I wasn't sure where to put this one. I recently moved to an apartment complex and since we have 2 vehicles, only 1 can be parked by the building and the other out in the center. I would just park my truck by the building but I'm still living at home(trying to save up to move out) and my mom is more or less handicapped(emphasemia so she can't walk long distances) we have been parking her van by the building. Running an extension cord is out because I don't want to try to catch the plow guy this winter to unplug the truck in order for the parking lot to get plowed then plug her back in. So any ideas?

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Oh, and I've got a couple people interested in my truck but I really don't want to go back to a gasser, even for the winter.

 

Not sure if they make a 12 volt block heater, but you could have an isolated battery with an inverter to plug in the block heater, if you plug it in an hour before you want to leave it should start. I used to drive powerstrokes for the place I worked for and would plug them in in the morning, go in take a shower and have coffee and it would be warmed up enough to start.

 

you could talk one of your nice neighbors into letting you use their parking spot or even talk to the apartment mgr and see if they have another spot elsewhere that is open and close to an outlet...

 

It was the manager that said I had to park out away from the building. We have light poles out in the center of the lot but of course no outlets on them. But that inverter idea sounds like something worth checking into. I don't know much about electrical except wiring lights on my truck so how would I charge a 3rd battery? Would I have to get a bigger alternator and how big of an inverter would you think?

 

I've never done it but you would have to find out how much the block heater draws and see if you can get a big enough inverter to handle it and just google battery isolator and you'll find a bunch of info, I'm sure it would kill a battery pretty quick but with a good battery you could probably get an hour or better out of it between charges

 

6.9's like ether too, not a good option but it is an option

 

You could always park moms car in the center and then move it up in the morning after you start your truck. I know PIA but it's an option

 

I wouldn't think the 12V idea would work out. These heaters draw between 600 and 700 watts. Down to about 0F you need to run the heater for around 1 hr. and 30 min. to fully warm up the engine (Well, as far as the block heater can anyway). A battery won't be able to do that for you. 2 or 3 might be able to do it ok.... But then there is the problem of your alternator not being able to recharge a dead battery anyway.

If you can't find another plug in, maybe your next best solution would be a diesel fired coolant heater. Espar makes a really good one. These types of heaters can be programmed and some even have a remote to turn them on as needed. When I can afford one, that is what I want.

 

I wasn't sure how much juice the block heaters take, but I did know after an hour plugged in the powerstrokes I used to drive would start. Diesel fired coolant heater, never even knew they existed, Good Idea

 

go to TSC and buy a case of ether.... I used to start my old idi every morning with a little snort of ether, did it for years and never had a problem