FARM SHOW Magazine - The BEST stories about Made-It-Myself Shop Inventions, Farming and Gardening Tips, Time-saving Tricks & the Best Farm Shop Hacks, DIY Farm Projects, Tips on Boosting your farm income, time-saving farming advice, farming tractors and Agriculture equipment reviews

2004 - Volume #28, Issue #5, Page #10

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story | Read this issue]

"Super Heater" Jump Starts Cold Engines

Cold weather means cold motors and slow starts. At 30 to 40? below zero, it can take 25 to 30 minutes to warm up an older engine. Super heating the antifreeze mixture can speed the process and make starting a snap. Ivan Behrmann has designed a heater that gets the job done fast.
  "I've used it on log skidders, front-end loaders and big Cats in subzero weather," says Behrmann. "It can be made any size to match the engine."
  He got the idea after seeing pickups used to warm up cold engines on big equipment. Hoses would be connected between engine blocks. The problem came when the ice-cold fluid from the engine being started would hit the pickup.
  "If it is too cold, it will crack the block on the pickup," warns Behrmann.
  His solution was to build a separate heater unit that could be hooked up cold to the cold engine, then warmed quickly. His Super Heater can be used anywhere and requires no power except a gas heating torch.
  The heater consists of an antifreeze tank inside a chamber. A coupling on top of the tank accepts a standard 1/2-in. hydraulic hose, which connects to a similar coupling installed on the cold engine. A second coupling at the bottom of the tank completes the circuit from the engine back to the tank.
  A torch flame is directed through a hole in the bottom of the large steel pipe chamber opposite the intake coupling. The heat is deflected at the base and spirals upward and around the antifreeze solution tank, turning it into an internal heat exchanger. A port at the top of the pipe allows excess heat and smoke to disperse out and away from the unit.
  "The Super Heater keeps any flame safely away from the motor being warmed," says Behrmann. "It only takes a few minutes for solution to start moving back and forth."
  Behrmann charges $375 (Canadian) plus shipping for units he builds himself. He can also provide drawings, installation instructions and a materials list.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ivan Behrmann, P.O. Box 469, Logan Lake, British Columbia, Canada V0K 1W0 (ph 250 523-6749; fax 250 523-6729).

Click here to download page story appeared in.

Click here to read entire issue

"Super Heater" Jump Starts Cold Engines FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 28-5-10 Cold weather means cold motors and slow starts. At 30 to 40? below zero, it can take 25 to 30 minutes to warm up an older engine. Super heating the antifreeze mixture can speed the process and make starting a snap. Ivan Behrmann has designed a heater that gets the job done fast. "I've used it on log skidders, front-end loaders and big Cats in subzero weather," says Behrmann. "It can be made any size to match the engine." He got the idea after seeing pickups used to warm up cold engines on big equipment. Hoses would be connected between engine blocks. The problem came when the ice-cold fluid from the engine being started would hit the pickup. "If it is too cold, it will crack the block on the pickup," warns Behrmann. His solution was to build a separate heater unit that could be hooked up cold to the cold engine, then warmed quickly. His Super Heater can be used anywhere and requires no power except a gas heating torch. The heater consists of an antifreeze tank inside a chamber. A coupling on top of the tank accepts a standard 1/2-in. hydraulic hose, which connects to a similar coupling installed on the cold engine. A second coupling at the bottom of the tank completes the circuit from the engine back to the tank. A torch flame is directed through a hole in the bottom of the large steel pipe chamber opposite the intake coupling. The heat is deflected at the base and spirals upward and around the antifreeze solution tank, turning it into an internal heat exchanger. A port at the top of the pipe allows excess heat and smoke to disperse out and away from the unit. "The Super Heater keeps any flame safely away from the motor being warmed," says Behrmann. "It only takes a few minutes for solution to start moving back and forth." Behrmann charges $375 (Canadian) plus shipping for units he builds himself. He can also provide drawings, installation instructions and a materials list. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ivan Behrmann, P.O. Box 469, Logan Lake, British Columbia, Canada V0K 1W0 (ph 250 523-6749; fax 250 523-6729).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW