Engine Compartment Heater

[mattmx181 1]

Hey guys recently wrote a post asking ideas for California Winterization tips for an S238 and got incredible feedback which I thank everyone of you! Found a good solution for a cover and dehumidifier bags to keep it nice and dry/protected. Also temperatures may creep down just under 32 degrees for no more than a few hours maybe a couple times, so i'm taking the advice on just putting a heater inside the engine compartment to just keep the mind at peace without the hassle of full winterization when it may not be needed. Also will fill the tanks and add fuel Stabilizer. Does anyone have any good recommendations through personal experience or experience of others who use this technique and what good heaters are recommended out there? If anyone has a strong feelings as to this not being a good technique for this winter I am always open for suggestions. Thank You!

[Cwazy1 89]

As I mentioned in the other thread: 

If you're on a budget: 

http://amzn.to/2yWvaz2

If you're willing to spend a bit more :

http://amzn.to/2xfbiK6

Edited October 3, 2017 by Cwazy1

[mattmx181 1]

Thank you @Cwazy1 I forgot that you had mentioned actual products in my last thread. Much appreciated!

[lakerat 70]

I need to fully winterize where I live but I still keep a Caframo heater ( Cwazy1's first link) in my engine compartment over the winter.  I've only had it one season, but so far so good.

[Jake707 171]

At upwards of 500 watts needed for these heaters I realize nobody is concerned about their electric bill but is anyone concerned about fire?

[Cwazy1 89]

34 minutes ago, Jake707 said:

At upwards of 500 watts needed for these heaters I realize nobody is concerned about their electric bill but is anyone concerned about fire?

Well it depends on what you're trying to do. Most people just keep a 300 watt in their engine compartment and drain their heater core to avoid having to have 2. 

Also these heaters only kick on when temp dips below ~40 and turn back off when its around ~50.  Its not always on. They're thermostat controlled. It doesn't really consume a ton of energy. 

[Jake707 171]

Oh nice that temp control feature would make it more practical then

[Cwazy1 89]

1 hour ago, Jake707 said:

Oh nice that temp control feature would make it more practical then

Yeah for sure. If it weren't temp controlled, you'd be better off putting a 100watt lightbulb safety light and running it on a nightly timer. 

[Mrwick 65]

You might sleep better at night with draining/blowing out everything and not having to worry about it........it’s only an hour out of your life.  I used to worry about my heated garage loosing heat.....if the boat is dry, no worries?

[HoneyBadger0829 3]

Check out this site. 

http://www.fivestarmanufacturing.com/kat_s

I have the battery warmers and 4 of the small heaters. One on each riser one on the pan and the tranny.

[Dieselbreath 8]

Be cautious on the electronic thermostat models as most if not all of them do not have a memory and if they loose power they do not turn back on and you could then freeze when you thought you were protected.  My trailer froze a couple of winters ago due to this.  The power flickered and reset the heater to off and the trailer froze some time after that.

[gravity12 83]

So lets say its late in the season and its gonna be close to or  feeezing. How effective would it be to just make sure you take your boat for a spin and get the motor hot. Would it hold enough heat that night to not freeze? 

[-HONCHO- 13]

• On 10/3/2017 at 1:45 PM, Cwazy1 said:

  As I mentioned in the other thread: 

  If you're on a budget: 

  http://amzn.to/2yWvaz2

  If you're willing to spend a bit more :

  http://amzn.to/2xfbiK6

  So if I'm understanding this correctly, you can simply throw one of these bad boys in your engine bay and skip the winterization portion of draining the block? The only thing you would have to do is blow out the heater core?

[RhuntIII 555]

Hey Honcho, What exactly are you trying to figure out with all these winterizing questions? I wouldn't take any chances if you're up in Seattle. I'm way down in South Texas and this winter we had 2 freezes, both lasting 3-4 hours. My boat is kept indoors and all I do to winterize is hang a couple of 100w light bulbs in the engine bay and a couple of 500w halogen work lights outside pointing at the boat, hoping that the power doesn't fail. I think if I was in your neck of the woods I would take the proper steps to winterize. Do a little more digging on the site, I know there are some DIY'ers that did a few write ups on winterizing with pics and video.

[Jake707 171]

What Rhunt said. 

You're in a freezing climate, you're going to have to fully winterize your boat each year. In the Bay Area here in CA it dips below freezing maybe a handful of times a year and usually only a couple hours so its not a huge priority and I still winterize just for piece of mind.

The bigger question is, is your boat already winterized? Spring is in a month or so, your new to you boat should have been winterized back in October I would imagine.

[-HONCHO- 13]

Relax fellas, my boat was winterized back in September. The reason for the questions is I'm trying to get a feel for what tricks people do to winterize their boats, granted different regions of the country warrant different measures of course but I see a fair amount of people are from the Pacific Northwest. Ive heard of the lightbulb trick to keep mildew and mold to a minimum inside the cabin area but haven't heard of an engine bay heater as the sole insurance to not freezing up the block. And as far as the earlier antifreeze question, it was asked to me once so I passed it on for a more in depth response. 

[Dieselbreath 8]

This would be a very viable option also.  Could be placed on a timer so it could cycle on and off.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Kats-13150-Aluminum-Circulating-Heater/dp/B000BQUUR6