STOOPIDist thing I have done this winter . .

[JDEM]

Sometimes I worry I am getting senile. This last goof takes the cake. We shut down one of our houses for the winter a month ago. Northern Michigan. I just put in a new propane furnace and a non-vented wall propane heater. I keep the thermostat for the main furnace set at 45 degrees F. This is the first year we did not drain the plumbing and are trying to keep the house just above freezing instead. Thus the 30K BTU non-vented heater as backup when the power goes out (it goes out a lot).

We drive over there once a month to check on things and get a meter-reading to report to the power company (they do not read meters in the winter).

So, one month with near all electric devices turned off - and we have 1100 KWHs of usage. What the heck? Note I just installed the high-efficiency gas furnace but hard to believe it hardly uses any power. So I go around checking all the buildings.

I have three barns full for cars, trucks, tractors. Many batteries on battery-maintainers. Near 20 of them. I had first suspect somehow one went nuts on a bad battery?

Well - here is the answer. I cannot believe I did this! My IH B275 is parked with a hard-wired battery maintainer from Harbor Freight. I got it 10 years ago and it has been plugged in for all those 10 years with no issues. Last month I brush-hogged some corn stalks and then put the tractor away with a snow-blower on the back.

Guess I was in a hurry. There are two AC power cords attached to the tractor. One for the Harbor Freight battery maintainer. The other for a Katz 1500 watt circulating block heater. I plugged in the wrong cord! So for a full month that 1500 watt block heater ran. It was 5 degrees F yesterday and I assume it never shuts off. I am amazed it was still running and did not burn out.

We stopped at had lunch at "beach" of Lake Huron on the way home. Looks cold.

 

[larry@stinescorner]

We are all getting older,,stupid things seem to come with age,,,lol

 

[rusty6]

Sounds familiar. Its the type of thing I would do in a hurry. Just haven't yet. I'd be worried about fire leaving a big coolant heater like that plugged in so long. Mine gets mighty hot in just an hour. Maybe I am worrying about nothing.

 

[leroy in ne]

Not sure but I believe most of these heaters have a thermostat in them that limits coolant temp to like 140 degrees. You may want to look at manufacturers instruction and installation sheet or try to find it on internet and see if it is a thermostatic heater.

 

[JDEM]

It is thermostatic but it is also over 20 years old. I would never intentionally leave it plugged in all the time. Unlike a frost-plug heater that often is only 100 watts - this tank-heater is 1500 watts. I can plug it in when temps are 0 F and it heats the tractor in 15 minutes. It was 5 degrees F outside yesterday and maybe in those temps - even if working correctly t would never shut off?

 

[Tech 7]

Former co-worker of mine could not understand why his electricity usage was so high through the summer......in October he fiqured out why when he went to turn on the breaker for his eavestrough heater. You guessed it, it had been on all summer.

 

[Tech 7]

If you can get that lake to freeze quicker please do. It cuts down the amount of snow we get over in Ontario.

 

[Russ from MN]

Well, it would of started if you would of needed it! Although I used to say if it was cloudy out out B275 wouldn't start. But I think the problem was it never had good glow plugs and a good starter at the same time, once started it would work all day on 5 gallons of fuel. I did something similar at our cabin, cleaned out the freezer and propped the lid open but forgot to unplug it. We can see our daily usage online so I knew something was wrong, the warmer the weather, the more Kw's. So I made another trip up there and found the problem.

