Wolverine heaters

[Plan B2]

Has anyone appied a wolverine pad type block heater to the coolant resevoir rather than the oil pan? I hav etwo 500W units but can not see a space large enough on the oil pan to apply them. There is plenty of space on the resevoir, but I have reservations about how affective it would be.

 

[SeaEric]

I have 250w Wolverines on my 8v53's. I mounted them on the inboard sides of the oil pans. There was plenty of space there and it was easy access to prep and mount. They work quite well. BTW, I asked Tony Athens about this before I did it and he said it would be fine. I can't imagine that the coolant reservoir location wouldn't be just as good provided you get them at the lowest possible point, as heat rises.

 

[lumina]

Hi All,

Installed a 250W on each 8V71N engine (oil pan) and they are more than adequate.

I leave them on constantly (per wolverine) except when the engines are running (per wolverene).

B2, If they are new in original packing I'm sure the guys at wolverine would exchange them. They a great to deal with.

 

[GJH]

Ditto on Wolverine being a delight to deal with. They can give you some good advice on mounting; I have one on my generator, also a tight fit. No, do not put it on the coolant tank; you want to heat the oil, and you want that thing radiating up from a low point on the engine, and that is the pan. But talk to them, they are great guys.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Any heat applied will help. If you don't have room on the oil pan, then put them on the HE tank. If you're not happy with the performance, then take them off and get something else. At the cost of the Wolverines, you can afford to experiment a little.

 

[saltshaker]

Buy the Kim Hot Start immersion heaters instead. I like how they warm the entire engine. My 46C had them in 6V92s. They would keep the ER temps around 60 when the ouside temps were in the 20's. I have them on my 12V92's in my 65. The ER is huge but they still keep the engines warm enough to keep the ER warm and more importantly, dry. I'm not sure if the pad heaters will generate that much heat throughout the entire engine.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Buy the Kim Hot Start immersion heaters instead. I like how they warm the entire engine. My 46C had them in 6V92s. They would keep the ER temps around 60 when the ouside temps were in the 20's. I have them on my 12V92's in my 65. The ER is huge but they still keep the engines warm enough to keep the ER warm and more importantly, dry. I'm not sure if the pad heaters will generate that much heat throughout the entire engine.

On some configurations of the 6v92's there is no place to put the immersion heaters. The ports are all used up for auxiliary coolers, etc.

 

[Plan B2]

Thanks for all the feedback.
I haven't been able to locate a suitable plug that can be used for the submersible heaters as that was my preference. I have 8v71TIs so recommendations for that are welcome. My buddy has the 8v92s and his submersible heaters work great. He just needs to add thermostats to save on the energy bill. I think I'll give the HE tank a try and if it doesn't work I suppose could go with the 250s on the oil pan.
It's a new to me boat and this is my first winter. I am not too concerned about freezing in my home waters but I am trying to avoid those cold starts when the temps are below 40 or so.

 

[GJH]

Thanks for all the feedback.
I haven't been able to locate a suitable plug that can be used for the submersible heaters as that was my preference. I have 8v71TIs so recommendations for that are welcome. My buddy has the 8v92s and his submersible heaters work great. He just needs to add thermostats to save on the energy bill. I think I'll give the HE tank a try and if it doesn't work I suppose could go with the 250s on the oil pan.
It's a new to me boat and this is my first winter. I am not too concerned about freezing in my home waters but I am trying to avoid those cold starts when the temps are below 40 or so.

Did you talk with Wolverine? Plus I am finding it hard to understand how you can't get this onto the bottom of the pan on a 53MY w/8/71's. Speaking of the latter there are a few folks on here with submersibles on them, Mike P comes to mind. You can look at the fitment guide on the Phillips Temro Zerostart web site (that's what I have), and talk with them too, they are also nice people. Slapping the Wolverine on the coolant tank just sounds too funky, IMO.

http://www.phillipsandtemro.com/userfiles/file/2013_ZEROSTART_CATALOG_HS.pdf

 

[Plan B2]

For the bottom of the pan application the surface must be completely smooth. The cast pans on the DDs are embossed. Someone on her confirmed without a smooth surface the heater burns itself up in minutes. I agree the water tank seems funky and would prefer the submersible. I can see where the 250W would fit on the side of the oil pan and in my climate may be all that is required. I'll keep reading and looking for an accessible port, but so far i haven't located one. I think Mike P removed and altered an altenator mounting bracket, or perhaps that was another member here. I was hoping for a less intrusive solution, but may ultimately need to go there.

