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So how long can the block heater be plugged in?

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Old 12-21-2005, 02:27 PM
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So how long can the block heater be plugged in?

Will it hurt anything for it to be plugged in for 8 hours or so? I plan on running a circuit out to the truck that will be on a timer. Until then, can I just plug in at bed time and unplug when I leave? I don't want to burn up the heater but I also don't want to get up 2 hours early to plug in the truck.
Old 12-21-2005, 02:30 PM
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Yeah its fine.
Old 12-21-2005, 02:32 PM
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I always plug mine in before bed...
Old 12-21-2005, 02:36 PM
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we plug them in in oct untill about march in ND.
Old 12-21-2005, 02:47 PM
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I get off work at 6:30. Plug it in, and wake up the next moarning and unplug it at 8:30. No issues yet.
Old 12-21-2005, 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by NORM
we plug them in in oct untill about march in ND.
Ditto here.

I plugged mine in from the time I got home from work til the time I left for work the next morning all last year and nothing bad happened except for the power bill. Now I have it on a digital timer and it comes on from 4:30 AM to 8:30 AM and then over the lunch hour and on the weekends it stays on til 10:00 AM. It work great.
Old 12-22-2005, 09:23 AM
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I plug in at 6:00 when I get home from work. Leave for work at 7:00, no problems yet. Just don't forget about unpluging it I drug my extension cord half way down the drive way before I remembered I hadn"t had my coffee yet
Old 12-22-2005, 10:04 AM
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Originally Posted by cincydiesel
I plug in at 6:00 when I get home from work. Leave for work at 7:00, no problems yet. Just don't forget about unpluging it I drug my extension cord half way down the drive way before I remembered I hadn"t had my coffee yet
That's great

One guy used a marine plug so he mounted it in the bumper and pluged it in, yanked the cord out and left. That got me to thinking, run a wire to the back of the truck and do that, then just get in and drive, it'll unhook itself automatically. Pure Genuies. Nobody else do this it's my idea..
Old 12-22-2005, 09:45 PM
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It will cost a couple bucks... but other than that.. no pain.

I get home from work, shut'er down and plug 'er in. I actually idle in the morning with it still plugged in until I leave (15 minutes later). I think the block heater is 700 W
Old 12-23-2005, 08:06 AM
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My latest electric bill had a rate of 13 cents per kilowatt hour (which is a lot higher than where I used to live in Wash St.). Using my bill and 8 hours at 700 watts is about 73 cents. Do that every night for a month and you're looking at about $22.

Buy a timer and heat the truck for 3 hours 5 nights/week and your looking at $5.50. You can pay for the timer the first month.
Old 12-23-2005, 08:36 AM
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WE bought a Kussmaul auto-eject outlet that they use on emergency vehicals..Gonna mount it on the underside of the bed pointing out....So Start and *Thunk* the pulgs out no problem..

http://www.kussmaul.com/091-55-20-120.html

This makes sure you dont drive away with you power outlet and the Extention cord...We plug in when we get home(1800 hours) and unplug in the morning after it idles for 15 minutes with the remote start (0630 hours)
Old 12-23-2005, 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by handymantim
My latest electric bill had a rate of 13 cents per kilowatt hour (which is a lot higher than where I used to live in Wash St.). Using my bill and 8 hours at 700 watts is about 73 cents. Do that every night for a month and you're looking at about $22.

Buy a timer and heat the truck for 3 hours 5 nights/week and your looking at $5.50. You can pay for the timer the first month.
+1 on that

I can tell when the engine is warm enough when the "Wait to Start" light does not come on. I've noticed that it will take many hours to warm things up enough that I can just kick it over and go.

A REALLY good investment is the cold front. They've got plastic, stainless, etc, whichever you get its a must-have. I take it off when the temp's start hitting 190 consistently (70+ degF ambient)

cold front
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