Thoughts on a cheap DIY propane block heater

I was fixing the pilot light on someone's boiler and got to thinking. Pilot lights are standalone controlled little propane burners. No wires, no external stuff just gas pressure and the voltage generated by the thermocouple. Looked it up and guys say they put out 900-1500 btu of heat. Call it 1000 btu, and that's 300 watts. Better than a lot of factory engine heaters.

Old ALH EGR cooler heat exchanger, oriented vertically underhood, pilot light assembly underneath, thermosiphon providing pumping. Get the gas valve from an old water heater that has the spark igniter. 20lb tank in the car somewhere, turn on the pilot and light it when you park to keep the engine warm-ish overnight
no 400' extension cords needed

Beats a trash can lid and bag of charcoal. Unless you want to bbq. Probably a good idea to park a safe distance from any structures while it's cooking.

you cant be serious?????

might as well stak your car up on cinder blocks while your at it!!!!!!!!

If you make it portable it can be multi use. Coffee maker, warm your soup or oatmeal, hand warmer, wet leaves burner, possibilities are endless

Three votes of confidence?
Alright I'll piece something together

Mongler98 said:

you cant be serious?????

might as well stak your car up on cinder blocks while your at it!!!!!!!!

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Then you'd not need a heater...lol

I miss your comments...

And yes, I vote Yes...but I'm not responsible for any damage caused by encouragement.

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Let me know when the coffee’s ready

Mongler98 said:

might as well stak your car up on cinder blocks while your at it!!!!!!!!

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I didn't know this prewarmed the engine in winter? Do I have to orient the blocks a certain direction for the preheating to occur?




I think it's pretty neat idea!

delete

WildChild80 said:

Then you'd not need a heater...lol

I miss your comments...

And yes, I vote Yes...but I'm not responsible for any damage caused by encouragement.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

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bro, my heater core died on my jetta in its last year of running, nearly 2 full winters of driving with NO heat AT ALL, NORTHERN MD, yea its not -40F like it was when i used to live in utah but still -10 is COLD. i had an inverter with a 500 watt space heater that BARELY took the edge off, and i gata smoke too so that means a windows cracked lol.

i have a frost plug heater, love it.

For what its worth, a 100 amp battery will give enough to warm up the block on a oil pan heater and a frost plug heater (no pump) for about 2 uses before the battery is at 50%. Get home, charge up the 100 amp deep battery and plug in your car at the same time, leave it plugged in while your at work or after your lunch break, always a warm car.

this season we have had some really dumb ideas about heating with a fuel substance and a ghetto rigged burner. this needs to stop.
there are so many better choices that won't burn your car to the ground or require you to keep an eye on it. and for the cost of an inverter, a charger, and the battery and some wires, its well worth it.

I think it's a terrific idea and could even be marketable with adequate development. Lots of advantages over a Webasto type heater. I'd probably use camping cylinders and just refill them myself.

Mongler98 said:

bro, my heater core died on my jetta in its last year of running, nearly 2 full winters of driving with NO heat AT ALL, NORTHERN MD, yea its not -40F like it was when i used to live in utah but still -10 is COLD. i had an inverter with a 500 watt space heater that BARELY took the edge off, and i gata smoke too so that means a windows cracked lol.

i have a frost plug heater, love it.

For what its worth, a 100 amp battery will give enough to warm up the block on a oil pan heater and a frost plug heater (no pump) for about 2 uses before the battery is at 50%. Get home, charge up the 100 amp deep battery and plug in your car at the same time, leave it plugged in while your at work or after your lunch break, always a warm car.

this season we have had some really dumb ideas about heating with a fuel substance and a ghetto rigged burner. this needs to stop.
there are so many better choices that won't burn your car to the ground or require you to keep an eye on it. and for the cost of an inverter, a charger, and the battery and some wires, its well worth it.

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I wasn't completely serious...but what if you just ran some propane through a nozzle on one side of the radiator and lit the other side...hahaha...j/k...if you were at burning man, it'd fit but if you're at burning man I don't think you'd need a block heater or would even care if you did...

