De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

Bill Wright formulated the question :
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and leave
it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

You have the fire brigade on fast dial?

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

Bill Wright wrote:

It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Having had a couple of early/cold morning starts, I was thinking of
popping the fan heater from the garage in the car, ready to switch on in
the mornings, but not sure whether the door seals would take a cable
thick enough for a heater, or I'd end up with a chopped extension and a
live car :-)

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 11/12/2017 18:04, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Bill Wright formulated the question :
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

You have the fire brigade on fast dial?

My risk assessment was that there was no significant risk. Why do you
think otherwise?

Bill

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 11/12/2017 18:05, Andy Burns wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:

It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Having had a couple of early/cold morning starts, I was thinking of
popping the fan heater from the garage in the car, ready to switch on in
the mornings, but not sure whether the door seals would take a cable
thick enough for a heater, or I'd end up with a chopped extension and a
live car :-)

Just leave the door slightly open, that's what I do. I always make sure
the cable goes in the driver's door so I can't just roar off and drag it
down the street.

I have also used a 120W greenhouse heater for this and left it on overnight.

Bill

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

Bill Wright wrote:

Just leave the door slightly open, that's what I do. I always make sure
the cable goes in the driver's door so I can't just roar off and drag it
down the street.

Maybe a few alternating L/N/E cores from this :-P

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4A-ribbon-cable/191009770259

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

I used to have a CX estate which filled with water, so there was
sometimes as much ice on the inside of the screen as the outside. I used
to have a little industrial fan heater (700 W iirc) and used to leave it
in the load area for up to half an hour. Still had to mop the inside of
the windows, but apart from that very effective indeed. I had a friend
with an ID19, and his wife used to drive ten miles into the Bristol city
centre in the mornings. One day she started off on a foggy morning with
very little visibility all the way to work. When she got out of the car,
she found all the fog was on the inside of the windows.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

Electric? A real man uses a real fire.

Cheers
--
Clive

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

Is this a fan heater? they normally work but you need a good quality
extension cable as it seems that most have stupidly short mains cables these
days.
I used to do this with an old greenhouse many years ago.
Brian

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"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 11/12/2017 18:05, Andy Burns wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:

It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Having had a couple of early/cold morning starts, I was thinking of
popping the fan heater from the garage in the car, ready to switch on in
the mornings, but not sure whether the door seals would take a cable
thick enough for a heater, or I'd end up with a chopped extension and a
live car :-)

Why not open the window slightly and pop the lead through that?

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

GB wrote:

Why not open the window slightly and pop the lead through that?

Because I wanted to place the heater in the car the night before, then
turn it on from the comfort of the house in the morning, rather than
have the car fill with snow overnight ...

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 12/12/17 11:07, Andy Burns wrote:
GB wrote:

Why not open the window slightly and pop the lead through that?

Because I wanted to place the heater in the car the night before, then
turn it on from the comfort of the house in the morning, rather than
have the car fill with snow overnight ...


Rolled up plastic bag stuffed into the 1/2" gap works wuite well - I did
that when running a dehumidifier after the boot got wet.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

Huge wrote:

Why not fit an engine pre-heater?

If the manufacturer allowed the option of an auxiliary heater on UK
models (they do/did offer a diesel burning heater for European models) I
might well have chosen it.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

Electric?Â* A real man uses a real fire.

Cheers

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters
that Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.

Or a VW 411 combi-estate with the auxiliary *petrol* powered
heater.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 1:07:29 PM UTC, Andrew wrote:
On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

Electric?Â* A real man uses a real fire.

Cheers

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters
that Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.

Or a VW 411 combi-estate with the auxiliary *petrol* powered
heater.

Those sump heaters were utterly useless. We had one.

It used to be possible to buy a heating element that could be inserted in the pipework from the radiator and heated the water. These things predate aslternators, more relaible engines and better batteries.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 1:07:29 PM UTC, Andrew wrote:
On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

Electric?Â* A real man uses a real fire.

Cheers

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters
that Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.

Or a VW 411 combi-estate with the auxiliary *petrol* powered
heater.

Om further thought gat a cab heater as used in lorries which run off diesel

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:07:17 +0000, Andrew
wrote:

On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Bill

Electric?Â* A real man uses a real fire.

Cheers

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters
that Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.


Just what I was about to say before I saw your post.

The other random memory were the little braziers we'd make from Tate &
Lyle syrup tins and some small bits of coal.


--
AnthonyL

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

In article , fred
wrote:
On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 1:07:29 PM UTC, Andrew wrote:
On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW)
and leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the
fourpence.

Bill

Electric? A real man uses a real fire.

Cheers

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters that
Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.

Or a VW 411 combi-estate with the auxiliary *petrol* powered heater.

Those sump heaters were utterly useless. We had one.

It used to be possible to buy a heating element that could be inserted in
the pipework from the radiator and heated the water. These things predate
aslternators, more relaible engines and better batteries.

But, I understand are still used in Scandinavia

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

"Huge" wrote in message
...
My Dad remembers (not sure if it's fondly) building fires underneath the
fuel tanks on (not UK) army diesels in the late 40s.

