Limited access to bottom of oil pan, best alternative to pad heaters

[Julian]

Hi all,
My 6bts take awhile to start. I know the wolverine heaters are ideal, but access to the bottom of my oil pan is just not there for them. What is the best alternative?
Thank you

Topic

[Brian Katz]

That’s just over $50 A month. Not too bad to protects all that expensive iron.

[Greg Weaver]

Rob Schepis wrote:

Mike Schmidt wrote:

Are you guys aware that running these Wolverine heaters 24/7 will cost $655 per year?? This assumes a reasonable 15 cents/kwh. I’m struggling with justifying this cost… help me out here.

Maybe an option would be to run them on a timer – 12 hours, on/off would cut the costs in half. you could also tweak the cycle times seasonally depending on temperatures and humidity.

Sounds expensive but in other terms, my cell bill is $2652 per year but I only run my 250watters for 6 months of the year
I guess its peace of mind for me and the winter start ups have been GREAT !

[Rob Schepis]

Mike Schmidt wrote:

Are you guys aware that running these Wolverine heaters 24/7 will cost $655 per year?? This assumes a reasonable 15 cents/kwh. I’m struggling with justifying this cost… help me out here.

Maybe an option would be to run them on a timer – 12 hours, on/off would cut the costs in half. you could also tweak the cycle times seasonally depending on temperatures and humidity.

[Rob Schepis]

Philip wrote:

You must have free WiFi in your marina/storage yard. How far will the Bullet reach out for a WiFi signal and how do you choose if multiple signals are present?

Unfortunately I’m lacking the “free” in my marina else I’d install something similar.

Yes, no charge for WiFi during winter storage at boatyard. In season she’s behind our waterfront home so no issue there either.

As to distance – In this first shot in the anchorage I was able to securely connect to a service providers free hotspot that was on the shoreline in the area of my red arrow. Something a smartphone or laptop would not be able to see. In the second anchorage shot we were connected to an unsecured network from one of the houses. The Bullet has a smartphone app that you pull up and scan all networks, no different that any other WiFi device.

[Philip]

Do you run some sort of dehumidifier in the winter?

Do you have any start smoke or hard starting?

[Julian]

My engines take 30-50 seconds to start cold. It strains my alternator, batteries, starter and the cold start can cause deposits to form on the pistons and accelerate blowby. Then there is the rust from condensation and accelerated damage to engine paint. I pay my own elecricity too but these will be on 24×7 until summer. After that I will run them 12 hours a day off a timer. They will save me money in the long run I bet.

[Mike Schmidt]

Unfortunately my slip electric is metered… so I need to decide if it’s worth $655/yr

[Philip]

My slip fee includes unlimited electric.

Even if I paid the electric, what’s the cost of unpredictable wear, and maintenance cost associated with corrosion upkeep?

[Steve Lewis]

Mike,

Not sure what your marina billing is but in Northeast Ohio we get charged a flat fee per season. Pay 1 price, use all ya want.

Winter storage is either indoor heated or not. Sunk cost either way, as opposed to a per kWh price.

That is how I look at it

Steve

[Mike Schmidt]

Are you guys aware that running these Wolverine heaters 24/7 will cost $655 per year?? This assumes a reasonable 15 cents/kwh. I’m struggling with justifying this cost… help me out here.

[Philip]

You must have free WiFi in your marina/storage yard. How far will the Bullet reach out for a WiFi signal and how do you choose if multiple signals are present?

Unfortunately I’m lacking the “free” in my marina else I’d install something similar.

[Rob Schepis]

Brian Katz wrote:

So your pulling Wifi from land or cellular nerwork?

The Bullet M2 is 2.4 GHz WiFi (802.11), not cellular. When cellular network is needed the Bullet uses WiFi from a smartphone hotspot.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Brian Katz

[Brian Katz]

Rob Schepis wrote:

Philip wrote:

Rob… what kind of fancy WiFi remote temp monitoring device do you have?.

Phil

I setup my boat with it’s own WiFi network using a WiFi Router in the salon and pulling in the signal via a POE Bullet M Wireless Radio Antenna on the bridge. So I have onboard WiFi network that all devices (wifi cameras, laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc) connect to.

Plugged into the router I have a Samsung SmartThings Hub to which multiple Z-wave (wireless) devices, such as multi-sensors (temp, humidity, motion) and smart switches (controlling lamps, battery charger) and wireless smoke/CO detectors are connected. Right now multisensors are in the engine room, salon and forward cabin.

Sounds complicated but it’s really not. It’s something that’s grown with time…

So your pulling Wifi from land or cellular nerwork?

[Rob Schepis]

Philip wrote:

Rob… what kind of fancy WiFi remote temp monitoring device do you have?.

Phil

I setup my boat with it’s own WiFi network using a WiFi Router in the salon and pulling in the signal via a POE Bullet M2 Wireless Radio Antenna on the bridge. So I have onboard WiFi network that all devices (wifi cameras, laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc) connect to.

Plugged into the router I have a Samsung SmartThings Hub to which multiple Z-wave (wireless) devices, such as multi-sensors (temp, humidity, motion) and smart switches (controlling lamps, battery charger) and wireless smoke/CO detectors are connected. Right now multisensors are in the engine room, salon and forward cabin.

Sounds complicated but it’s really not. It’s something that’s grown with time…

[Philip]

Rob… what kind of fancy WiFi remote temp monitoring device do you have?.

Phil

[Rob Schepis]

That I cannot check from the desk….

[Tony Athens]

Come on! I expect nothing less..

What is YOUR Oil Pan temp??

Tony

[Rob Schepis]

Just checked in on mine (she’s on the hard):

Outside air temp: 21°F

Salon air temp: 21°F
Salon humidity: 65%

Engine room temp: 30°F
Engine room humidity: 43%

[Rob Schepis]

Nice results, thanks for posting the details.

[DeWayne Enyeart]

Temp with humidity data update

Data obtained today @ 1300 with the Wolverine oil pan heater plugged in since 12/2/18:
Outside air temp: 39°F
Salon air temp: 42°F
Salon humidity: 77%
Engine room temp: 51°F
Engine room humidity: 56%
Cummins engine block: 66°F
Oil pan: 102°F
Seawater temp: 48°F

1 user thanked author for this post.

Rob Schepis

[Author]

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