anybody ever tried to to this, i'm not exactly sure how much electricity the heater draws. or if possilbe.
maybe if i got a smaller magnetic block heater it would be possible that way.

anyone with info that be great.

 

750 watts if I recall correctly.

 

750watts would require a few deep cell batteries (enough that you could use em for the extra traction weight in the snow/ice) You'll need at least 8 hrs/day sunlight or more if cloudy day to make up the power.

for the price, a webatso or espar heater would work a lot better.

 

At 12v you would be looking at over 60 amps continually over several hours to effectively heat the block. It would require at least 300 amp hours worth of batteries, and the solar bank required to recharge that in a day would be many thousands of dollars and wouldn't fit on the truck.

The Webatso or Espar would be the way to go. You could add say a 100 watt panel to cover what they draw...

 

Just plug it in, it's only 6 amps on 120v ac.

 

i guess i'll throw that idea in the scrapper,

if there was an outlet that followed me wherever i went i would just "plug it in"

 

Strap a generator in the bed

You didn't say where you live, where it will be sitting, or how long it would be sitting

 

I think the Canadians us one that burns diesel....http://www.espar.com/

 

if you have a garage you could always cover the roof in solar panels, and switch to the night shift

 

On a side note, it has occurred to me that it should be possible to build something in a simpler, non 110v engine heater that doesn't have a fuel pump or other stuff that draws off 12v.

Something like a kerosene lamp or wick heater, with a coil of 3/8 tubing to transfer heat to the coolant and let convection carry it to the motor, where 12v would just have to light the thing at a preset time...

 

Would this be done during the day? Some reason I don't see it working well overnight lol