Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Hey gang, out of hibernation. Up in the Central NYS area where I live, I have to wait until the freeze warnings pass to fill the radiator with water and rust inhibitor. I don't run anti-freeze in the 28. I drain it all out for the winter as the garage is not heated.



I'm wondering if I could use a household electric blanket say in late April on chilly nights where it might drop below freezing, so I can use the car earlier than waiting until mid May which is normally when the last freeze is possible. I would wrap the top part of the engine (water jacket) and as much of the radiator as I could, to keep any areas warm enough.



If this is risky, I can of course wait until any freeze is passed.......but just wondering if this idea would work.


Hope everyone is safe and ready for summer,


Don

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

just curious, why dont you run antifreeze?

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I get better cooling running distilled water and "Water Wetter".

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I feel for you bigd1101. I run the same in my "A" but I been driving for a couple weeks now in Northern Ohio. My garage is not heated but it's attached. I would think the blanket would work, anything to take the chill off.
Marty

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

It worked in a place where it never got a few degrees below freezing. Not sure about your climate though.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

If you want heat on the motor, use a ceramic heater set under the hood and put a old sleeping bag on top of the hood. You would get much better heat distribution

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Probably just the heating blanket thrown over the hood would get you down to about 25, but I'd test it on a non freeze night, then measure the temp of the engine in the am. Just like the virus, you gotta test!

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Overnight, an unheated building will usually stay ~5°F warmer that OAT.

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As long as the wife does not mind that the a is warm and not her!

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

How would you feel if the electric blanket failed or the electricity shut off on that circuit for some reason and you cracked something. Run the antifreeze for a month and while it's cooler and drain it out if you are that set against it in warner temps and just keep the jug of antifreeze for next year

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Years ago there was a study that indicated straight water ran up to 30 degrees cooler in a non-pressurized cooling system. In addition another study more recently said long-life anti-freeze could cause gasket damage and subsequent leaking. A friend who built Model A engines would not warrant them if using anti-freeze.

I run water and drain in the winter but don't drive when the weather can go anywhere near freezing. I simply add water pump lube/rust inhibitor.

P.S. The "old green" antifreeze probably would be safer though not cooling as well as straight water.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Maybe it is just me but if one needs to use water wetter etc... in an attempt to lower the temperature of the water in the engine there is a problem that needs to be fixed.

Using water instead of an antifreeze mixture in this day and age is in my opinion unwise.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I've seen a lot of cracked blocks. It seems like just one more thing to worry about. An electric blanket will raise the temp considerably but what a hassle. I run green antifreeze and leave it in year around. Never overheats, and never freezes.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I too vote for antifreeze.

But, too each his own, why not use a magnetic block heater? I have one from Napa that I pre heat my backoe with in the winter. Was probably cheaper than a blanket.

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Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I use antifreeze also. A downside of antifreeze is it does not play nice with paint if you have an original design water pump that drips, or if you have any other coolant leaks.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

An electric blanket? May work but you risk burning down your car, garage and house.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

or use a light bulb of a sufficient wattage and cover the engine with any blanket . If you are worried about the bulb burning out while unattended, use 2 bulbs.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

You should be running a 50/50 mix, crazy not to. You will not have to mess with draining, heater blankets etc.

You say you get better cooling without it. Do you have a temperature gauge so that you can see the exact temp?

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I want to know about the study's, want to add mine to it, always had antifreeze, had to add thermostat because ran too cold, the used head gasket I put in 35 years ago is still fine, have a stock water pump that hasn't dripped for many years ------ ford sold antifreeze at the dealerships

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Next thing you'll be telling us that a stock head gives you plenty of power, manual brakes skid the tires, bias ply tires work fine, a generator charges sufficiently, and the muffler belt needs lubing once a month! :)

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Additional alternatives.


You could always run antifreeze in the cooler/cold weather and once it warms up drain it/save it for reuse, and run your water/waterwetter in warmer weather. This would give you cold weather protection all winter. It is so easy to drain, not much trouble. Plus you have anticorrosion protection all winter, if not in a heated garage you can get some condensation from temperature swings.


Or perhaps an oil dipstick heater set up on a thermostat. Personally I do not like electrical stuff plugged in/unattended.


I do not want to post my views on distilled water vs. antifreeze - too many strong opinions. Sort of like asking what is the best oil, just best not to go there.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

This is what I do. It does not take long to swap from winter coolant to summer coolant in the spring, and back in the fall. The anti-rust and waterpump lube additive in the water is important. ;)

I also do a radiator and cooling system flush each fall when I change over to antifreeze, to keep everything clean, and put a thermostat in for the winter. :cool:

Without getting into opinions (everybody has one) it is a fact that a pound of 50-50 antifreeze has about 60% of the heat capacity (how many BTUs it will store per degree of temperature increase) than plain water has. In warmer weather, when working an engine hard (eg. climbing grade in 3rd gear) plain water will carry away the heat load better than 50-50 antifreeze, all other things equal. YMMV. :D

I like to drive the car in the winter on a clear, dry day, even if it's cold, and the 50-50 antifreeze lets me do that. I don't want to have the car locked up until all chance of a freeze is behind me. I would lose too much of the prime Model A driving season! (This is also why I use a modern multi-viscosity oil in the engine, so that it is not too thick when cold in the winter. Let's not go there! :eek:)

My garage is insulated but not heated. I have an outdoor wireless thermometer out there that I read from in the house. It also captures the min and max temperatures in the last 24 hours. I never see temperatures out there in the building below freezing, even when outside temperatures are in the teens. But I still use antifreeze. :)

The most important thing is that you have fun!