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Mongler98 said:

this season we have had some really dumb ideas about heating with a fuel substance and a ghetto rigged burner. this needs to stop.

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Says the guy using cinder blocks as jack stands.
I just don't even.

anyways, I recently figured out that ether does very well in mine, so the block heater idea may be shelved again

btw, anyone that's having trouble getting ether in their junk, a 1/4" dia boost gauge hose will let you blow it into the intake (small spritz of ether, lots of air from your mouth) from the comfort of your drivers seat
pops right over like it would if it still had 19.5:1 compression instead of something like 17

Yes, that was the joke!
Ether? From a hose that goes to the driver seat?
Geeze guys what the heck is going on that you cant get her to fire in the cold. Again, I lived in northern Utah when the nights would be -40 and as long as I had stable fuel and good glow plugs and a good battery, and fresh oil for the winter, she would crank over with no issues.
Yea it would not warm up unless I got on the highway but geeze. Get your car running properly. No reason for huffing ether

Mongler98 said:

I lived in northern Utah when the nights would be -40

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It's only ever that cold in Utah if you count the wind chill, which is a largely irrelevant made up measurement, and definitely doesn't apply to cars.

"-69.3 degrees
Coldest Temperature - -69 degrees
The coldest temperature ever recorded in the state came at Peter Sinks, a natural sinkhole in northern Utah that is recognized as one of the coldest places in the continental United States. On Feb. 1, 1985, a temperature of -69.3 degrees was recorded there."

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Average high in °F: 90 89 78 65 50 40 38 44 53 61 71 82
Average low in °F: 69 67 58 46 36 27 26 31 38 43 52 61

I have dealt with actual -40° conditions, and no machinery appreciates it. My powerstroke simply would not start at those temps without using the block heater and battery warmers.

Lightflyer1 said:

"-69.3 degrees
Coldest Temperature - -69 degrees
The coldest temperature ever recorded in the state came at Peter Sinks, a natural sinkhole in northern Utah that is recognized as one of the coldest places in the continental United States. On Feb. 1, 1985, a temperature of -69.3 degrees was recorded there."

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Average high in °F: 90 89 78 65 50 40 38 44 53 61 71 82
Average low in °F: 69 67 58 46 36 27 26 31 38 43 52 61

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You know there is not a town in Peter Sinks, right? And you know that Mongler didn't live there, right? And you know the low temps at Peter Sinks are an anomaly, right?

I live in Idaho, we get to minus 30 most winters at my house, but I'm in the yellowstone ecosystem and weather here is unique, but it has been minus 60 an hour from my house, but guess what, thats totally irrelevant, because thats at a location where people don't live.

I follow weather a lot, and -40 doesn't happen repeatedly in populated parts of utah as claimed, its too far south.

I did live in Utah from 2004 to 2009 in Logan, actually like 10 miles from where Cody’s Lab is made on YouTube.
I worked at gossner foods, lost my job during the 2008 crash, came back to family and to a job I knew I would have when I came back.
That sink hole is crazy, a lot of people who travel though there in covered wagon died there. I’ve driven though it many times, once in February and holy MOLY t it was -50 and that is so stinking cold.
I worked a 4am to 4pm and man, those winter February nights at 3 am are easily -40, sometimes -50.
I drove a S10 for a few of those years then picked up a 2002 TDI from a friend (Ruben) I even have a picture or 2 of me driving it back to MD in 2009 and the speeding ticket on Ohio turnpike to boot. For those last 2 years I never once had an issue with it starting if I let the glow pugs get nice and hot. Always fresh oil and antigel. Not once did it do anything more than struggle a tiny bit, like 20 seconds. Poor S10, that was the truck I broke that guys leg with (refer to the thread about starting your car with the clutch depressed).

Tangent over.
Logan is stuck in between 3 mountains basically, it’s a freaky green spot and -40 are very common. You just don’t get up that early.

jackbombay said:

You know there is not a town in Peter Sinks, right? And you know that Mongler didn't live there, right? And you know the low temps at Peter Sinks are an anomaly, right?
I live in Idaho, we get to minus 30 most winters at my house, but I'm in the yellowstone ecosystem and weather here is unique, but it has been minus 60 an hour from my house, but guess what, thats totally irrelevant, because thats at a location where people don't live.
I follow weather a lot, and -40 doesn't happen repeatedly in populated parts of utah as claimed, its too far south.

