Block Heater Cord

[DKR]

Yup, it was me with the chrome plug at SSS. I will be out all day tomorrow snowboarding, but I am off work Monday so I will try to get a pic up. I like the chrome, blends in nicely with the bumper and the best part was tha it already had the Ford heater plug on it, so no splicing needed!

[SteveKran]

Originally Posted by DaveWilliams

Yeah as you can see by my picture, I just put it in the plastic under the chrome. If you drill into chrome, then you compromise the chrome coating and the edge will start to rust. I see guys at work all the time that have drilled through galvanized, zinc or chrome and before long they start to rust. I figure the plastic will not rust....as long as I have the truck anyway

Well I looked under the drivers side again tonight and found it! It was basically behind the driver's side fog light zip tied to another wire.

I'm going to leave the block heater in tonight and see if it makes any difference in the morning. If it's a difference that I can tell, I'll do the Marinco Mod. If not, I just won't use the block heater.

[DaveWilliams]

Gonna get pretty chilly down chucktown way tonight. I would imagine Irmo will be a little colder....You should notice a difference in being plugged in.....if nothing else, the heat will be warm inside the cab pretty quickly. If you decide to plug it in pretty regularly, a timer set for about 2 and half hours before you need to start it will keep you from running the 1500 watt heater all the time....Let me know how it goes.....Dave

[bas157]

Originally Posted by Delaware King Ranch

Yup, it was me with the chrome plug at SSS. I will be out all day tomorrow snowboarding, but I am off work Monday so I will try to get a pic up. I like the chrome, blends in nicely with the bumper and the best part was tha it already had the Ford heater plug on it, so no splicing needed!

Is that something you can buy from Ford, or did you find one that someone else already made so you just had to unplug it at the block and block the wiring coming to the chrome plug into it? If from Ford, do you know a part number or what application it was from?
thanks

[CHUCK]

Just another way of doing it. I mounted mine in the grille. I dont know if theres a good spot in the newer body style grille to mount the plug or not. Mine being a obs, my grille had enough area for it. The housing came from a big truck.... the cord plug is round and has a spring loaded set ball in it, to lock it in place.

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[SteveKran]

Originally Posted by DaveWilliams

Gonna get pretty chilly down chucktown way tonight. I would imagine Irmo will be a little colder....You should notice a difference in being plugged in.....if nothing else, the heat will be warm inside the cab pretty quickly. If you decide to plug it in pretty regularly, a timer set for about 2 and half hours before you need to start it will keep you from running the 1500 watt heater all the time....Let me know how it goes.....Dave

Man was it nice this morning not having to sit in the driveway while it sputtered and coughed a little as I start it up. The truck started right up with no problems and I had a little heat instantly. I didn't know that heater is 1500 watts, that would rack up on the electric bill in a hurry if I plugged it in every night. I like your idea about the 2 1/2 hour timer prior to me needing the vehicle. I figure the heater draws 12.5 amps (1500 watts @ 120 volts).

Any suggestions on finding a cheap on/off timer that would get the job done?

[720Deere]

Go to Home Depot. They have some nice timers in the outdoor lighting section. I use a timer set at about 3 hours in the morning. I don't think that the block heater is quite 1500 watts. I think your only looking at about 1000 watts unless the 7.3 heater is bigger than a 6.0 heater. There is no way the circuit breaker that I have mine plugged into would handle anything close to 1500 watts.

When I start the truck in the morning the coolant temp is anywhere from 96 to 103 degrees depending on the ambient temp. Instant heat is a nice feature, but with electric at over $0.18/kilowatt hour I can't afford to plug it in all night long. The $20 timer will almost pay for itself in the first month. I figure it cost me about $10-$12 per month right now to plug the truck in with the timer. It would cost more than that in fuel for warm-up idle time.

[SteveKran]

Originally Posted by 720Deere

Go to Home Depot. They have some nice timers in the outdoor lighting section. I use a timer set at about 3 hours in the morning. I don't think that the block heater is quite 1500 watts. I think your only looking at about 1000 watts unless the 7.3 heater is bigger than a 6.0 heater. There is no way the circuit breaker that I have mine plugged into would handle anything close to 1500 watts.

I'll definately check out the timers. I might find one on ebay for cheap. Thanks for the help

Referring to your circuit breaker....just to give you an idea in relation, a hair dryer is typically 1875 watts which is around 15.6 amps. You must have your block heater plugged into a circuit with a 10amp breaker

[NCHornet]

The block heater is 1000 watts not 1500. This is still like having 10 100 watt light bulbs running all night, so for sure use a timer, under $20 at Lowes. I also would be careful about drilling through the chrome part of the bumper, I have seen a lot of rusting from people doing it, even if they seal the edge with galvanized paint it still rusts over time. If you look on my pics the plastic cowl piece under the chrome part is a good place, these are usually black or in my case painted white, there is a metal bumper behind the plastic so it is a nice rigid mount, but if you get any rust around the hole it won't show. The chrome ones, as well as white and black can be found at any decent boat shop or Cabellas as I said above.

[kinghawg98]

Dave- Where abouts are you in chuck town.....I've not seen your truck before.


Block heaters are nice. Makes for a faster start! Glad you found your wire.