Block Heater

[rivrduk]

I noticed to the left of the drivers seat there is a block heater switch that has a light in it when it turns on. How is this used and when should it be used. Thanks, Rivrduk

[Theberrys]

Duk

It's for heating the Engine Block in cold weather to help oil flow and make it easier to start with less damage.
It will only work if you are plugged into shore power. Also in my rig there is a brown household looking outlet in the electric bay that is controlled by that switch. You'll also find a three pronged plug either plugged in or just laying about, for some reason a lot of folks leave the Block Heater unplugged. In any case to use the heater that needs to be plugged in. Mine uses almost 1,000 Watts when in use as read on my Kill-A-Watt, that's an easy way to tell it's working. Mine didn't at first because a wire had come loose inside the outlet in the electrical bay.
Here is a link to a description of a Block Heater.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_heater

Dick

[Vegasdan]

The outside temperature will determine how long you will need to have the block heater on. The colder it is the longer you will need to heat. I've started my Cat down to mid thirtys without using the block heater. Does anyone know what the rule of thumb is for how long to preheat depending on the ambiant temperature?

[sknight]

In 20* weather a block heater will bring an ISB as warm as it'll get in a little over two hours. I used a timer set to three hours before time to leave and it was always toasty.

My experience. Worth every penny you paid for it.

[bdpreece]

All you need is a couple hours to warm everything up. It allows the heater work sooner also which is nice when driving in cold temps.

[rvndonm]

The block heater in our motorhome will operate from the generator as well as any ac source other than the inverter.

[rivrduk]

Thanks, i found the house type box, and the three prong is plugged in, so i guess it would work. Rivrduk