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I was on your side, why else do you think I posted the one anomaly and the average temps there? Kind of defensive today I guess.

Mongler98 said:

I did live in Utah from 2004 to 2009 in Logan...


I worked a 4am to 4pm and man, those winter February nights at 3 am are easily -40, sometimes -50.

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They keep weather records at the airport right in town in Logan, you can look at them online, from 2004 to 2009 Logan hit -25 each winter, but never as cold as -30, link below to 2004 weather records, on the right side of the screen you can click to get different weather records for different years.

https://weatherspark.com/h/y/145531...004-at-Logan-Cache-Airport-Utah-United-States

Clearly Cody was prowling around smurfing mercury from the good citizens thermometers. Probably wants to mercury plate his chainmail goober suit. (I realize that's gibberish to anyone who hasn't had the privilege to watch Cody single handedly create superfund sites)

can't debate those facts, it was a long time ago and that's how i remembered it. probably explains why it was not that difficult to start. still COLD, glad to get it strait.

turbobrick240 said:

Clearly Cody was prowling around smurfing mercury from the good citizens thermometers.

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You just used "smurf" as a verb in a thread where "blue" wasn't even being discussed, this is the most amazing thing I have seen on the internet in several days, if not more than a week.

turbobrick240 said:

(I realize that's gibberish to anyone who hasn't had the privilege to watch Cody single handedly create superfund sites)

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Despite being the land of the free, I didn't think you were legally allowed to create superfund sites single handedly in the USA?

Mongler98 said:

can't debate those facts, it was a long time ago and that's how i remembered it. probably explains why it was not that difficult to start. still COLD, glad to get it strait.

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-25 is very cold, much colder than the inside of your freezer, but, when people claim -40 or colder it is just so exceedingly unlikely...

jackbombay said:

You just used "smurf" as a verb in a thread where "blue" wasn't even being discussed, this is the most amazing thing I have seen on the internet in several days, if not more than a week.

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Yeah man. Wild. Some of the younger cats here probably got it.

Despite being the land of the free, I didn't think you were legally allowed to create superfund sites single handedly in the USA?

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You're not. He's been visited by authorities. I think that was related to some radiological experiments and not the 600 lbs of liquid mercury he keeps in buckets in the toolshed. He also does smart stuff like put mercury in his mouth and drink deuterium.

[486] said:

Says the guy using cinder blocks as jack stands.
I just don't even.
anyways, I recently figured out that ether does very well in mine, so the block heater idea may be shelved again
btw, anyone that's having trouble getting ether in their junk, a 1/4" dia boost gauge hose will let you blow it into the intake (small spritz of ether, lots of air from your mouth) from the comfort of your drivers seat
pops right over like it would if it still had 19.5:1 compression instead of something like 17

Click to expand...

Time to switch gears and come up with a portable coffee maker that will perk up a hot cup at -40 at high altitudes

turbobrick240 said:

You're not.

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I was joking

turbobrick240 said:

He's been visited by authorities. I think that was related to some radiological experiments and not the 600 lbs of liquid mercury he keeps in buckets in the toolshed. He also does smart stuff like put mercury in his mouth and drink deuterium.

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Really?

Is he the radioactive boy scout?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn

jackbombay said:

I was joking

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Me too. Don't sweat it, I figured that post would be nonsensical to most here. I just thought "smurfing" was a colorful term. Maybe "purloining in a nefarious manner" would have kicked the joke up a notch or two.

Really?
Is he the radioactive boy scout?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn

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That kid had to be one of his role models. He also single handedly created a superfund site- so it can be done.

I actually think Cody is a good kid, but he does some really stupid, destructive sh*t sometimes. And other kids are watching, possibly re-enacting that behavior. Hopefully he's turned a new leaf recently.

I regret making this thread.