Help-Slushy Antifreeze

[rrlund]

RR I have heard of that and they used to use various alcohols and I have even heard of kerosene and other oils! They used to drain the motor oil and bring it in the house to keep it warm! I also remember when stuff like those dipstick heaters were a big deal! I can still see the old radiator hose heaters and the cotton braided cords on 60 amp glass fuse circuits. Guess we been around for a while.

Ya, I was thinking about those dip stick heaters the other day. I remember one particular cold winter when I was a kid, Dad had a Ford Falcon and bought one. He'd park it right up by the back door so he could plug it in.

 

[Earl Grey]

Ya, I was thinking about those dip stick heaters the other day. I remember one particular cold winter when I was a kid, Dad had a Ford Falcon and bought one. He'd park it right up by the back door so he could plug it in.

I see you can still buy dipstick heaters, but I doubt they're very effective. When I was young everyone used head bolt heaters on flathead engines. They now sell 300 watt magnetic heaters with thermostats in them, they wok well, but slow ,and the engine has to be steel or cast iron.

 

[Earl Grey]

Do you remember the days before permanent antifreeze? Dad used to take glass one gallon jugs to the gas station and they'd pump purple alcohol in to them and he'd put that in the tractors. I can still remember the smell of it. When I was in my late teens I went to the neighbor's. His son and I wanted to use his WC for something. He had to take some buckets of water out and pour in to it then drain it when we got done.

Dad used to use Zerex alcohol in the JD R back in the day, but then as soon as it got warm in the summer it would boil out, one time baleing hay we added over 5 gallons of water! then he switched to glycol ant-freeze and it was good for the rest of it's life.

 

[JOCCO]

Ya, I was thinking about those dip stick heaters the other day. I remember one particular cold winter when I was a kid, Dad had a Ford Falcon and bought one. He'd park it right up by the back door so he could plug it in.

Don't laugh to hard on this RR Lund but i remember some places would not use or allow them. The reason was overheated and ruined the oil One fellow claimed it turned the oil to pudding Remember there isn't much i have not seen! Personally I never thought they did much good and the item had to be near an electrical plug. Maybe there were some better ones than I ever saw.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Hard cranking is the result of oil drag on the cylinder walls. Unless you can heat the oil enough to warm the pistons, dipstick heaters are a waste of watts.

That is why water jacket heaters work ... reduced cranking effort and warms the combustion chamber.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

Why don't you get one of those cheap testers and test it?

 

[rustred]

Don't laugh to hard on this RR Lund but i remember some places would not use or allow them. The reason was overheated and ruined the oil One fellow claimed it turned the oil to pudding Remember there isn't much i have not seen! Personally I never thought they did much good and the item had to be near an electrical plug. Maybe there were some better ones than I ever saw.

ruined the oil ... i know of one guy that ruined his cummins engine in a versatile tractor. the rod right over the pan heater went out, due to the element boiling the oil right above it. they should be only used for a few hrs to thin the oil,... or use the proper winter grade of oil. what you want is warm antifreeze to warm the piston drag. plus boiling the oil you are reducing the oil life.

 

[JOCCO]

ruined the oil ... i know of one guy that ruined his cummins engine in a versatile tractor. the rod right over the pan heater went out, due to the element boiling the oil right above it. they should be only used for a few hrs to thin the oil,... or use the proper winter grade of oil. what you want is warm antifreeze to warm the piston drag. plus boiling the oil you are reducing the oil life.

I favored the cooling system heat.

 

[used red MN]

due to the element boiling the oil right above it.

I would need a bit more convincing on this one. Maybe it’s the placement of the heating element to high in the pan. Ever fry a turkey? You heat the oil to 350F as long as no water is in the oil you only see a minimal amount of stir in the clear oil. I do see Google says that “mineral oil” motor oils can boil at 250F, so could be plausible. My point would be random rod bearings can and will go out. I am going to say that had more to do with which one failed than what was happening in the oil pan a few inches below it.

 

[rustred]

it was on brother in laws versatile 750 with 855 Cummins. i saw it with my own eyes. the oil heater is bolted to the bottom of the pan. the rod brg. right above spun. why cant it happen, ? starting a tractor everyday in winter with a dry brg. each time . no its not going to happen on a couple of starts. but time after time dry starting and running till the oil flows each time something must wear. you should know dry starts are the worst. i do not know the heater wattage but it was not these dinky ones. and yes i have had turkeys deep fried in oil outside, be damm sure you dont want to be sitting on that pot or your tool will get hot. heat rises. and when the paint is burnt on an oil pan, that is hot. you know... you sure question my posts like I'm making up stories . there is all kind of posts on here you can fact check besides mine.

