Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Why do you feel that the oil is not hot enough? Have you tested 90° oil going to the IP?
There are a variety of 12v fuel heaters available, from ones which wrap around the fuel filter to ones using a glow plug and thermostat which fit in the fuel line.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

A hose in hose is really only a preheater, good for making thick oil flow from the tank. Get a proper 20 plate heat exchanger (HEX). 82deg, that is just the max coolant temperature, the temperature of the injector will be much higher. A HEX will get the oil close to 82 deg. You could get a 12v heater if you like but you will ultimately find it is a waste of money.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Hi, Thanks for the suggestions. I have been talking to a mechanic that has done many conversions and ha tells me that using the heater hose lines i will never get up to 82deg as they restrict the flow for the heater box unless you can plumb it into the radiator directly. I have ordered a wrap around 12 volt heater with a 90 deg t/stat for the filter and am considering the injector line heaters also if anyone has tried them?
Of course this is only a problem in winter and i am sure that the summer temps will be less problem in Port Macquarie.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

This is quite interesting.

I have never heard of an engine going into limp mode because the fuel is too cold.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

No one who understands anything about automotive cooling systems would plumb the fuel heater to the radiator!
The heater circuit is where the water is hottest and hot soonest. The cabin heater is in this circuit for good reason.
You could plumb the HE in series with the cabin heater or in parallel with it. Depending on the configuration of your vehicle heater (constant flow or valved flow - with a valve in the heater circuit) you choose the one which works.
* If the heater has a valve in series with it, you plumb in parallel with the heater, with the connections made by Teeing into the coolant lines where they attach to the engine.
* If the heater has a constant flow, you plumb in series with the heater, with the HE prior to the heater.

If this is not hot enough for your fuel, then change the Thermostat to a 90°C one.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Yep, what Tony says. If you have a HEX which uses coolant heat you have ample constant free energy to heat your oil.
If you use 12volt heaters you have a meagre amount of heat provided by a constant extra load on your alternator.
Sorry have never tried injector line heaters as over the years lots of people have found them to be hopeless.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Agree with Tony and Johnno, electric heating of your lines doesn't work well at all. I tried one on my backhoe, it was useless and ended up cutting into the radiator hose to install a HE as there was no other outlet on the system. As has been said the only way to heat your oil is to cut into the heater line and use a HE.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Any suggestions on where to get a reasonably priced HEX from?

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

They are available on ebay. search for 'plate heat exchanger'
This one is cheap and looks to be big enough for your purposes. It has 1/2" hose barb connections so you will need to adapt to the size of your heater hoses (a couple of reducing Tees would work ) and your fuel lines.\When connecting, blow in one port and feel where the air comes out. Mark the 2 related ports. The other 2 ports will be the other side of the heat exchanger. This will correctly identify the related ports, so that you connect it right first time.
Regards,
Tony

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

You could also use one of these copper flow through ones, they are the ones I've used for many years and never had a problem with them blocking or failing and they are small, so fit where ever you want them to.

http://www.helton.com.au/

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Several years ago, I compared flat plate heat exchangers with the Helton dual coil heat exchangers and found them to be much less efficient. I posted results on the forum but with photobucket now in the ransom business they may no longer be available. As Yendor is looking for a high temperature, I recommend a flat plate heat exchanger. I used them on several vehicles and also never had a blockage or other issue with them either.
I

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Agree with you Tony, but have my HE before the in line filter and have found using a flat plate, it can block if their is anything in the oil. But the Helton allows any junk through to the filter and ended up taking of my flat plates and putting Heltons on every engine. Also have my heltons wrapped in thick insulation and they work so much better that way, the oil is so hot it can burn when changing an in line filter on the road.

Got a bit lazy over the decades and even though my oil goes through a fuge, the system after that can get junk into it sometimes, especially when possums get into the oil room and decide to crap everywhere and eat the scraps from the fuge.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Some interesting feedback although the Toyota heater lines are not getting above 65 Celsius due to the design of where they are plumbed into the engine. This seems to be a design of this particular 3litre turbo diesel model so using a heat exchanger will not achieve much if the water temp is not the same as the cooling system. Thanks Tony for the belittling comments about quote"No one who understands anything about automotive cooling systems would plumb the fuel heater to the radiator!" did not understand what i meant when trying to figure out how to connect to the discharge side of the water pump where the water should be the highest temperature. Maybe Mercedes are different.
I did order a KEENOVO wrap around 90 deg electric heater that totally covers the oil filter right before the injector pump which i am yet to wire in and hope will sort out my problem. Thanks again for your advice Alga.

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Yendor,
My comment was in relation to your post where you wrote: It was obviously aimed at the mechanic who was advising you to plumb the heat exchanger into the radiator. This is not where the hottest water in the engine cooling system is located, as described further in that post.


In all of the vehicles I have owned, the thermostat restricts coolant flow until the opening temperature is reached. With some of these engines the thermostat directs coolant back to the engine until the thermostat opens, when some or all is directed to the radiator, depending on the coolant temperature. All of these vehicles have had provision for a heater in the cabin of the vehicle and this usually connects to the engine (at the head and returns to near the water pump). This coolant heats up fastest of any coolant in the system, which is why it is used for cabin heat. If the heater restricts coolant flow thru your heat exchanger, when in series wit the heater, then plumb the heat exchanger in parallel with the heater, using the same source and return connections. This will give you the hottest coolant available from your engine. If this impacts on the efficiency of your heater, then a restriction in the coolant line to/from the heat exchanger will restore heater performance without impacting the heat exchanger performance significantly.