rScotty
Super Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Messages
- 8,291
- Location
- Rural mountains - Colorado
- Tractor
- Kubota M59, JD530, JD310SG. Restoring Yanmar YM165D
Did you ever do that? And wonder what - if anything - happened? Well, me too. And it happened to me - again - last week. Temps here were 15 to 30F daytime and 0/15F at night. Some wind coupled with a couple feet of snow. Yep, it's winter.
I plumb forgot that I'd plugged in the M59 block heater.....ended up using the JD with a cab for pushing snow around instead. So the M59 block heater had been on for 4 or 5 days before I remembered it one slightly warmer afternoon. This is the the typical OEM water jacket heater that screws into the side of the block and heats the water in much the same way as a HWH does at home.
Of course my first thought was, "What luck! Now here we have just done a pretty good experiment that I'd never have had the courage to run on purpose. I wonder what has happened?".... well, maybe that wasn't my very first thought, but some likewise words to that effect.....
So it wasn't without some worry that I began checking things. Outside temp about 20F and a light wind with blowing snow. Didn't know what was to be found and feeling more than a little foolish. First I checked the amp draw on the factory block heater. Still at at the same number it was when I plugged it in = 7.32 amps. That puts the block heater somewhere in the 700 to 800 watt range and is pretty typical. It must be a common design; my other tractors run within 10% of that same number. Since there's no thermostat on a block heater, we now know it is still heating away and has been doin so at the same rate for at least the last 4 or 5 days now. The operating time alone shouldn't have hurt the block heater. They are good for a long, long time. A bit of quick mental arithmetic says we'd used up most of a ten dollar bill in electricity. Hopefully that's the worst that the worst that's happened.
Next I turned on the ig key to read the instrument gauges but no luck there; the gauges are digital version of analog type and they didn't stir off the "peg".
So either we're looking at water temperature and the sensor gauge doesn't go very low, or the gauge is measuring oil temperature and same story....although for oil temp I really wouldn't have expected that to change much just heating the water in the water jacket. So...so far, not much info...but at least nothing bad.
Then I cleaned off the hood, opened it up, and felt of the radiator hoses...well, the water hoses are a little bit warmer than the surrounding rubber parts and air hoses....but not enough to really notice. Same for the block itself. That surprised me. I'd have expected something to be noticibly warm. But truth is that I wouldn't have noticed any warmth at all if not looking for it. Next thing was to open the radiator cap and visually check/feel the cooling water. Darn!
again nothing. Water level unchanged and yes, it's a little warmer on my finger tip than the the air outside....but certainly not very warm and very definitely nothing anyone would call hot. If it had been a bowl of soup I'd have set it back on the warmer.
A look at the oil on the dipstick also tells me nothing.
Now I start the tractor and give a listen. No problems....it sounds and works like always.
So....at this point I'm going to conclude that leaving the block heater plugged in for a few days didn't change anything at all. At our winter temps the water jacket and connected parts can radiate more heat than the little block heater can provide. The good news is that there isn't any damage. The downside is that the OEM block heater isn't doing much to help out during cold start wear on the engine and certainly not the hydraulics.
Is there a market for a more powerful engine block heater? It would probably need to include a thermostat. What about the hydraulics? Can we heat them? Sure would be nice to keep those seals and O-rings flexible.
Hmmm.....there's probably a decent little product idea in this- and free to anyone who wants it. The technology is basic & already exists. I've done some of this sort of thing, so if you do go that way my advice would be to identify something unique about your particular solution and then describe your unique solution in an application for a provisional patent. Patent law has changed to your benefit lately. Now quite inexpensive and worth the tinker's time.
Enjoy!
rScotty
I plumb forgot that I'd plugged in the M59 block heater.....ended up using the JD with a cab for pushing snow around instead. So the M59 block heater had been on for 4 or 5 days before I remembered it one slightly warmer afternoon. This is the the typical OEM water jacket heater that screws into the side of the block and heats the water in much the same way as a HWH does at home.
Of course my first thought was, "What luck! Now here we have just done a pretty good experiment that I'd never have had the courage to run on purpose. I wonder what has happened?".... well, maybe that wasn't my very first thought, but some likewise words to that effect.....
So it wasn't without some worry that I began checking things. Outside temp about 20F and a light wind with blowing snow. Didn't know what was to be found and feeling more than a little foolish. First I checked the amp draw on the factory block heater. Still at at the same number it was when I plugged it in = 7.32 amps. That puts the block heater somewhere in the 700 to 800 watt range and is pretty typical. It must be a common design; my other tractors run within 10% of that same number. Since there's no thermostat on a block heater, we now know it is still heating away and has been doin so at the same rate for at least the last 4 or 5 days now. The operating time alone shouldn't have hurt the block heater. They are good for a long, long time. A bit of quick mental arithmetic says we'd used up most of a ten dollar bill in electricity. Hopefully that's the worst that the worst that's happened.
Next I turned on the ig key to read the instrument gauges but no luck there; the gauges are digital version of analog type and they didn't stir off the "peg".
So either we're looking at water temperature and the sensor gauge doesn't go very low, or the gauge is measuring oil temperature and same story....although for oil temp I really wouldn't have expected that to change much just heating the water in the water jacket. So...so far, not much info...but at least nothing bad.
Then I cleaned off the hood, opened it up, and felt of the radiator hoses...well, the water hoses are a little bit warmer than the surrounding rubber parts and air hoses....but not enough to really notice. Same for the block itself. That surprised me. I'd have expected something to be noticibly warm. But truth is that I wouldn't have noticed any warmth at all if not looking for it. Next thing was to open the radiator cap and visually check/feel the cooling water. Darn!
again nothing. Water level unchanged and yes, it's a little warmer on my finger tip than the the air outside....but certainly not very warm and very definitely nothing anyone would call hot. If it had been a bowl of soup I'd have set it back on the warmer. A look at the oil on the dipstick also tells me nothing.
Now I start the tractor and give a listen. No problems....it sounds and works like always.
So....at this point I'm going to conclude that leaving the block heater plugged in for a few days didn't change anything at all. At our winter temps the water jacket and connected parts can radiate more heat than the little block heater can provide. The good news is that there isn't any damage. The downside is that the OEM block heater isn't doing much to help out during cold start wear on the engine and certainly not the hydraulics.
Is there a market for a more powerful engine block heater? It would probably need to include a thermostat. What about the hydraulics? Can we heat them? Sure would be nice to keep those seals and O-rings flexible.
Hmmm.....there's probably a decent little product idea in this- and free to anyone who wants it. The technology is basic & already exists. I've done some of this sort of thing, so if you do go that way my advice would be to identify something unique about your particular solution and then describe your unique solution in an application for a provisional patent. Patent law has changed to your benefit lately. Now quite inexpensive and worth the tinker's time.
Enjoy!
rScotty
