nichrome wire gauge for block warmer

[tummyacid]

Hello all, pleased to announce that Desi is being worked on as I type. Just one question that I hoped someone here would be able to provide some insight on.

I am interested in adding a custom block-heater to assist during cold starts in the winter. Since the head is still off, I thought now would be a great chance to install a few lengths of nichrome wire and place some external terminals that I could later access to run some voltage thru to warm the block. The car came with an attachment that warmed the radiator water but when I plugged it in it failed to heat up. I have since removed this unit.

This is just an idea I had so any others would be welcome. My mechanic has a few ideas about how to properly terminate the wires so as no to compromise the engine's integrity, and I can think of about a million ways to support such a system. My big question is what tempeture should I be aiming for, and what gauge nichrome would be best to install? The stuff is super cheap on ebay and I have some already but it is a little thin.

Thoughts?

Thank you,
Joel

[82vdub]

I've never really had any problems with the regular block style heaters. If you're looking for something that works faster or something else, I'd do a block heater in conjunction with a coolant hose heater, maybe one that circulates the fluid while it heats.

I can only really think of downsides with trying to lay wire in the block somewhere. As it ages, you could have it disentegrate and lodge itself in places that you don't want. Also, could it be possible that you induce some magnetic field or currents in the block that start to do funky things (like eating aluminum) that you don't want to happen? Will this extra wire impede coolant flow or somehow cause other issues?

[tummyacid]

thanks, I hadnt considered the wire breaking up and finding a new home in difficult-to-reach parts of the engine.

[Vincent Waldon]

Yup... your plan is certainly inventive... but I'd suggest difficult to do safely. You'd have to get the length of wire just right... too short and it will overheat and burn out, too long and it won't heat enough. If any of it ever touches the engine there's a very high risk of electrical shock and/or a spark that could cause an engine compartment fire.

You're also heating air and asking the air to warm the engine... as anyone with a old skool VW Beetle will tell you air is a crappy transfer-er of heat... compared to water.

In this case it's hard to fault the evolution-approved tried-and-true block heater: they work extremely well on our engines, cost less than 40 bucks, and have an excellent safety record.

Just my opinion,

[FineFrank]

Another great way to heat the engine is with an oil pan heater pad, available from Kat's. I have one, and it works great. The oil is warm when i start the car, and that's (to me) more important than warm coolant.
Maybe even both......