 

[moresmoke]

it was on brother in laws versatile 750 with 855 Cummins. i saw it with my own eyes. the oil heater is bolted to the bottom of the pan. the rod brg. right above spun. why cant it happen, ? starting a tractor everyday in winter with a dry brg. each time . no its not going to happen on a couple of starts. but time after time dry starting and running till the oil flows each time something must wear. you should know dry starts are the worst. i do not know the heater wattage but it was not these dinky ones. and yes i have had turkeys deep fried in oil outside, be damm sure you dont want to be sitting on that pot or your tool will get hot. heat rises. and when the paint is burnt on an oil pan, that is hot. you know... you sure question my posts like I'm making up stories . there is all kind of posts on here you can fact check besides mine.

I put a heater in the oil pan of a Deutz I have on my snowblower. There is a long list of cautions in the instructions on proper use. The primary concern is coking of the oil. Synthetic oil does help guard against this.

 

[rustred]

IN the oil pan ? all the ones i have seen go underneath the pan.

 

[moresmoke]

IN the oil pan ? all the ones i have seen go underneath the pan.

https://phillipsandtemro.com/soluti...ns/electric-immersion-heaters/oil-pan-heater/

I think it is a 300 watt. Came with the weld in bung. The oil pan was not flat on the bottom to use a silicone stick on heater. Not much for options to heat an air cooled diesel in the winter.

 

[cjunrau]

https://phillipsandtemro.com/soluti...ns/electric-immersion-heaters/oil-pan-heater/

View attachment 141145

I think it is a 300 watt. Came with the weld in bung. The oil pan was not flat on the bottom to use a silicone stick on heater. Not much for options to heat an air cooled diesel in the winter.

View attachment 141146

Almost the only way is a tiger torch or big heater or in a building. Probably on the of the biggest draw backs of air cooled engines in the cold north. I know of a few people who have and like them. I have driven a few but have no experience with the over all dependability of them. My dad seemed to stay with case when I grew up and i guess that is why I have 4 of them.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

I would like to hear their reasoning as to why you can't heat cold oil with it.

Seems rather unhandy..... so if you don't need it for a week, you're gonna have to pay for all those watts because the oil can't cool off?

 

[rustred]

https://phillipsandtemro.com/soluti...ns/electric-immersion-heaters/oil-pan-heater/

View attachment 141145

I think it is a 300 watt. Came with the weld in bung. The oil pan was not flat on the bottom to use a silicone stick on heater. Not much for options to heat an air cooled diesel in the winter.

View attachment 141146

That makes sense using a 300 watt heater. Using 1500 watt will make boiling soup.

 

[JOCCO]

That makes sense using a 300 watt heater. Using 1500 watt will make boiling soup.

Rusted to be clear my comments were on and for those stick in place of dipstick heaters there like 25 watts? Not the later grid oil pan heaters that probably could fry a turkey. I still favor coolant heat much like we talked about.

 

[showcrop]

ruined the oil ... i know of one guy that ruined his cummins engine in a versatile tractor. the rod right over the pan heater went out, due to the element boiling the oil right above it. they should be only used for a few hrs to thin the oil,... or use the proper winter grade of oil. what you want is warm antifreeze to warm the piston drag. plus boiling the oil you are reducing the oil life.

N! F! W!

 

[Rich'sToys]

N! F! W!

???

 

[showcrop]

it was on brother in laws versatile 750 with 855 Cummins. i saw it with my own eyes. the oil heater is bolted to the bottom of the pan. the rod brg. right above spun. why cant it happen, ? starting a tractor everyday in winter with a dry brg. each time . no its not going to happen on a couple of starts. but time after time dry starting and running till the oil flows each time something must wear. you should know dry starts are the worst. i do not know the heater wattage but it was not these dinky ones. and yes i have had turkeys deep fried in oil outside, be damm sure you dont want to be sitting on that pot or your tool will get hot. heat rises. and when the paint is burnt on an oil pan, that is hot. you know... you sure question my posts like I'm making up stories . there is all kind of posts on here you can fact check besides mine.

There is one little problem with your story. What did he install in the pan to keep the heat in one little area??