Lower radiator hose heater

[oggb]

Installed a Kat's 600-watt lower radiator hose heater in my Mirage. It rarely (if ever) gets cold enough where I'm at to justify the use of a preheating device in a gasser, however it would be nice to be able to get in the car on chilly winter mornings and have a little heat right off the bat.

This heater, it seems to me, is a bit too much for such a small capacity cooling system. The car had been off for five hours, coolant temp was 85F (ambient temp is 67F), and it had the coolant up to 135F (according to my scan tool) and the upper radiator hose was warm to the touch after ~15 minutes. Pretty neat.

 

[Colt45ws]

Let us know how it lasts. I read a lot about those burning up in short order.

 

[oggb]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Let us know how it lasts. I read a lot about those burning up in short order.


Yeah, I've read those same reviews - I wonder how many of those are from improper installation. The small heater itself does not get very warm all, oddly enough - the short length of coolant hose directly after it (and the metal coolant pipe that crosses the block to the water pump) gets VERY warm VERY quickly. I can see how you'd kill it if you trapped air in it or if it were starved of cool coolant.

After waiting 30 more minutes the coolant temp was up to 158F and I could get very warm air out of the vents.. I'm impressed. I plan to put this on an outlet timer and let it run for an hour before I typically go to work.

 

[sciphi]

I had one on my previous car. It worked very well for warming up the engine during the winter. The only faults were due to road salt corroding the extension cord.

 

[mechtech2]

Should work great. Avoid it's use during warm weather.

 

[oggb]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Should work great. Avoid it's use during warm weather.


Why wouldn't I use it during warm weather? Seems like it could still work to get the car into closed loop faster.

 

[mechtech2]

I am concerned with the non-NASA design and implementation.
I have not seen stellar quality in devices like this.
The thing could overheat internally, or some other fault in summer.
Just a caveat.

 

[sciphi]

I used mine on my old Buick during the spring when outside temperatures were still in the low 60's. No issues to report. It worked as advertised. My coolant got up to maybe 140*F.

Where it truly shined was on the near or below zero nights we had. Then I'd get into a car where the engine had been sitting at 60*F for a couple of hours. The engine heated up pretty quickly,, and started like it was a late-fall day.

Both cars are getting oil pan heaters this year. First test will be this week, when it dips down to 40*F overnight for 2 nights.

 

[shooter250]

I installed an Kat's block heater in my GMC last fall. It worked great through the winter. On the coldest mornings, single digits, my coolant temp was about 60 degrees at startup.

The only problem I had was the the GFCI tripping. I know this is for my own saftey, but some mornings it makes for a cold surprise. My extension cord would get snowed on and rained on occasionally which I am sure caused the tripping issue.

Be sure to use an outdoor rated extension cord.

Kat's heaters are made in Tennessee, just in case you like to buy USA.