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Forgot to add, if running antifreeze it is best if you do not have any coolant leaks, including no drippage at the water pump shaft and a nice tight fitting radiator cap. Antifreeze is hard on paint especially when warm/hot.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Ok, I searched and have not found that study on water. Again, I said it was years ago. My recollection was the article was in "Old Cars Weekly". Also, I remember a reference to No-Rosion which can be used with or without anti-freeze to eliminate corrosion. You can simply Google water in cooling systems and find it cools better than 50-50. Again, most of us don't have a pressurized cooling systems in our A's. Sure Ford offered anti-freeze for sale, but what year did that begin and it was alcohol? If modern technology surpasses yesteryear why do you care about past studies? How does "modern technology" affect water anyway? Just do your thing.

For me it's not difficult to deal with water only and add rust inhibitor. If it's unwise, that's only true if you can't remember to do what's necessary.

Relative to not using long-life antifreeze this is one of the references: https://www.ncregionaaca.com/firstca...and-antifreeze

In the end, do whatever you're comfortable with as that's what I'm doing (twenty Model A's later)!

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I don't use antifreeze unless there is danger of freezing . I keep my model A's mostly inside . I use tap water with water pump lubricant for a coolant and seldom take them out in freezing weather . Water cools better and I have had no problems . We hardly ever have freezing weather hear for any length of time .

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Additional details on Antifreeze. Never mix the different types. If switching types thoroughly flush/backflush out the old before putting in the new. Antifreeze itself is good for a very, very, long time - mostly it is the additives that go bad/wear out.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Just read the labels. Most antifreeze I've seen in the past few years says it can be safely mixed with any other antifreeze.


My dad had a military 6 x 6 from WWII that had "winterized Sept. 57" painted on top of the radiator. He never drained it or added any antifreeze to it. It was still working fine when he sold it in the 90's. Probably not a lot of additives in it to go bad in those days.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

[QUOTE=Ak Sourdough;1880157]Just read the labels. Most antifreeze I've seen in the past few years says it can be safely mixed with any other antifreeze.


Think I would ask my local trusted independent mechanic, and a trusted experienced auto parts place 1st. Would hate to wreck a perfectly good radiator and/or overheat/damage a motor. JMO

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I worked in a radiator shop once, this isn't very true.
Have you ever seen a radiator expand to twice it's size due to all the white fuzz growing inside? I did. We put it on the wall as an example.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

One thing I didn't see touched on, antifreeze also lowers the boiling point. On a non pressure system that can be a redeeming trait, especially for higher elevation operation. If running straight water, Water Wetter or comparable products do the same. But I won't ramble further, as I thought this thread was about an electric blanket, not antifreeze [emoji23][emoji23]

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Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

I had a foundation water proofing business and kept the product and sprayer in a shipping container that had been cut down and a roll up door put in the end. I'd pull that on my rollback and had quick connectors that tied the system to my trucks cooling system to pre heat the product so it would be able to be sprayed. I might go for weeks between jobs and this stuff couldn't freeze or it ruined it. What I did was just put a small electric heater I got at Walmart close to it and it did the job. The container was 15 feet long wasn't insulated and there was pleanty of air able to move around the door. Down to a night or two around zero it worked well. I don't think it would have worked with longer periods of time at those temps. I can't remember for sure but I also believe I put it on the lowest setting.

I would think a blanket or tarp thrown over the engine area with a small heater would do fine, especially if it's in a building. You just want to make sure nothing combustible gets to the elements of the heater like gas from a stuck float valve. :eek:

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

in pressurized systems everything I've read says antifreeze raises the boiling point, and in non pressurized systems does not affect boiling point much. Would be interested if you could post info to support your claim. Would like to change my understanding if I misunderstand.


Thanks.


To the Original Poster, sorry to go off topic.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Too support my claim I must say, I got that one bassackwards. Raises boiling point, higher temp, you are correct. Not sure how I did that one. Hopefully that's my faux pas for the day. I'll work on proof reading!! Thanks for pointing it out!! Honest miss-type.

Too support that, look at the mixing chart on any non-pre mix antifreeze jug, usually they have a chart with the freeze/boiling point- mix ratio.

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Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Only mentioned it so that those who are learning do not get confused (including myself), hope no offense taken by pointing this out.

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

No sir! Thank you for catching it. That is a sincere thank you. I'll make sure I'm more aware before I hit the send button.

If I start an antifreeze thread would y'all be willing to continue? Seems to be a good discussion.

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Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

If you do a search - should be plenty of info, has been a lot of past discussion.


Here is one of many - https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...ght=antifreeze


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...tifreeze+types

Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

Indeed, I'm sure it's in a few other places as well. But it lacks the excitement of arguing about it again....

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Re: Spring........and electric blankets on the A
 

-https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gifhttps://www.fordbarn.com/forum/images/icons/icon10.gifhttps://www.fordbarn.com/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif