Dave 2000
Not all Land Rovers are useless!
Unsure if this has been posted on the forum before but it may be of interest to those being hit by cold weather?
Yesterday I was working on a Renault van, whilst looking around under the hood I noticed a device in the heater inlet hose. It is basically a small alloy block that held four diesel engine glow plugs. Anyone familiar with these know these plugs glow virtually white hot within a few seconds, their placement in the heater hose means the water inlet is being heated immediately the engine is started.
I know these systems have been around for years but most are mains powered or there are the Webasto systems, so plumbing into the fuel line, this device is a simple DIY fit. The hose size appears to be similar to the 80, it would take just a minute to fit, cut out about three inches of hose, fit with a couple of jubilee clips. Wiring very straightforward, if I were to fit one in mine I would fit a 'push to make, release to break' or 'momentary' switch, perhaps the headlamp wash button and it could trigger a timer? I would not necessarily use a proper glow plug timer, the amount of time old style versions are on it would not work, modern diesel timers are too complicated with 'on time' dictated by the ECU, many factors decide whether they are to be on for 30 seconds or even half an hour, some coming on to help heat the particle filters, perhaps after you have been driving for an hour or so! IMO the best way to go is a an adjustable 12v timer triggering a relay, if you cannot get a timer to handle around 40 amps then use a light duty version to trigger a heavier relay to power the heater block. That means very basic wiring to be done and the whole project could probably be done in a couple of hours?
No other modifications would need to be made to the vehicle wiring or systems, the charging system for example, even the stock 80 amp unit could handle the 32 amps the four plugs draw, if you have an uprated alternator then you could use higher amperage plugs for even quicker heating, but they might not be necessary, the heater device (8 amp plugs) was too hot to touch within a minute of starting the engine from cold, I was inland so it was only about 7°C. If you have dual batteries a five minute shower would not need the engine running IMO.
For me the interest was warmer water for my already installed shower system, so just throwing it out there if anyone is interested?
Regards
Dave
Yesterday I was working on a Renault van, whilst looking around under the hood I noticed a device in the heater inlet hose. It is basically a small alloy block that held four diesel engine glow plugs. Anyone familiar with these know these plugs glow virtually white hot within a few seconds, their placement in the heater hose means the water inlet is being heated immediately the engine is started.
I know these systems have been around for years but most are mains powered or there are the Webasto systems, so plumbing into the fuel line, this device is a simple DIY fit. The hose size appears to be similar to the 80, it would take just a minute to fit, cut out about three inches of hose, fit with a couple of jubilee clips. Wiring very straightforward, if I were to fit one in mine I would fit a 'push to make, release to break' or 'momentary' switch, perhaps the headlamp wash button and it could trigger a timer? I would not necessarily use a proper glow plug timer, the amount of time old style versions are on it would not work, modern diesel timers are too complicated with 'on time' dictated by the ECU, many factors decide whether they are to be on for 30 seconds or even half an hour, some coming on to help heat the particle filters, perhaps after you have been driving for an hour or so! IMO the best way to go is a an adjustable 12v timer triggering a relay, if you cannot get a timer to handle around 40 amps then use a light duty version to trigger a heavier relay to power the heater block. That means very basic wiring to be done and the whole project could probably be done in a couple of hours?
No other modifications would need to be made to the vehicle wiring or systems, the charging system for example, even the stock 80 amp unit could handle the 32 amps the four plugs draw, if you have an uprated alternator then you could use higher amperage plugs for even quicker heating, but they might not be necessary, the heater device (8 amp plugs) was too hot to touch within a minute of starting the engine from cold, I was inland so it was only about 7°C. If you have dual batteries a five minute shower would not need the engine running IMO.
For me the interest was warmer water for my already installed shower system, so just throwing it out there if anyone is interested?
Regards
Dave
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