Engine block heater recommendations?
 

I would like to install a block heater for my Volvo MD7A diesel, to aid
with cold starting. Can anyone suggest who might make such a thing?

I would only turn it on maybe an hour or so before I want to start the
engine, so the idea would be to get it from cold to warm as fast as
possible. I'm thinking something in the neighborhood of 1000 watts.

A quick search of the internet, and Ebay, turns up mostly the kind that
you insert into the dipstick, or through a plug into the block.
Neither of these seems like a very good approach for this application,
but I'm not sure what would be better.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

-Allan

wrote in
oups.com:

I would like to install a block heater for my Volvo MD7A diesel, to aid
with cold starting. Can anyone suggest who might make such a thing?


http://www.volvo.com/volvopenta/na/e...productionengi
nes/dieselengine/inboard/

I went to this webpage and looked up the MD7A. The specs talk about an
"automatic cold starting device". Does it have glowplugs? I never had
one. I wonder if your "automatic cold starting device" is working properly
or is even hooked up?

Silly me. I connected the Perkins 4-108 intake pre-heater up like it's
supposed to be and the old farm tractor engine cranks right up at 30F by
just touching the starter! I'd be afraid to turn it over with a wrench for
fear it would take off with that preheater working, now!

Hmmm... interesting observation. I don't know what the "automatic
cold-starting device" might be, but whatever it is, it's not working
very well. I'm almost certain it doesn't have glow plugs; I think it
says so in one of the manuals. I'll double-check at the next
opportunity.

I called a local Volvo Penta service shop this morning, and talked with
a mechanic. He said that the only thing he could suggest would be an
external heater -- he suggested a company called Wolverine that makes
such a thing. Or he said I could just point a space heater at it for a
while. Guess I'll have to try that and see if it helps.

Fortunately, electricity is free at my marina...


Larry W4CSC wrote:
wrote in
oups.com:

I would like to install a block heater for my Volvo MD7A diesel, to
aid
with cold starting. Can anyone suggest who might make such a
thing?



http://www.volvo.com/volvopenta/na/e...productionengi
nes/dieselengine/inboard/

I went to this webpage and looked up the MD7A. The specs talk about
an
"automatic cold starting device". Does it have glowplugs? I never
had
one. I wonder if your "automatic cold starting device" is working
properly
or is even hooked up?

Silly me. I connected the Perkins 4-108 intake pre-heater up like
it's
supposed to be and the old farm tractor engine cranks right up at 30F
by
just touching the starter! I'd be afraid to turn it over with a
wrench for
fear it would take off with that preheater working, now!

wrote:

Hmmm... interesting observation. I don't know what the "automatic
cold-starting device" might be, but whatever it is, it's not working
very well. I'm almost certain it doesn't have glow plugs; I think it
says so in one of the manuals. I'll double-check at the next
opportunity.

We have block heaters for all the car diesels (4) which do have glow
plugs. Some of the heaters are more efficient than others and we have
to have the heater on a timer or the engine gets too hot.

I don't think our boat engine does though because we don't have to
wait for the light to go off like we do in the cars. It might be
enough for the boat just to put a light bulb (turned on) in the engine
room.

I called a local Volvo Penta service shop this morning, and talked with
a mechanic. He said that the only thing he could suggest would be an
external heater -- he suggested a company called Wolverine that makes
such a thing. Or he said I could just point a space heater at it for a
while. Guess I'll have to try that and see if it helps.

Fortunately, electricity is free at my marina...


Larry W4CSC wrote:
wrote in
oups.com:

I would like to install a block heater for my Volvo MD7A diesel, to
aid
with cold starting. Can anyone suggest who might make such a
thing?



http://www.volvo.com/volvopenta/na/e...productionengi
nes/dieselengine/inboard/

I went to this webpage and looked up the MD7A. The specs talk about
an
"automatic cold starting device". Does it have glowplugs? I never
had
one. I wonder if your "automatic cold starting device" is working
properly
or is even hooked up?

Silly me. I connected the Perkins 4-108 intake pre-heater up like
it's
supposed to be and the old farm tractor engine cranks right up at 30F
by
just touching the starter! I'd be afraid to turn it over with a
wrench for
fear it would take off with that preheater working, now!

grandma Rosalie

In article ,
Larry W4CSC wrote:

wrote in
oups.com:

I would like to install a block heater for my Volvo MD7A diesel, to aid
with cold starting. Can anyone suggest who might make such a thing?


http://www.volvo.com/volvopenta/na/e...productionengi
nes/dieselengine/inboard/

I went to this webpage and looked up the MD7A. The specs talk about an
"automatic cold starting device". Does it have glowplugs? I never had
one. I wonder if your "automatic cold starting device" is working properly
or is even hooked up?

