Cordless Block heater - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

raslaje · #16 12-23-2008, 12:39 AM

And when you figure out how to do a remote glow post your solution on here for me.

BioDieseLandon · #17 12-23-2008, 01:18 AM

how do you know if your car has a factory block heater? was it a standard option?

pawoSD · #18 12-23-2008, 07:53 AM

If you're going to spend that much you might as well find and install a diesel (or gasoline) fired webasto......that would properly and automatically keep the engine warm....and possibly the interior too.

rcounts · #19 12-23-2008, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

I thought of that, but wouldn't I need a bigger alternator?

Not necessarily. Depends on how long you drive. All excess current (whatever isn't being used by other things) will go into charging the battery. Unfortunately the stock alternators don't have all that much excess charging capacity, so you'd probably have to be driving it at least a few hours between uses of the battery to recharge it...

KarTek · #20 12-23-2008, 10:39 AM

OK, here's a wild idea that I'll just throw out there off the top of my head without doing any calculations. Why not take a deep cycle battery and a switch or timer switch. (Intermatic makes a timer switch that runs off a battery and it's good for AC and DC) Fabricate a short 6" or so section of copper pipe with barb connectors on each end to fit the heater hose. Buy some resistance wire like they use for injection line heater and wrap the section of copper with it until you reach the desired load that won't kill your battery. Then, wrap that assembly in insulation and insert it in your heater core lines. Next, wire the power from your aux battery to that heater strip and also to your aux water pump so the wire heats the water and the pump circulates the water. If you end up finding that it kills the battery too fast, just add more turns of resistance wire.

As a bonus, you can hook your aux battery up to a device called a battery isolator and then connect it to your main charging circuit. That way, the aux battery won't suck down your main battery.

It'll probably need refinement but that's the best I can come up with in 5 minutes of thought...

curtludwig · #21 12-23-2008, 11:10 AM

Not only can this work but it will work, I've done it. I must have posted 10 times on this on the board and it seems like nobody believes me.

I lived in an apartment and couldn't plug the car in. It gets extremely cold here, -20F a couple times a year while I owned it.
I bought a 110ah battery at Autozone for IIRC $60 though its probably more now. I already had a Coleman 400w inverter for which I paid maybe $30 on sale, those are probably cheaper now although mine appears to be a pretty good one.
I'd put the battery in the trunk and hook up the inverter with an extension cord. The worst problem I had was how brittle the wires from the inverter to the battery would get.
My setup when fully charged would run the block heater in excess of 2 hours but that left the battery pretty flat and was hard on it. Most of the time 1 hour was entirely sufficient to start the car easily at -10F and without too much trouble at -20F.

The worst problem I had was humping that battery to my 3rd floor walkup where it would charge all day and then back down to the car the next morning.

As to wiring it into the car, your stock alternator makes relatively little power, 55a I think. If you've run the block heater for 1 hour on my setup 400w/12v=33a so assuming your full 55a was available (not being used to recharge the starting battery) it would take .6 hours to recharge the block heater battery. If you had (as I do) an hour commute thats actually not entirely unreasonable any less of a commute not so much...

At home you could wire a battery charger in with your block heater cord, plug in the car when she gets home, remember to set the heat controls to defrost, then the engine stays warm and the extra battery gets charged. You set the heater to defrost and the windshield gets partially cleared by the block heater, really handy on cold days.

To be super slick set up your inverter to come on based on a remote car starter...

I've got a house where I can plug in my cars so its not my problem anymore. The big battery was handy in our ice storm a week ago...

rwthomas1 · #22 12-23-2008, 11:18 AM

By the time you purchase a good battery, inverter, etc. and get it all installed, hoping it will work as planned you will have spent half of the price of this: http://mayberrys.com/honda/generator/models/eu1000i.htm I just called them and the price is $669 with free shipping. I have the 2000watt model on my boat but the smaller 1000w will do you just fine.

