heating fuel lines with 12 volts

[vegoilboy]

Does a 12 volt heat tape exist? Can 120v heat tape be modified for 12v? What size inverter is needed to use 120v heat tape from 12v battery? Is heat tape the answer?

 

[sprintcar]

Check the heaters used to warm Nitrous Oxide bottles - they are mostly 12vdc w/ thermostats. ARC - Applied Racing Components in florida makes them

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein

 

[sprintcar]

Regarding using ATF in diesel - shouldn't be a problem in a private vehicle, but I understand that is used to dye the 'off-road' diesel fuel (less taxes) so if you get stopped (in the USA) and they find the dye in your tank, you could get fined. This came to light when someone accidently put ATF in the wrong bulk tank at a truck stop and a bunch of 18 wheelers had it in their tanks at the inspection station.
I think I'll add some just to lube the injectors and keep the bottle in the truck!

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein

 

[cusk]

I Have a 1998 Dodge 12 valve it has a built in fuel heater on the bottom of the mechancial pre pump. It is 300 watts and has a temp senser to turn it on when fuel temp. is 40 deg.
this shoul be avil. from cummings or Dodge

 

[WGJ]

I used to work in fuel storage and delivery for one of the big car manufacturers and then its component offshoot.
Colleagues and I spent a lot of time trying to get the management conscious of the development and component work needed to get diesel and biodiesel systems to work 'transparently', i.e. like gasoline systems. A lot of the problems came from serious misunderstanding of the range of qualities of diesel and biodiesels.

What you do need is/are:
1) a heated filter assembly (Stanadyne, Bosch + others)
2) a recirculation from the FIP outlet to the line from the filter to the FIP (uses the heat from the previously compressed fuel to warm the inlet fuel)
3) a thermostatic valve to redirect fuel down the return line once the temperature is much above 30degC (Bosch)
4) fuel line heater tape/wire and thermal insulation (

http://WWW for

info)
5) the return from the engine going right close to the fuel pick-up in the tank (SAE papers have info)
6) the fuel pick-up in the tank preferably being via a fuel delivery module, where a jet pump on the return line entrains tank fuel into a mixing reservoir with return fuel so the pick-up fuel is warmed. (SAE papers and patent publications have info)

Having put all this work into getting a reliable delivery system for diesel/biodiesel, you then have to be careful in hot weather.
In my development work on a 2.5l 100bhp turbocharged, non-common rail engine (Bosch VP44 pump), fuel injection pump inlet temperatures of over 90degC were experienced on a rolling road test at vehicle max speed, with simulated road speed air movement. Too much of this causes metallurgical failures of cams and plungers in the FIP. Then you seriously need to chill, as they say.

Bill

 

[WGJ]

vegoilboy - missed this off the previous post.....

Have a look at European patent EP1302711 for a diagram of such a system (Heaters, filters, thermostatic diverter valve)

 

[turbocohen]

Parker Hanafin or one of their suppliers makes jacketed lines for handling JP at altitude. They operate at migher voltage than auto volts. I used the heated line er pipe to preheat CNG flowing into regulators and fuel rails and supplied PWM because it drew so much current that 22 gauge wire smoked.

It will take a lot of current at 12V.