 

[saltshaker]

For the bottom of the pan application the surface must be completely smooth. The cast pans on the DDs are embossed. Someone on her confirmed without a smooth surface the heater burns itself up in minutes. I agree the water tank seems funky and would prefer the submersible. I can see where the 250W would fit on the side of the oil pan and in my climate may be all that is required. I'll keep reading and looking for an accessible port, but so far i haven't located one. I think Mike P removed and altered an altenator mounting bracket, or perhaps that was another member here. I was hoping for a less intrusive solution, but may ultimately need to go there.

I've never used the pad heaters but plenty here have and most of them would be on Detroits with the 8V71s being the most common. There must be a place to put them on the pan. Not sure how much of a difference it would be if you mounted them on the side of the pan. I would think you'll still get similar heat transfer through the oil. I do feel that immersion heaters are the way to go if you can find a suitable port. While the immersion heaters do warm the entire block and make cold starts easy, they do not heat the oil.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I've had both- immersion heaters on my 6-71s (decades ago) and Wolverine pad heaters on two sets of engines since then. They all work well. The pad heaters cost less and are incredibly durable. They are used outdoors on cattle water troughs in the West in the winter. I also have them on my diesel genset at home- on the fuel tank and the oil pan. For as small as they are, they put out a LOT of heat and it does rise up from the oil pan to the top of the cylinder head.

 

[saltshaker]

I've had both- immersion heaters on my 6-71s (decades ago) and Wolverine pad heaters on two sets of engines since then. They all work well. The pad heaters cost less and are incredibly durable. They are used outdoors on cattle water troughs in the West in the winter. I also have them on my diesel genset at home- on the fuel tank and the oil pan. For as small as they are, they put out a LOT of heat and it does rise up from the oil pan to the top of the cylinder head.

A bit off topic but do you have a separate tank for the home generator or is it run off your home heating oil? Just had a conversation about this last week with a friend if mine.

 

[saltshaker]

Another option would be a small tank heater. Has anyone used one of these on their boat and if so how did it work out?

 

[MikeP]

Yes, I altered the alternator mounting bracket so the heater could mount in the boss underneath the bracket. Actually it was quite easy. A standard hole saw from the hardware store will cut through the cast iron alternator bracket with no particular difficulty. The bracket - at least the one on my 8V71TIs - had a oblong hole in it anyway so I just made a larger, round hole in the bracket. It took 5 minutes (if that) with the hole saw/drill press to cut the hole.

I'd estimate the time needed to do the complete job on one engine to be approx 2 hours if you did it all at one go and had the drill press handy, even a cheap one like the one I used.

 

[davidwigler]

I still haven't installed mine yet but there is a port that fits the immersion heaters on the front of the block behind the alternator belt guard. Securing the cord away from the belt may be an issue.

 

[jim rosenthal]

A bit off topic but do you have a separate tank for the home generator or is it run off your home heating oil? Just had a conversation about this last week with a friend if mine.

I have a separate tank, although the same truck delivers the fuel. The generator arrived with a tank built into its base, which is one reason I bought that particular set. (it is a NL 16K unit, actually identical as far as I can tell to the one in MikeP's Hatteras, but with a radiator etc instead of a HE)

It arrived a few weeks before Sandy, and was wired in about two days before the hurricane arrived here. It could run on HHO, I just don't bother because the two units aren't near each other on the property. I think it would run fine on that, but it wasn't possible to place it near the heating oil tank because of the way the house is laid out and because of the length of the wiring run to the main switching panel in the basement.

From outside the garage, where the generator is located, you can hardly hear it run. It runs pretty much everything in the house without any difficulty, and the base tank holds about seventy or eighty gallons.

 

[lumina]

Hi All,

B2, the 500w heaters are to big (physically). The 250w are the perfect size and fit on the hull side of the oil pans on my 8v71n's. I don't know how the TI's might differ.

The 250's will be more than adequate and will warm the whole engine and the engine room.

They have performed well up here in New England in November.

It's absolutely critical that they are adhered to a smooth, sanded, clean oil free surface.

 

[doc g]

Ditto on the 250's being big enough , they warm my 1271's and the ER to 60+ during the coldest part of winter.......Pat

 

[Plan B2]

Doc G/ Lumina,
Do you have a thermostat controlling the 250s or do you just plug them in and forget about them until you are ready for a cruise?