I've read of this trick being used to start diesels in the Arctic.

On the face of it, building a fire under a tank of diesel appears to be
about a stupid as the Gunpowder Plotters trying to dry damp gunpowder in
front of an open fire when they were cornered after 5 November (the
gunpowder exploded, killing and injuring several of them).

But diesel is a lot less flammable than petrol because it gives off much
less vapour that petrol, and it is the vapour, at the right petrol-air
mixture, which is most flammable. I've seen a flaming torch put into a tray
of petrol and then of diesel; the petrol ignites whereas the diesel does not
and may even douse the flame.

All the same, I'm not sure I'd want to take the risk...

At least modern diesels have tank, pipe and fuel pump heaters that allow a
bit more control over the heating. And there is now "winter diesel" which
contains a smaller proportion of the lighter fractions which turn waxy at
low temperatures.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On Mon, 11 Dec 2017 18:00:33 +0000, Bill Wright
wrote:

It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the fourpence.

Only 1kW? Try
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sn...8/s640/133.jpg
Cleans the windows, heats the cab and clears the drive.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

"fred" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 1:07:29 PM UTC, Andrew wrote:
On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 11/12/2017 18:00, Bill Wright wrote:
It works rather well. I have the fire on the lowest setting (1kW) and
leave it on a board on the seat for 20 minutes. It's worth the
fourpence.

Bill

Electric? A real man uses a real fire.

Cheers

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters
that Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.

Or a VW 411 combi-estate with the auxiliary *petrol* powered
heater.

Om further thought gat a cab heater as used in lorries which run off
diesel

Completely blotto, as usual.

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On Tuesday, 12 December 2017 17:43:58 UTC, Peter Parry wrote:
Only 1kW? Try
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sn...8/s640/133.jpg
Cleans the windows, heats the cab and clears the drive.

Also ideal if you've got the toasted marshmallow concession at Glastonbury.

Owain

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

"NY" Wrote in message:
"Huge" wrote in message
...
My Dad remembers (not sure if it's fondly) building fires underneath the
fuel tanks on (not UK) army diesels in the late 40s.

I've read of this trick being used to start diesels in the Arctic.

On the face of it, building a fire under a tank of diesel appears to be
about a stupid as the Gunpowder Plotters trying to dry damp gunpowder in
front of an open fire when they were cornered after 5 November (the
gunpowder exploded, killing and injuring several of them).

But diesel is a lot less flammable than petrol because it gives off much
less vapour that petrol, and it is the vapour,

Snip

I believe the Arctic idea is to change the state of the
potentially waxy partly solid -45deg c diesel into a liquid,
rather than into a potentially explosive vapour....

;-)
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 15:46:10 -0000 (UTC), Jethro_uk
wrote:

On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:07:17 +0000, Andrew wrote:

On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
[quoted text muted]

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters that
Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.

My Dad remembers (not sure if it's fondly) building fires underneath the
fuel tanks on (not UK) army diesels in the late 40s. And having to use a
blowtorch to heat the manifold.

We used to take the spark plugs out of the Austin 12 and put them in
the oven or over the gas hob though in retrospect I'm not sure what
good it actually did.

Cigarette lighters were good for warming the keys for frozen locks on
my A35 van.

--
AnthonyL

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

In article ,
Huge wrote:

We used to take the spark plugs out of the Austin 12 and put them in
the oven or over the gas hob though in retrospect I'm not sure what
good it actually did.

I use a blowtorch on the mower spark plug when it's being particularly
troublesome. Seems to help.

For some reason I'm thinking Basil Fawlty ... :-D

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 12/12/2017 15:46, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:07:17 +0000, Andrew wrote:

On 11/12/2017 22:01, Clive Arthur wrote:
[quoted text muted]

Indeed. What you need is one of those paraffin sump heaters that
Halfords showed in their 1965 catalogue.

My Dad remembers (not sure if it's fondly) building fires underneath the
fuel tanks on (not UK) army diesels in the late 40s. And having to use a
blowtorch to heat the manifold.

When I worked on highways in the late 1960s we had to build a fire under
the roller engine every cold morning.

Bill

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On 13/12/2017 13:41, AnthonyL wrote:

We used to take the spark plugs out of the Austin 12 and put them in
the oven or over the gas hob though in retrospect I'm not sure what
good it actually did.

Take the plugs out, tip a bit of petrol in each hole, throw a match in
each one, wait for for roar bang, do the next one.

Bill

De-icing the car or van with an electric fire
 

On Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:01:34 +0000, Bill Wright
wrote:

On 13/12/2017 13:41, AnthonyL wrote:

We used to take the spark plugs out of the Austin 12 and put them in
the oven or over the gas hob though in retrospect I'm not sure what
good it actually did.

Take the plugs out, tip a bit of petrol in each hole, throw a match in
each one, wait for for roar bang, do the next one.


Arent' you supposed to put the plug bag BEFORE throwing in the match
g

--
AnthonyL