It weighs less than 30lbs so your wife will have no problem picking it up. Mine starts easily and always, sips fuel and only asks for a 1/2qt oil change once a year. If your wifes workplace is secure, just place it on the ground in front of the car and only a short extension cord will be required. If needed a bike lock, chain, etc. can easily secure it to the car to keep it from walking away. She could fire it up at lunchtime or afternoon break and the car will be toasty.

The side benefit is if you do any boating, camping, etc. you will have the generator for that too. Should also run a gas or oil boiler when you lose power as well.

Lastly, these produce NO gas fumes when shut down. I, and many other boaters, keep these below when not in use which is a major no-no to any boating safety organization.

I'm a big fan, obviously as the engineering of these is simply genius.

RT

bgkast · #23 12-23-2008, 11:24 AM

Just have her park near the building.

Mister Byrnzoil · #24 12-23-2008, 03:48 PM

you could move from Philly to Palm springs CA, like I just did... it got down to a bitter 49 degrees last night.... brrr, I had to put a fleece on.

Seriously, I like the battery/inverter/block heater idea, but if you are going to draw your aux battery down flat, you might consider an optima battery... smaller and lighter and more tolerant of repeated deep discharge and general abuse, also, no liquid acid to spill.

good luck!

Chad300tdt · #25 12-23-2008, 04:28 PM

Hey Robert, I have your old heater blower in my wagon.

BTW, 49˚ is t-shirt weather.

I think I'm going to give it a try. I like the Optima battery idea too.

I appreciate everyone's input. This needs to be as hands-free as possible for my wife. It takes her 10 minutes to get from her chair in her office to the car in the parking lot, so I want to have everything automated.

Curt's testimony is good enough for me to give it a go myself.

Matt L · #26 12-23-2008, 04:30 PM

Optimas are very good batteries, but they are overpriced. You can find a better value elsewhere and still not have flooded cells.

Mister Byrnzoil · #27 12-23-2008, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

Hey Robert, I have your old heater blower in my wagon.

Sweet, too bad about the rust on that old wagon, but I knew Hogweed would do the right thing and recycle the bejeebes out of it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt L

Optimas are very good batteries, but they are overpriced. You can find a better value elsewhere and still not have flooded cells.

True and true, but we have one on the boat that has outlasted TWO sets of allegedly deep cycle marine batteries.. economically it was worth the extra $$.

Bio300TDTdriver · #28 12-23-2008, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raslaje

And when you figure out how to do a remote glow post your solution on here for me.

The technology and the product have been around for some time. You can program it to start at a certain temperature as well.

Of course you will have to find some way to replace the workout your wife won't get lifting and starting the generator.

kerry · #29 12-23-2008, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwthomas1

By the time you purchase a good battery, inverter, etc. and get it all installed, hoping it will work as planned you will have spent half of the price of this: http://mayberrys.com/honda/generator/models/eu1000i.htm I just called them and the price is $669 with free shipping. I have the 2000watt model on my boat but the smaller 1000w will do you just fine.

It weighs less than 30lbs so your wife will have no problem picking it up. Mine starts easily and always, sips fuel and only asks for a 1/2qt oil change once a year. If your wifes workplace is secure, just place it on the ground in front of the car and only a short extension cord will be required. If needed a bike lock, chain, etc. can easily secure it to the car to keep it from walking away. She could fire it up at lunchtime or afternoon break and the car will be toasty.

The side benefit is if you do any boating, camping, etc. you will have the generator for that too. Should also run a gas or oil boiler when you lose power as well.

Lastly, these produce NO gas fumes when shut down. I, and many other boaters, keep these below when not in use which is a major no-no to any boating safety organization.

I'm a big fan, obviously as the engineering of these is simply genius.

RT

Exactly what I was thinking. It's a way more versatile solution. I have a Honda EU 2000 and will use it for that purpose if I find myself in a situation where it was required. You could pick up one of the Harbor Freight cheap generators for less than $200 and it would also do the job. That Honda is one fine piece of machinery. Just make sure you cable it too the car because it is a very inviting piece for thieves.

kerry · #30 12-23-2008, 08:42 PM

Also, Coleman makes a portable propane fired hot water heater for campers. With a little ingenuity it could be plumbed into the coolant system with quick disconnects.