M-B 300SDL Ivory/Palomino 229,000 Miles (sold but never forgotten)
2006 Volvo XC70 Blue/Beige
1999 Porsche Boxster Arena Red/Savanna Beige
1986 Porsche 928S Goldweiss/Brown

A 400w inverter could handle the factory block heater, don't even think about the inline heaters, they draw 1000w+.
Said inverter will likely draw 40-45A from the battery. Judging from the size of the unit, I'd guess many of the booster packs are around 10 amp-hours. Ten minutes of block heater operation isn't going to do much other than lead the booster to an early grave.

I know somebody who carries a trolling motor battery down from his apartment and runs the block heater from the inverter for an hour, then lugs the battery back upstairs and puts it on the charger. It works, but it's a lot of effort.

__________________
'79 300SD W116
'86 190E 2.3-16V W201
'92 300D 2.5 W124
'99 E320 4MATIC S210

I don't know where else it can be bought besides canadian tire:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396670121&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443271702&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474396670271&bmUID=1134259295398&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true
This is a 1200w inverter with a deep cycle 12 volt battery enclosed. I live in a very cold area and have thought about it. The unit can be mounted in the trunk+the block heater plug routed to it. I'm not going to be driving the car in the winter so I havent actually done this. It seems easy enough to have a 2 switches. One to turn the block heater on and another that charges the unit (run 12v source to trunk) while the car is warmed up+driving. You could also use the 12v charger (included) to charge it from 120v outlet. It also seems easy enough to use a $4 timer typically used for turning on lamps, etc,
and set the timer for 1-2 hours before anticipated starting the car. It is heavy, so not the ideal thing to carry around, but in this area there is also much snow, so it might help to have extra weight in the trunk anyway.
I paid $300 last year-much cheaper than a 1200w inverter and new battery-but not as cheap as they are now-$199. If they were cheaper to ship I'd offer to go to Canada and send them-shipping cost would be too much.

The problem seems to be the inverter here, but why do you need one? You don't want to run a transformer or inductive motor, but just a resistive heater.

You could run the heater on DC if you had the voltage. How about nine or ten 12V gel cells in series, hooked to the heater input? It would not be all that hard to hook them up through some relays that allowed 12V charging with 120V output.

Sure, you would need nine or ten batteries instead of one, but they would each be fairly small.

Espar Heater Systems
www.espar.com/, (800) 387-4800
Espar currently produces six models of battery-powered heaters for use on highway trucks. Four of the models heat the air to maintain a comfortable driver environment with the engine off. Two of the models heat the engine coolant for cold weather starting. These heaters can also provide cab heat through heat exchangers in the cab. Standard on all heaters are fully integrated numerical diagnostics, low and high voltage safety cutouts, and automatic heat range cycling to maintain a warm comfortable environment. The four cab heaters use about a gallon of fuel for a 20 hour period, and the engine heaters use about a gallon for a 4-6 hour period. Installed in the tool or luggage compartment. Seven day timer available to preset the engine pre-heater. Additional products exist for other types of vehicles (e.g., school and transit buses). 3 year warranty. Cost: $1,000-$3,000


Teleflex, Inc. (Proheat)
www.proheat.com/ (604) 270-6899
This company offers three products: Proheat X-45 (diesel fired heaters), Proheat Gen 4 (APU), and M-Series, and the Proheat CCU Shore Power (electrified truck spaces). For their diesel driven heating system, they sell the X-45 which provides engine coolant heat and cab heat. It takes 3-6 hours to install (installs almost anywhere- in tool box, frame rail). The X-45 consumes about 0.1 gph, and there's only minor maintenance as it's designed for long term, heavy duty use in truck, bus, coach, off road and military markets. It also has a programmable 7-day digital timer to start the unit in advance. Excellent leasing program available, 2 year (and up) warranty on all parts and labor, nationwide sales and service dealer network (see web site). Cost: $1,500-2,000


Webasto Product North America, Inc.
www.webasto.us/oem/en/oem_trucks.html, 1-800-HEATER-1
They have two air heater products for cabin air and three products for coolant heating. The two battery-powered air heaters are the Air Top 2000 and Air Top 3500. Both heat the cab only. It is installed typically under the bed in the sleeper cab. The heater takes in cold cabin air, heats it up, and blows it back into the cab. The temperature is thermostat controlled. They can operate for 20 hours on one gallon of fuel, and after start-up battery draw is 2 amp/yr. The engine heaters are the TSL 17, Thermo 90S, and DBW 2010. They utilize an evaporative burner allowing variable Btu output. They can be installed in the engine compartment or frame rail. Installations can take from 2-4 hours. Fuel consumption ranges from .03-.24 gph. The heater is integrated into the coolant loop of the engine and preheats the engine. The burner concept is the same as in the Airtop 2000. Additional products exist for other types of vehicles (e.g., school and transit buses). 2 year warranty. Cost: $1,000-$3,000

I often have to visit client offices in the middle of nowhere and parking lots with no plug-ins near by.

I think that it takes quite a few hours for the car to cool down to the point where it would be difficult to start. Yes, I am talking about sub zero temps.

If this is really a problem, step out every hour or two and start it up for a couple of minutes. Another thread is floating around (recent thread) on cold weather starting. Follow those tips w/fresh battery and glows and you should notice huge difference. Other posters report improvement with particular synthetic oils.

I live in warm temps now but had my diesel in Minneapolis in unenclosed garage for four years with only a few episodes. When you do change your glows, use only BOSCH and bore out whatever carbon you can from prechamber. Not sure if shops really take the time to do this.