Induction Block Heater

[pugmanic]

Hi,

I have been thinking about the benefits of a block/sump heater (and wishing I had access to a driveway or garage to be able to use one).

My knowledge of electricity is pitiful, so please forgive me if this is a stupid question. Do you think that the use of an inductive coil could make the heating of a block/sump any more efficient?

I have seen people testing small 12v Inductive heaters on youtube, and also wondered if it would be possible to make use of such a heater with a 12v Car battery.

Rgds

Nick

[Daox]

Inductive heating would be less efficient than a regular coolant heater. The reason being is you loose power in the transmission of power through the air.

I also wouldn't bother with 12V heaters unless you're maybe going to use a seat heater to heat yourself thus allowing the engine to warm up faster. The 12V power ultimately comes from gas, and your alternator is not an efficient device, so you pay for it vs just waiting for 'free' waste heat from the engine.

If you're real interested in heating up quicker, I'd recommend doing some modifications that don't require plugging in if you can't plug in like a grill block, etc. Also, search the site for 'fast warm up' or 'quick warm up' ideas. There are quite a few good ones out there.

[oil pan 4]

It would work. Just not so well limited to an input of 12v.
I'm thinking more along the lines of a induction cooker plugged into 120v power.

[ThermionicScott]

Trying to use your car battery to preheat the engine sounds like a great way to run down your battery, too.

This time of year, I don't take any chances with my car's ability to start.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I'm thinking more along the lines of a induction cooker plugged into 120v power.

They're supposed to be quite energy-saving and safer than many other heating devices, no wonder they became so popular in Japan and Israel.

[teoman]

To the best of my knowledge it heats up iron. So if you have an aluminium block, it it will not be much good.

[WyrTwister]

May be old fashion , but I would stick to the traditional resistance heater that heats the coolant .

God bless
Wyr

[Grant-53]

In the colder climates of North America the 120v circulating block heater is used on commercial diesel engines. For gas engines an infrared brooder lamp and a blanket under the bonnet works.

[WyrTwister]

I have also seen photos of block heaters that go in a freeze plug / core plug .

Just knock out the old plug & install the heater in its place .

This would heat the coolant inside the cavity .

I live at about 35.5 latitude . A block heater would be nice , but ( with a good battery ) I have never HAD to have one .

God bless
Wyr

[gumby79]

I get the impression that an induction heater is a 12vdc itom at the actual center tap coil from this DIY article shows how to build an induction heater.
Simple DIY Induction Heater - RMCybernetics
Too many projects on the table right now. I have put some thought into it for for a future project. I was thinking of adding one of those 110 induction cook tops to my oil pan . The control circuit is to complex for a simple on /off . I would have had to 1)plug in, 2) turn on,3) set temperature by repeatedly pushing the control button.

If we apply a continuously changing current to a coil of wire, we will have a continuously changing magnetic field within it. At higher frequencies the induction effect is quite strong and will tend to concentrate on the surface of the material being heated due to the skin effect. Typical induction heaters use frequencies from 10kHz to 1MHz.

The 14.7vdc from the alternator should be adequate when the engine is running.
Uae a resistance type thermostat to throttle it wsing PWM controller and a thermal limit switch to warm the battery before starting.

This will assist you on those cold mornings. Most likely even in the warmer climates by discharging the battery less on start up.
On a separate circuit ( only works when the alternator is charging) Heat the oil pan/filter ,block , radiator, seats . Heat everything you can. For P&G /EOC people this would improve warm up. Some cars never get fully warmed up using this technique, especially if not using shore power block heater.
Hear is the logic :
More load on the engine the more hp it takes to idle. For evry 1hp load the alternator puts into the crank shaft, 1hp /745.w /2,544.43btu + 31A /372w(assuming alt efficiency of only 50%) is going to were you put it, and 1 hp goes out the ehxsost and1 hp into the coolent.. increasing the load =reduced warm up time. You reach your most efficient temp faster. With out having to drive harder to get it quickly

Make shure to leave enough watts on the charging system for lights, defrost and nessasary accessories, dont want to have a brown out or blow any high doller fuses or worse a fusible link.

On the ultra efficient cars, my theory is that they would reach opperaying temp in hafe the time. To put 372w into the oil filter would start th bring the viscosity of the 0w20 into the thin zone almos immediately. Therefore reducing the friction.


On my 91 Dodge Ram Cummins, running the defrost /Ac compressor. Fan on low temp on cold. Improves my warm up times .with my 80% grill block improved my crusing coolent temp from 165 to 175°f..as i see it the load is helping me get closer to summer mpg./operating temperature. Running full open radiator bellow 0f 155f is the best I can do w/wo Ac. 170f north bound on Elk Park Pass I-15 in Butte Montana. Add AC and 80% block 189f