 

[rrlund]

It's all down hill from here. lol

 

[olgentdc]

about normal for me ,,. Just Hope when something like that occurs , You can State a stern warning,.. "NOW , That was alcohol related ,.. NOW STRAIGHTEN Up ",... LOL .. last nite as the sun was setting , and THIS WAS NOT ALCOHOL related either //// It is sad about how forgetful i am . sometimes i wonder if the Neuropathy from chemo has affected my mind as well as my hands and legs , On occasion i set things down and cant find them , .Anyway , i had picked up the 20 ft head and was moving it to another area for servicing with the 750 Massey and i had not climbed down to securely snap the head locks ,and ..As I was going past the barn where i had left a roundbale earlier,.. i was watching the tree limbs that were close to the cab and my mirror on my left,.With the setting sun glaring thru the dust and refracting ,.and you guessed it! i forgot about the round bale against the barn on the right,.. DoG=Gon-it ,. i only tagged it about 4 inches but that was enuf to roll under the snout perfectly , i failed to see because of the glare,any thing happening .the end of the head rolled up one side and everything fell off the front of the feeder house ! one side resting in soft ground the other hi up on a round bale . ,No Harm ,.I HOPE,... I Always Tell everyone ,.When YOU are Nearby acombine STAY OUT OF THE WAY AND try TO BE IN EYE CONTACT WITH THE OPERATOR ,.. Luckily I was Alone ,.,. But Sheesh , I think of How my DAD was back in the day with Much Smaller equipment And Gleeful Boys always underfoot wanting to be a part of everything ..

 

[paul]

My sister wondered why the electric bill on their second place was suddenly $60 more each month.

Brother in law plugged in the pickup and left it plugged in just in case he got there, would have a warmer pickup. He's from the South.....

Sister was not happy.

Paul

 

[Bob Bancroft]

My long gone frugal father used to have a 220V outlet next to the corn dryer. He used the same receptacle/plugs as 110V. I knew it well, as I spent a lot of time drying corn there. One day we were out back loading a hay truck. Coming back around the barns, Dad asked me if I intended to plug a tractor block heater into the 220. YIKES!! I was mortified. I ran over to it(as if that would do any good) and it was percolating away nicely. I unplugged it and plugged it back in to 110. Made the same noise as before! I found it hard to believe, but was greatly relieved. This was maybe 30 some years ago, me being twice that old now. Age shouldn't have been a factor then.

 

[jeffcat]

Just be glad that is all it was!

 

[Dieseltech]

I'd say you're not alone, and if that's the silliest thing you're ahead of a lot of us. I have the same heater on one of my tractors as it has no freeze plugs for internal block heater style. Does anyone make a tank type heater WITH an adjustable thermostat? I'd think in most cases they could be set a bit cooler than where the thermostats are set at now.

 

[JDEM]

Yes, it was an awful starting tractor until I put the Bosch Mercedes 12 volt glow-plugs into it. They make a huge difference in cold-starting.

 

[Billy NY]

John, I would not worry so much, you are a sharp guy. This is just an absent minded mistake, something may have distracted you.

I've been around equipment all my life, a year ago, I filled my yellow diesel fuel cans with gasoline and it ended up in my tractor. While trying to figure out the problem, while speaking with the always extremely helpful service manager at the dealer I go to, he just asked me, "are you sure there is not gasoline in there ?" I said, "impossible", surer then sh..there was ! I'm always out of time for things, so I had them take care of the repair when they were going to be in the neighborhood, price was fair and I had a pretty clean fuel system ! I could not figure out how I could have done it, yellow cans for diesel, and red for gasoline. Still cannot reckon with how I did it. My job keeps me busier than heck and with a fair amount of anxiety at times making deadlines and such, so who knows, in a hurry, thinking you did the right thing, think again !

 

[Bruce from Can.]

I just had to read this , as I am always on the look out for new stupid things to do.

 

[RayP(MI)]

Tank heaters typically have a thermostat to prevent overheating. If everything works, you're good

 

[Blackhole49]

I have the same heater on this F-2000 and keep it plugged in from 12-1 to 3-31 +-. Been doing it for 10 years. I also keep the back of the tractor covered with a heavy comforter and in an unheated barn (SE MI). I saw virtually no difference in my electric bill when I first started doing it. My opinion is; properly covered, once it is warm, it takes very little electricity to keep it warm. Mine is a much smaller engine however.

