Very neat, is there a support bracket?
Fitting an Engine preheater
- Thread starter Cranium
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Very neat, is there a support bracket?
Cranium
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Yes but it is designed to mount onto the back that is facing down at the moment.
The pipes are holding it OK for now but I intend to make a suitable bracket, the supplied bracket is screwed on so I can unscrew that to mount my bracket.
Cranium
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I set the timer for 7am and it is now 8:50.
It is frosty so a good test.
The windows have started to defrost before I've started the engine, but it has only got to about 40°c.
I was expecting it to heat up quicker but then it is cold and that's a big engine block to heat up.
With regard to time -
Ive not looked back on the thread to check the wattage of your unit, but it will be under 3kw for sure (a domestic immersion is 3kw, a kettle is normally 2 or 2.2kw, somthing like that)
The webasto / eberspacher diesel powered pre-heaters are generally 5kw.
Again, ive not checked what yours is, but the above will, i hope, give some context?
Cranium
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It is 2.2w.
The results are good enough as the windows have cleared quickly which is what I wanted, I don't need a fully preheated engine.
Drivers side almost clear a couple of mins after putting the blower on.
This Shows how frosty it is...
Tim4x4
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I think that is a good result OK the Eberspacher diesel powered pre-heaters are 5kw for more hassle to fit and so I am led to believe totally unreliable.
I looked at fitting the Eberspacher diesel powered pre-heater, it has some pros like you can use it anywhere not having to have a 240Volt supply and it gives a better performance with 5Kw of heat available. On the con side it far more expensive, much more involved in fitting and setting up and the reliability issues with them put me off.
What you have shown on day one is good enough for me, I will be fitting a Hot-Frog or similar.
Thank you for the feedback.
Assuming the heater ran for the whole time I would say that nearly 2hrs sounds pretty poor to me, thats 60p worth of leccy as well! eberspacher and webasto block heater 30 mins to get decent warmth out of the heater.
If I run the webasto in my disco for 20 mins it makes a little dent in the temp, but 30 mins makes a massive difference.
It may be a case of thats all it can achieve in that installation so 45 mins might be a suitable run time and anything more is pointless as it cant achieve anymore?
Cranium
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I've tried the ultimate experiment and left the HotFrog engine preheater running all night.
Temperature outside was low to 0°c by early morning although there was little frost.
When I parked up and started it running at 6pm the engine temperature was 60°c, two hours later it had dropped to 50°c.
By 6am the next morning the engine temperature was 45°c, so as I suspected, the HotFrog can get the coolant temperature up to 45°c and maintain it at that on a cold night with the vehicle parked outside, 200tdi engine.
So leaving it running for probably about 1 hour is enough as it will get the coolant up to just above 40°c which provides enough heat to deice and/or demist the windscreen which is what I wanted.
Leaving it running longer would heat the engine block more to a certain degree but after only another hour or so the engine block stats to cool the coolant and the HotFrog only maintaing the maximum temperature it can manage.
Temperature outside was low to 0°c by early morning although there was little frost.
When I parked up and started it running at 6pm the engine temperature was 60°c, two hours later it had dropped to 50°c.
By 6am the next morning the engine temperature was 45°c, so as I suspected, the HotFrog can get the coolant temperature up to 45°c and maintain it at that on a cold night with the vehicle parked outside, 200tdi engine.
So leaving it running for probably about 1 hour is enough as it will get the coolant up to just above 40°c which provides enough heat to deice and/or demist the windscreen which is what I wanted.
Leaving it running longer would heat the engine block more to a certain degree but after only another hour or so the engine block stats to cool the coolant and the HotFrog only maintaing the maximum temperature it can manage.
Tommieboy
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- Ottawa, Ontario
Same here on my Webasto, and that's in -15C to -30C range. After 30 min the needle almost out of the blue bordering white. Most folks here just use a plastic scraper to de-ice their windshields... unless you're up north where some leave their trucks running 24/7.
Cranium
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A stone chip cracked my windscreen soi replaced it witha heated screen, I have both now.
Scooby22
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Is it themostatically controlled so you can leave it on overnight.
Cranium
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You can leave it on as long as you want.
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