Yes it is nice to use that waste heat. However, a lot of people want an inexpensive, easy installation, and live in warm climates, or they want to boost to compensate for losses from the glycol heat exchanger setup.
Self-regulating in the case of our heater means on a sliding scale, not full on/ full off cycling. Amperage draw drops off as the SVO gets warmer and there is no abrupt on/off cycling like thermoswitch types. As for extra load on the engine, we are talking about a max of 30 amps, and a much more usual case of under 10-15 or less once under way. (For electric only, use fuel recirc. to tank, and a fairly small tank, and of course for HIH systems, it all gets most of the way to temp without the heater, so the heater is just drawing minimal power to finish off the job). So at 100-200 watts a lot of the time, let's say 150, that's about, what, 0.2 horsepower. Even on a non-turbo worn out autonemic Rabbit, you can pick that up in terms of fuel economy and performance by checking the air pressure in your tires a little more often or turning down the Hip-hop on those big back seat speakers you installed to drown out the rattle of the diesel. ;-) Edward Beggs www.biofuels.ca > From: Martin Klingensmith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 19:55:00 -0800 (PST) > To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > Subject: RE: [biofuel] SVO heating > > You are not fussy, coolant heat is mainly waste heat anyway. > I would rather use the heat from the coolant than put an extra load on my > engine that robs power and burns more fuel. > > --- Anton Berteaux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I am thinking that the coolant is basically free heat, as it is a waste >> product of the engine running, but that using more than a small amount of >> electricity to heat the WVO wwill use more fuel, and cause wear on belts, >> alternators, and perhaps cause elctrical problems in the wiring or other >> parts that weere not designed for high amp, %100 duty cycle use. >> I have found VW rabbits in particular to have slightly (not terrible, but >> slightly) underpowered and under wired electrical systems. If one were to >> use a lot of electrical heat, it might be a good idea to run some big wires >> to the battery from the alternator, make sure there are large and sound >> grounding wires, and if possible, to install a larger alternator to guard >> against the worst case highest electrical use scenario. >> >> Feel free to tell me I am being too fussy. >> anton >> >> >> > > > ===== > -Martin Klingensmith > http://devzero.ath.cx/ > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of > your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com > or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
