Block heater alternative

[madmedix]

Hi All:

Well, the frost plug-mounted block heater has given up zee ghost  :cry:
Thinking about installing a convection-style lower rad hose coolant heater (120V). Tell me your horror stories.....

Andy
90 TD

[jtanguay]

these heaters work pretty good.  get one in the range of 1500 watts.  probably take 20-30 mins to heat your car right up.  (like running a microwave  :lol:)

that way you don't need it plugged in all night long just waiting for something to happen.  at least this way its only on for a short period and you can monitor whats going on.

just do as it says and install it at the lowest point in the cooling system.  if the IN port doesn't have the lowest point, the system could potentially be very inefficient, but i don't think this would be any sort of safety issue.  most of these units come with thermo regulators shutting them off when they reach a certain temp.

i've tested the 1500 watt unit... its pretty neat.  it is comparable to those hot water kettle's that have the element directly into the water, but my unit is way more powerful  

[bigblockchev]

The convection style heaters that I have seen for the VW actually fit in the vertical hose right next to the engine. They are about $40 and the wattage varies with the diameter with higher wattage ones being used in larger diameter hoses. I believe the 1 1/4" size is in the 300W range similar to the OEM block heater. Given the choice I would prefer the OEM style but unless you have the motor out they are difficult to put in properly. 300W is plenty to heat your engine up in an hour or so. Cheers Dan

[RabbitJockey]

just get a new one off of worldimpex.com if you need help with  part number let me know...  they're not a vw part but they are almost identical to the factory unit.  make sure you free up sometime to change it, because it might take you an entire half hour to do it  :roll:

[Vincent Waldon]

Well, the frost plug-mounted block heater has given up zee ghost  :cry:
Thinking about installing a convection-style lower rad hose coolant heater (120V). Tell me your horror stories.....

It's actually not that bad replacing this sucker.... I do it from under the car reaching up thru the driveshaft... there's only one small T-nut that holds the heater on.

And the heater is cheap, and it heats the proper parts of your engine... and doesn't restrict normal coolant flow.....

Guess which kinda heater we run up here in the Great White North... !;-)


BTW...you're sure the heater is gone, and not just the cord ??  The connection at the heater side takes some exhaust heat and can get iffy.... been there, done that twice, and the cord is even easier to replace than the heater.



Vince

[Jetta Fan]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but.....

Vince, I was wondering if you could replace just the cord. Mine is fried. The salt kinda did a number on it and it shorted out last year. I was putting it off because I figurd I would have to replace the whole thing, not just the cord. Any idea where I can get just the cord? It's getting to be that time of year.

[Vincent Waldon]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but.....

Vince, I was wondering if you could replace just the cord. Mine is fried. The salt kinda did a number on it and it shorted out last year. I was putting it off because I figurd I would have to replace the whole thing, not just the cord. Any idea where I can get just the cord? It's getting to be that time of year.

I've never found a supplier for just the cords... the units are so cheap I just buy the whole thing, install the cord, and therefore have a spare heater element... which I have ended up needing down the road anyways.

However, replacing the cord is a 1 minute job, vs an hour or two by the time you drain the coolant, degrease the back of the block,etc etc etc.

Yes, we've had our first snow and I'm starting to get white smoke on starting... the season has begun !

[madmedix]

Hmmm. Thanks Andrew, didn't even consider that.  :roll: I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of where it needs to go. It looks like it'll be replacement time for the dead one.....Thanks for the opinions.

Cheers,
Andy