Cummins heat grids

[tcblinn]

I have a 2003 Sea Ray 410 Express with twin Cummins 6C8.3 diesels.  My mechanic is suggesting he disconnect the grid heaters.  Not necessary in Florida and hard on the batteries and alternators.  Is this ok to do?  Any risk to engine and performance?  Are the grid heaters separate from the glow plugs?  Thanks very much.

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[Steve Thomo]

It looks like there is 2 heaters in the grid is it possible to disconnect 1 only to help the alternator Etc

 

[MATTHEW]

I know the grid heaters are hated on this site but I think they work well on cold or even cool days, more needed on, say, the 370b’s than the 450c’s.  They can really make cold starts on cool days easier and do a good job of reducing smoke a bit in these conditions. 

That said there is no doubt of the downsides–huge, taxing draw on the electrical system.  My solution is to wire up a control switch at the helm.  Switch has two positions–OFF and AUTO.  With the switch off both engine’s heaters are completely disabled, when in auto they work as normal–per the logic of the controller.

I leave it off and flip it to auto for cold starts.  Once engine is above 120° or so I flip it off again and there it stays.  Best of both worlds as they are only pulling on the alternator(s) for ~10 mins.  This time of year we still get morning temps in the 30’s.

If you’re in SFLA or s cali then, yeah, maybe you just pull the fuses.

[tcblinn]

I am in Naples Florida.  Your advice is greatly appreciated.  All the best.

[Rob Schepis]

Not sure what part of FL you are in and what your boating months are but generally speaking you should be fine following the above advise and firing the engines just as your tossing your last couple dock lines and letting the engines warm up in stages as you motor on out.  The engines will always benefit from some heat, such as Wolverine pan heaters.  Your ease of cold starts are going to have a couple factors being engine health (compression) and temperature.

[tcblinn]

Thanks for your input.  If the heater grids are disconnected and there are no glow plugs, no need to preheat prior to start up?

[Rob Schepis]

Good to see your mechanic was able to think outside the box.  You got all the needed feedback here above but wanted to add that your engines DO NOT have glow plugs.

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Tony Athens

[tcblinn]

Thanks very much.

[Steve Lewis]

We have the 480CE version of the 6CTA and had our mechanic pull the fuses on the Grid activation circuit last year.  He was in there doing other stuff so we had him pull them.  Absolutely no ill effects and the Voltage fluctuations went away.  We are up North in Ohio so Wolverine pan heaters are still on my “To Do” list.

We do exactly as Clark has indicated.  We get ship shape and then I start the engines and then we shove off.  We have a 7-10 minute no wake zone that we run at 750 – 800rpm.  Coolant temps come up while we are making our way out to the main lake.  Once out on the lake we will get up to Hull Speed.  That was 1130-1140 rpm for us last year.  Just got the invoice for our prop work so we are now 23×25 and I am keen to see the results of our final prop mod…….  Once our t-stats open and we clear traffic we will either continue at hull speed or run up on plane. 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Tony Athens

[Clark Leighs]

MANY people have done that mod. and never looked back.

Your mechanic is right that they put a BIG load on the alternators.

Ge t the boat ready to move  using only the lines absolutely needed to hold the boat in position.

Then start the engines and get moving so a light load is on the engines and the smoke will disappear quite quickly and the engines will warm much more quickly.  

Do not try to warm it up at the dock.

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Tony Athens

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