Wher's the best place to get them and how much are they? How exactly do they work? What powers them? ANY INFO would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

 

Could usually find them at Napa or schucks/kragen/partsamerica/checker or whatever they call themselves this month I think they are about 20 or 35 bucks a piece for the flat pads. There are wrap around kind that cover all the sides and they run about 35 or 50 a piece

 

I've heard they come with winter fronts sometimes too? Which of the winter front brands is the best for the money?

TIA

 

Dodge sells a cold weather kit that comes with the winter front and 2 battery blankets, I think $130. The blankets come with a new wiring harness to replace the block heater cord so that when you plug the truck in, both the blankets and the block heater are running.

 

THanks for the help!!!!!
Where can I get a look at one of these online? ANy links/pics?

TIA!!

 

I know that you want the battery blankets and not the pad heater, reason being that the driver side battery has a temp sencer under it. and if it's to warm the emc will not charge the battery until it cools down. just some thing to keep note of. so for short trips the battery wouldn't get a charge. untill it cooled down. I don't know the temp range but ya better safe that sorry.

 

yeah but his sig shows a 98 and I looked and looked all over the place for a kit to fit 2nd gens to no avail. As far as I know its only available for 2003 to present models. As a cold front I had to resort to lund plastic inserts which do okay but not as good as a vinyl cover would do, but Im kinda cheap

 

Oops, I better learn to read sig's first!

Either way, I believe that the blankets are available as a stand-alone item from Dodge; I can't see why the blankets wouldn't be usable on all generations...

 

Blankets will boil your batteries. Not good.

 

Why do you say that? My guess is that they work like the BH, not hot just warm, like room temp (70*). Do you have any info? I haven't heard anything like that before.

 

Yes. I used to use them on my truck and I could hear the batteries boiling.
Andy

 

blankets, when used above a temperature of about -25C will indeed cause a boiling effect in your batteries. Now, that effect might almost be nice for a hot tub, not so good for a battery.
That being said, if you leave your blankets unplugged above -25C, they will allow the batteries to keep themselves warm just from the heat that is naturally given off during the charge and discharge cycles. This makes them an excellent investment for anyone in colder climates, who wants decent battery life.
I would not recommend any extended use of a plugged in blanket, above perhaps -40. at that temp, a battery that is slightly weak can freeze quite handily.

Food for neurons

 

Interesting. I guess I just assumed that the blankets would "warm" the batteries, not get them HOT...or is it that the added heat is accelerating the chem reaction in the batteries causing them to boil?

Hmmmm, maybe I should install the blankets and not plug them in unless it gets below 0* overnight? I only run the BH for 4 hours before leaving for work.

 

It really only needs to run 2 to 3 hours max. I cant see the battery boling in 3 hours even at 10 or 20 degrees.

 

You guys are nutz! I have a blanket on each of my batteries. I have put my hand in between the battery and the blanket after it has been on for several hours. It is nice and warm, but nowhere near HOT. Your underhood temps get much higher than that idling in the summer heat. IIRC, they are ~50w each. I've had them running all night time and time again. Never even came close to boiling my batteries.