 

[Destroked 450]

I have a automatic backup generator for my poultry barns, it has a Zerostart circulation heater that stays on 24-7-365.
The first heater lasted 3 years maintaining 120 degree temps, I replaced it with one normally carried at most any ag supply store including dealers.
That unit heated to 140 degrees and lasted last than a year.
After some research I found they make 3 different temperature rated versions of the industrial tank heater.
80 - 100
110 - 120
120 - 140, this is what most stores carry.
I ordered a 80 - 100 degree unit thats been in use for 6 years so far.
The lower temp unit will warm a engine more than enough to start in cold weather and uses less electricity.

Their round design like in the photo is called the series 41 and only comes as a 151 -190 degree heater.

They also have a 8000 series set for 147 - 185 degrees

All of the heaters I listed are available in 1500 watt, but are available in 750 and 1000 watt also.

FYI the small bottom hose heaters have a max heater temp of 245 degrees producing 600 watts.

 

[Bob]

IMHO, the reason the original heater was 140? was to keep the engine block and pistons, etc. more near to operating temp, to make it easier on the engine when the genset automatically starts and goes to full operating RPM's instantly with NO opportinity for warmup.

NOT sure it was a good thing to defeat that!

 

[Destroked 450]

Original heater was not 140, it was 120.
I would have went back with a 120 but would have taken longer to get, they had the 100 in the warehouse so I could have it the next day.
Couldn't take a chance on total power failure because the gen was to cold to start with birds in the buildings.

With the gen having several hundred hours on it now I don't think 20 degrees difference is a big issue, on a new gen set maybe so.

For a tractor or truck that I want to use in cold weather I'll go with the 100 degree unit for a cheaper operating cost.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

Just think about all the LOVE it will give you next spring. HeHe
Loren

 

[Crazy Horse]

So plugged in 24/7 for four months ....... hmmmm. You could calculate how much power it used, but it would be tough to calculate how you get that power for pretty much no cost. I remember a guy who developed a carburetor that ran on water ..... the big oil companies took him to lunch one day and nobody ever heard from him again.

 

[Ron Muhlenkamp]

If that statement remains true in May, you'll have had a good winter IMHO

 

[Paul from MI]

Harbor Freight has a plug in KWH recorder that can be used on any n120 volt load. Plug it in for a known time period and calculate your monthly usage from the readings. Easy to use.

 

[Blackhole49]

I don't about others, but mine is thermostatically controlled. Once the engine is warm, it doesn't have to run very much (about 3 minutes per hour, you do the math) to keep it warm. It uses electricity, but I know it doesn't cost me $5.00 a month to use it. The key is keeping it well covered so the radiator doesn't do its thing loosing heat.

 

[john *.?-!.* cub owner]

I have you beat on stupid at least for this winter. Neighbor was having trouble getting his Cub Cadet Side by Side to shift from F to N to R, and brought it up for me to check. The problem was the engine would not idle down enough to let the centrifugal pulley stop the drive train. I had the brake set and the bed propped up so I could get to the engine to check the throttle linkage. The neutral light was on and I used a broom stick to push the gas pedal and check the linkage operation. Surprise, it said neutral, but was actually in reverse. The locked brakes didn't stop it, but my leg being hit by the steel running board did. I got a couple of serious bruises, and 4 days later had a bad case of cellulitis in one of the bruises. It took 2 days in the hospital with IVs to get the cellulitis under control. I did get the idle problem fixed though. I think I beat you for stupidity.

 

[jimmyO]

JDEM, I got you beat.
I have a new-to-me JD 1020. It is the ONLY vehicle I have ever had in which the gas tank is in front of the radiator.
I checked the radiator, and it was low, so I added some antifreeze and water. Yep, a couple gallons later and I realized I was antifreezing the gas tank.
Fortunately, I was at least smart enough to drain the tank and disconnect the fuel lines to the carb, flush it all out. No harm done except to my ego, and a bit to my wallet.