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Date:         Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:29:03 -0700
Reply-To:     Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Takes a darn long time for the heater to come up to speed
In-Reply-To:  <016201c9a293$999e7240$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 3/11/2009 2:51 PM Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:

> Sometimes > it won't even get up to full temp, in town, at low load and rpm ......even > with a good new german t-stat IF .......... > you have the heater on from the begging ( a bad thing in cold temps ) and > it's very cold.

Ah -- a lesson learned. Keep the heater slider off until there's at least some activity visible on the ol' temp gauge.

> And shortish in town trips in very cold temps..............is really rough > on a waterboxer. > It would bee worth it to cruise out of town on the highway for 5 miles, turn > around, then go about your town errands, in very cold temps.........like 20 > degrees F and below.

Short trips are about all I'm taking with Mellow Yellow right now. If the weather or sunlight situation are not suitable for cycling, I takee the Vanagon.

> I just pulled this inline 110Volt AC 'house power' electric heater out of a > parts van of mine. I gotta put that in my heater circuit of my van and plug > it in overnight while it's still cold. Sure would be nice if the engine > coolant was partially warmed up, and all the coolant in the heater circuit > was already warm, soon as I start 'er up !

Sigh. One can dream, no?

-- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana") 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano Bend, OR KG6RCR

On 3/11/2009 2:51 PM Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:

> the stock temp gauge sender is pretty close to the thermostat. > so when that comes off the peg........... > it's starting to close off the bypass circuit flow in the engine, and > starting to send coolant toward the radiator. > And the sender shows the temp of the radiator circuit coolant ......... > they'd want to read the hottest coolant as it comes out of the engine. > < shoot, come to think of it........ > has anyone ever bothered to figure out if a water boxer thermostat is on the > return side from the radiator , or on the 'feed to the radiator' side. Most > newer engines have the t-stat on the return side to the engine........ > like all vw inline fours gas and diesel since the 1975 Rabbit, like Subaru > engines etc. I never bother to check that out ) > > The thermostat in a waterboxer engine is a 'two door' thermostat > ........two cirucits ............one is 'bypass'. around and around through > the engine....... > bypassing the radiator circuit. The other circuit is the radiator circuit. > The t-stat switches gradually over from one circuit to the other. The Heater > circuit is something else of course, and not termostated in any way. > > That might even take 10 minutes...........as as it blends from the bypass > circuit to the radiator circuit. > so the change over is gradual. My guess is that at 25 % gauge defelction ( > halfway from zero reading to mid-defliction, by the LED ) is about half > split between bybass circuit, and radiator circuit. > > You won't see 'full thermostated' temp at the radiator until after it's been > in the radiator only portion for a short while. Like fully up to temp, plus > a few more minutes, depending on rpm ( water pump speed ) . In town at > lower speeds, lower load, it takes longer to get fully up to temp. Sometimes > it won't even get up to full temp, in town, at low load and rpm ......even > with a good new german t-stat IF .......... > you have the heater on from the begging ( a bad thing in cold temps ) and > it's very cold. > > the best deal is a new german, OE quaility thermostat in the higher of two > temps offered. Warmer is better, cooler is not. > And shortish in town trips in very cold temps..............is really rough > on a waterboxer. > It would bee worth it to cruise out of town on the highway for 5 miles, turn > around, then go about your town errands, in very cold temps.........like 20 > degrees F and below. > I just pulled this inline 110Volt AC 'house power' electric heater out of a > parts van of mine. I gotta put that in my heater circuit of my van and plug > it in overnight while it's still cold. Sure would be nice if the engine > coolant was partially warmed up, and all the coolant in the heater circuit > was already warm, soon as I start 'er up ! > > scott > www.turbovans.com > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "neil N" <musomuso@GMAIL.COM> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> > Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 1:57 PM > Subject: Re: Takes a darn long time for the heater to come up to speed > > >> On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Rocket J Squirrel >> <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote: >>> What's the easy way to tell whether the thermostat stays properly shut >>> until the engine reaches temperature? I was thinking of starting the >>> engine, take the temp of the radiator with an infrared thermometer, >>> watching the temp gauge, and, according to my theory, when the gauge >>> starts to indicate operating temperature the radiator should suddenly >>> start warming up. That should work, right? >>> >>> >> >> Short of removing the thermostat, boiling it in a pot of water and >> watching/measuring with a thermometer, I would suggest aiming your IR >> gun at the thermostat housing. See when the temp goes up there. >> >> I would imaging that measuring at the rad would take longer. >> >> Neil. >> >> >> -- >> Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco" >> >> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/ >> >> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines >


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