Excessive engine idle for warm up

[jerry davis]

Why in the world do some owners still start their diesels and let them idle for 30+ minutes before leaving camp. Everything I’ve researched says that idling a diesel to warm it up is harder on the engine than starting it up and driving slowly away after a minute or two. Really drives my crazy when it’s 6am and right next to me!
With the DS FWS I have to start up to air up before I can put the slides in. This takes about 2-3 minutes so that’s enough. When I leave a few minutes later, I start back up and leave.....slowly.

Here is an example of the type of info you find if you google the topic:

Idling a cold engine and waiting to warm-up before departing reduces the engine life. Why? Precisely because the engine shouldn’t run cold. Let me explain.

When idling at, say, 750 rpm, the engine warms up very slowly, especially if the engine is diesel. It will take, say, 15 minutes of idling to warm up. 15 × 750 = 11,250 revolutions. This means that all of the moving components made 11,250 cold, component-wearing revolutions.

If you depart immediately but slowly and drive at, say, 1500 rpm, the engine will reach proper temperature much sooner, after only, say, 5 minutes. 5 × 1500 = 7,500 revolutions. This means that all of the moving components made only 7,500 cold, component-wearing revolutions.

If you depart immediately and aggressively, the engine will heat-up even sooner, making even less revolutions cold, but the load on the components will offset the quick warm-up benefits.

Counter-intuitively, the colder the weather, the more damaging idle warming is: the already long idle warm-up time is even longer. So, in winter, it is even more important to depart immediately but slowly.

So, if we we order the start-up styles from the most damaging to the least damaging:

1. Cold engine, aggressive start (most damaging)

2. Cold engine, waiting to warm-up while idling (moderately damaging)

3. Cold engine, immediate slow departure (least damaging).

[Old-Biscuit]

Right or WRONG



It's their MH.....they paid for it/they get to decide how to run/use it




Maybe they don't know......have you talked with them?

[valentob]

Our coach has a Valid air leveling system. Before you can bring in the slides you have to have your coach back into travel mode which usually takes about 5-8 minutes depending on the terrain you leveled out on. Then to bring in the slides about another 8-10 minutes. At 6AM in the morning that would probably seem like forever if you trying to sleep. If we are leaving early in the morning we put the coach into "camper" mode, which is travel mode and all slides in, the night before so we do not disturb our neighbors with our early departure.

[Civdiv99]

10 minutes to move slides?

I just timed mine for curiosity. Bedroom 8 seconds, the big main slide about 16 seconds.

10 minutes strikes me as watching a minute hand move.

How are they operated?

[twojayhawks]

Someone obviously pissed you off lately. I won't make any excuse for the imbecile that idles for 30 minutes but I submit you should feel fortunate you hear that well- I don't. I can't tell ya how many times we've got up started coffee & realized our neighbor has left already & I never heard it. Of course I contend the DS is also very well insulated from outside noise.

[valentob]

Originally Posted by Civdiv99

10 minutes to move slides?

I just timed mine for curiosity. Bedroom 8 seconds, the big main slide about 16 seconds.

10 minutes strikes me as watching a minute hand move.

How are they operated?

On a Newell before the slide can come in the floor drops down, then the air bladder that seals around the outside of the slide has to be deflated, the slide comes in, and then the bladder re-inflates around the slide to reseal it. We have four slides and our slides are 30" deep. I have not actually timed it but that was a conservative ball park guess. My wife is the one who brings in the slides while I am outside disconnecting the utilities. She is not trying to set any records on how fast she can do it.

[V3600]

One guy told me he was running his engine to air up his brake system. He was afraid he wouldn't have any brakes if the air pressure got too low. (More money than brains, lol)

Reminds me of the 5th-wheeler who said he checks the tire air pressure at rest stops and if it goes above the 80psi stamped on the tire he lets out some air.

[Quincy]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Right or WRONG



It's their MH.....they paid for it/they get to decide how to run/use it




Maybe they don't know......have you talked with them?

Great answer OB, also, the amount of extra wear and tear on the motor because of the dreaded warm up period would never be noticed over the life of the MH. JMHO

[Civdiv99]

Originally Posted by valentob

On a Newell before the slide can come in the floor drops down, then the air bladder that seals around the outside of the slide has to be deflated, the slide comes in, and then the bladder re-inflates around the slide to reseal it. We have four slides and our slides are 30" deep. I have not actually timed it but that was a conservative ball park guess. My wife is the one who brings in the slides while I am outside disconnecting the utilities. She is not trying to set any records on how fast she can do it.

Pressurized aircraft. Got it.

[Dutch Star Don]

I'm like "twojayhawks".....and rarely hear the neighbors leave. I stay up late and get up late and I'm often amazed that the people on both sides have left and I didn't hear anything. Both this DP and my last was pretty well insulated and quiet inside.

With that said, not everyone is considerate, but luckily, they are few and far between.

[turbopilot]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I'm like "twojayhawks".....and rarely hear the neighbors leave. I stay up late and get up late and I'm often amazed that the people on both sides have left and I didn't hear anything. Both this DP and my last was pretty well insulated and quiet inside.

With that said, not everyone is considerate, but luckily, they are few and far between.

I fully confess to being a serial abuser of early morning departures from RV parks for enroute stops. During Summer particularly, at northern latitudes, there is a "golden zone" of highway travel from 30 minutes before sunrise to around 9AM. This is a time when you have the road to yourself away from major cities. It is glorious. Depending on the type of road and the local time of sunrise I can often get as much as 300 miles under my belt before everyone else wakes up and gets on the road.

The only downside to this sequencing of travel is that you often arrive at the next destination before checkin time. We typically have lunch, see the local sights then show up in the early afternoon to check in.

Whenever possible I apologize ahead of time to those near me that I will be pulling out early. Very often these enroute people next to me are pulling in between 9PM and midnight waking me up, so it swings both ways.

[jerry davis]

Originally Posted by turbopilot

I fully confess to being a serial abuser of early morning departures from RV parks for enroute stops. During Summer particularly, at northern latitudes, there is a "golden zone" of highway travel from 30 minutes before sunrise to around 9AM. This is a time when you have the road to yourself away from major cities. It is glorious. Depending on the type of road and the local time of sunrise I can often get as much as 300 miles under my belt before everyone else wakes up and gets on the road.

The only downside to this sequencing of travel is that you often arrive at the next destination before checkin time. We typically have lunch, see the local sights then show up in the early afternoon to check in.

Whenever possible I apologize ahead of time to those near me that I will be pulling out early. Very often these enroute people next to me are pulling in between 9PM and midnight waking me up, so it swings both ways.

I totally understand that everyone has different schedules and I’m fine with that. Leave early, get in late, that’s all ok. What I was trying to point out, starting this thread, was that some folks think it’s necessary to idle the entire time they are preparing to leave, many thinking that they need to to warm up that big old diesel by idling. Not doing that to me is just common sense and common courtesy. Fortunately most of us are courteous or at least try to be.

[Randy125]

I loved the math, but I have one question. What about all the different metals warming and expanding, all at different rates. Rapidly heating or gradually heating.
Interesting.

[FLJOE]

We have only needed to "break camp" before 8am once in the past several months. I had an appointment to get my generator serviced and I had to pull out at 7am.

Two to three minutes to get suspension aired, shut down, bring in all slides and disconnect everything. Start up and go. I know we probably woke up a couple folks but not much choice.