Silly me. I connected the Perkins 4-108 intake pre-heater up like it's
supposed to be and the old farm tractor engine cranks right up at 30F by
just touching the starter! I'd be afraid to turn it over with a wrench for
fear it would take off with that preheater working, now!


Just keep the Rack shut off, and you can crank the 4-108 to your hearts
content.......


Bruce in alaska glowplugs, Intake Heaters, or not.........
--
add a 2 before @

In article .com,
wrote:

Hmmm... interesting observation. I don't know what the "automatic
cold-starting device" might be, but whatever it is, it's not working
very well. I'm almost certain it doesn't have glow plugs; I think it
says so in one of the manuals. I'll double-check at the next
opportunity.

I called a local Volvo Penta service shop this morning, and talked with
a mechanic. He said that the only thing he could suggest would be an
external heater -- he suggested a company called Wolverine that makes
such a thing. Or he said I could just point a space heater at it for a
while. Guess I'll have to try that and see if it helps.

Fortunately, electricity is free at my marina...

Actually if one would adapt the Mrs's electric hair dryer, to the intake
manifold of that diesel engine, and turn it on 30 seconds before
cranking the engine, no block heater or anything else will be required
to get it to start on the first or second compression stroke. Works
every time. It isn't the temp of the block, cooling system, or anythng
like that, that makes the engine easy to start. It is the temp of the
AIR going into the Cyl, and being compressed on the Compression Stroke,
while fuel is Injected at just before TDC, that causes a diesel engine
to run. Raise the Temp of the Intake Air and it will start. That's what
GlowPlugs do, and that is what Intake Manifold Heaters do. Ever wonder
why all LongHaul Truckes have Hair Dryers in the toolkit??? It isn't
to blowdry their hair........


Bruce in alaska
--
add a 2 before @

Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg-
:

Actually if one would adapt the Mrs's electric hair dryer, to the intake
manifold of that diesel engine, and turn it on 30 seconds before
cranking the engine, no block heater or anything else will be required
to get it to start on the first or second compression stroke. Works


That's about what the Perkins 4-108 intake heater does. It preheats the
intake air to give the compression heat a boost before it's sucked into the
cylinders. After the block warms, it has a thermostat that shuts it down
until the next time you crank it cold.

Too bad they don't use pre-combustion chambers with glow plugs in them on
marine engines. Anyone know why? The series-connected 2V glow plugs in my
old '73 Mercedes 220Diesel are the size of #12 solid wire. They draw 50A
for about a minute before you pull the start knob all the way out. There's
one mounted in the dash in a ceramic heat case that is in series with all
the rest in the engine. It glows blood red and she cranks on the first
cylinder it comes to....(c;

Very interesting suggestions, thank you. I'll be experimenting with
them soon.

I do wish I knew though about that "cold starting device" mentioned in
the manual. It says that the CAV fuel injector (which I have) should
have a manual cold starting device, and shows a picture of a knob and
says to pull it out to start. Unless this is referring to the fuel
cutoff, I don't think I have such a knob to pull.

The mechanic I talked to said that on later Volvo diesels (don't know
what injector they use), if you push the "throttle" to full-on, then
momentarily pull out the fuel cutoff knob and push it back in, it will
set something inside the injector for cold starting. He speculated
that possibly mine has the same thing; I haven't experimented with that
yet either.

P.S. Obviously "throttle" isn't a precise term with fuel injection.
I've seen others refer to this as "rack". What does that mean, and why
use that term?

wrote in message
oups.com...
Very interesting suggestions, thank you. I'll be experimenting with
them soon.

I do wish I knew though about that "cold starting device" mentioned in
the manual. It says that the CAV fuel injector (which I have) should
have a manual cold starting device, and shows a picture of a knob and
says to pull it out to start. Unless this is referring to the fuel
cutoff, I don't think I have such a knob to pull.

My genset has a cold starting knob that sounds similar to what you are
describing. I've never had the occation to use it. You just push it in and
strat the engine as normal.

The mechanic I talked to said that on later Volvo diesels (don't know
what injector they use), if you push the "throttle" to full-on, then
momentarily pull out the fuel cutoff knob and push it back in, it will
set something inside the injector for cold starting. He speculated
that possibly mine has the same thing; I haven't experimented with that
yet either.

P.S. Obviously "throttle" isn't a precise term with fuel injection.
I've seen others refer to this as "rack". What does that mean, and why
use that term?

Because the injector pump uses a rack mechanism to control the fuel to the
injectors.