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Second block heater location

jmiller

jmiller

Recruit
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Location
Lake Villa, CRIL
A question for the northern neighbours,

Where is a second block heater usually installed?

I assume one in each bank, in the center freeze plug. Does it clear the starter and starter support bracket on right side?

Thanks
 
mine was a very tight fit. After I put the bracket back on I didn't need to worry about the cord coming unplugged. It is actually squished a litlle but works fine. Others have modified the bracket.
 
I also put the second heater in the other bank's center freeze plug & the cord fit snuggly under the starter rear brace.

Hadn't seen bk95td's custom starter brace made from a chunk of angle iron when I did mine, but will be copying his idea & making installing a similar, more rugged starter brace in the future.

My reason for putting in the second block heater at engine rebuild time was primarily for redundancy as the original heater looked fine/no significant corrosion so I reinstalled it, but figured it's so easy to put in a new one on the other bank while the engine's on the stand (& so much more difficult to put a new one in, when the engine's in the truck).

That being said, 2 heaters will heat things up notably quicker for those times when you forgot to plug it in the night before. If you pay attention to total wattages, you can size the 2 heaters so they'll still work on a common 15 amp household circuit, so you can use 2 or 3 way adapter plug & just one extension cord/outlet.
 
ak diesel driver said:
I'm running 2600watts total on a 20amp circut
Click to expand...
I'm thankful I don't need that much heat. Alaska is beautiful but -50 just sucks. It was -38 when I was in fairbanks at thanksgiving 2 years ago.Maybe it's all in what you are used to.
I also put the extra heater in mostly in case one takes a dump. Of coarse if it's someone elses electricity:D I'd plug them both in and have instant heat at start-up.:thumbsup:
 
I put my second one in so I could choose how much electricity I used... one is 600w, the other is 1000w. I plug them in according to the thermometer... first the 600w, then the 1000w, and for those really chilly days, 1600w (both).

The side benefit is, my work has alternating circuits to save money... one plug works for an hour, then the other. That means my truck wasn't plugged in full-time, which was death on those really cold days. Plugging in both cords means that one block heater is always working, even at work :D
 
Thanks,

I was looking for quick warm up by plugging in first thing in the morning. In northern IL, it usually doesn't get much below 0 or stay there very long. But I can't plug in at work. So on real cold days, its run the truck a couple time during the day. Or have a buddy help me jump the truck and use my inverter to run the block heaters for 10 or 15 minutes.

Since the motor was out, I thought is was a good time to add a second heater.
 
ak diesel driver said:
I'm running 2600watts total on a 20amp circut
Click to expand...

That's almost 22 amps. I'm surprised your breaker doesn't trip. Is it in a cold place? Keep in mind a breaker is rated for only 80% of capacity, i.e., 16 continuous amps on a 20 amp breaker, and your outlet is most likely only rated for 15, unless you have a heavy duty outlet. A 12 guage cord is also rated at 20 amps. If the components are pulling enough current to produce the full 2600 watts, the circuit is over loaded, and you could potentially have a fire. Be careful.
 
LOL yes it's always 0* or below. And it's only plugged in for a little while. It's also on a dedicated circut that is wired with solid not stranded 12 guage. Weakest link is the cord plug in but even with out that much load I have to replace cord ends frequently. Everthing else stays connected so it doesn't get much wear.
 
Since I was updating a few things, though I'd share an observation on my Dual block heaters.

The other day had cold weather and snow for the overnight. Expecting to start plowing early in the morning, thought I'd be nice to the neighbors. To quite the truck down, I plugged it in. Both 600 W heaters got power.

8 - 12F overnight, the temperature gauge registered 165F when the key was turned on. It was quiet as a kitten when it started.
 
I too have 2 blockheaters,i got them both plugged in a short heavy duty cable that exites in a nostril,it always started after 3 hrs plugged in at most in the coldest weather.
Ofcourse the truck sleeps now in my new heated shop,...much..much more agreeable to the both of us:D
 
I have two 750 watt heaters. to get around the start brace issue i just flipped around so the round end goes on the block. i think i had to drill out the hole on the round end for the block bolt and grind a radius onto the other end so it wouldn't interfere with the starter motor.

leaves just enough room for the block heater connection.

pic for reference, not mine. i would try to get a pic but there is over a foot of snow out there.

IMG_1914.jpg
 
It doesn't get cold enough here to require block heaters to start if the car/truck is squared away, on average. But I do not like freezing for 15 20 min till the heater gets going. And its a lot easier on the hardware if the heater has been plugged in for a bit. So I used to put the heater in the Olds diesel on a timer and had it come on about 3 hours before go to work time. That way I stayed toasty all the way to work, but didn't waste to much juice. Yea when it comes to cold I am a wuss. :hihi: No one here has heater plugs outside their workplaces but the sun usually kept the inside warmish on all but the coldest days. Funny thing is when I was doing this back around 2000 I told my dad, and he laughed and said he used to do the same thing when I was a kid. He used a Big Ben alarm clock and a regular wall light switch. The alarm winder stem would wind up a string and pull the light switch on. :thumbsup:
 
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