Cold start Ether kit vs Intake heater

daytonatrbo · Jun 30, 2015

Which is better?

I have one truck with the ether shot, and one truck with the fuel fired intake heater. I would like to adopt whichever is the "best" on whichever truck I end up keeping.

By "best" I mean most effective with least maintenance.

MWMULES · Jun 30, 2015

Quick shot, the flame heaters have been known to go bad and cause problems. 2cents

daytonatrbo · Jun 30, 2015

MWMULES said:
Quick shot, the flame heaters have been known to go bad and cause problems.

That's where my intuition lead me. Just thought I would ask the community.

Unfortunately that means swapping the ether shot to the chassis that I hope to keep.

cattlerepairman · Jun 30, 2015

Flame heater is cool technology and, hey, a foot long flame in the intake is awesome. Ether start has a bottle, a solenoid/metering valve and a switch. Much less to go wrong.

daytonatrbo · Jun 30, 2015

cattlerepairman said:
Flame heater is cool technology and, hey, a foot long flame in the intake is awesome. Ether start has a bottle, a solenoid/metering valve and a switch. Much less to go wrong.

greenjeepster · Jun 30, 2015

I would keep the flame heater personally. Just because they are harder to find and really cool. All my M35s have had metered ether and it works great, but it is better to just put in a plug in block heater.

dmetalmiki · Jun 30, 2015

Had ether on two of the trucks, went to flame heaters. softer start I thought. All my trucks start without aid. In winter a short press of the heater switch is quite enough. Actually I quite like the "bump" as they ignite. just my 1/2 penne'th

VPed · Jun 30, 2015

What about ether for the start and the flame thrower in the exhaust stack

Karl kostman · Jun 30, 2015

I live in ND and my Deuce has the flame heater on it and it starts absolutely awesome using that, now like was said if its not working well then you could certainly spray a shot of ether into the air intake and the truck will start then, once again I dont like using ether unless I HAVE TO, the flame heaters are a wondrous thing to behold and over the last 5 years I have never had a problem of any kind with mine! And its a LOT better for your engine!
Karl

rustystud · Jul 1, 2015

VPed said:
What about ether for the start and the flame thrower in the exhaust stack

I like your thinking ! :burn:

greenjeepster · Jul 1, 2015

The ether systems are metered dose directly into the intake. It is a small amount and completely harmless, unlike using a spray can out at the air intake where it has to be sucked all the way in and people get heavy handed with it.

saddamsnightmare · Jul 2, 2015

July 2nd, 2015.

Me, I always preferred the flame heaters if working, all you needed was a battery to crank the truck and fuel to burn.... With the ether, if you are out and don't have a spare can, you have a non starting truck, plus ether is harder on the diesel engine. The machine is a compression ignition engine, and ether is just too combustible..... It will have to degrade the engine over time, whereas historically most large diesels even back in the twenties used heat to start, if only the Price- Rathbun glow bulb starting system.....

daytonatrbo · Jul 2, 2015

Ok, you have convinced me that I need to keep the flame start.

Now I just need to look into troubleshooting.

rustystud · Jul 3, 2015

The only problem with the old flame start system is it must be rigorously maintained ! Parts cleaned and checked on a regular basis ! The glow plugs are another issue altogether. These parts are getting harder and harder to find. Personally I would stay with the either injection. As a heavy truck mechanic I've seen these systems working on trucks for decades now and if used properly don't hurt the engines at all. Plus parts are all over the place. Wherever a truck stop is there you will find replacement parts. Try finding a manifold injector for a Hercules Multifuel at any parts store !

red · Jul 3, 2015

Every large engine I work on uses an ether system.

saddamsnightmare · Jul 3, 2015

Ever work on a 567, 645 or 710 (inches per cylinder displacements) GM diesel engine (locomotive)? I believe that you will find no ether starting systems on the first two engines and very probably none on the last series. Besides the Army knew that these trucks would have to start in -10,-20 and -30*F winters in combat zones, and the flame heaters generally worked. I have a Deutz air-cooled that will start without ether at -20*F and no pan heater either! After a trip to Russia, the Germans knew about winter also! [thumbzup]

rustystud · Jul 4, 2015

saddamsnightmare said:
Ever work on a 567, 645 or 710 (inches per cylinder displacements) GM diesel engine (locomotive)? I believe that you will find no ether starting systems on the first two engines and very probably none on the last series. Besides the Army knew that these trucks would have to start in -10,-20 and -30*F winters in combat zones, and the flame heaters generally worked. I have a Deutz air-cooled that will start without ether at -20*F and no pan heater either! After a trip to Russia, the Germans knew about winter also!

I am not aware of any modern diesel engine using a manifold flame heating system. They all seem to be able to start and run just fine all around the world.

nchittendon · Jul 4, 2015

Our cat motors in some of our spotter trucks at work have an intake heater. Not 100% if it's a flame heater set up like in our deuces, but it functions the same.

rustystud · Jul 5, 2015

nchittendon said:
Our cat motors in some of our spotter trucks at work have an intake heater. Not 100% if it's a flame heater set up like in our deuces, but it functions the same.

What year are these engines ? If your referring to the "electric grid" heaters Cat has been using for years then that doesn't count as they are basically glow plugs. A flame heater actually uses a "Flame" in the manifold. Diesel fuel burning in the manifold. Of course if you use "ether" on a CAT with electric manifold heaters then you will have flames ! NOT RECOMMENDED !!!! Ask me how I know this !

nchittendon · Jul 5, 2015

Not sure. I just know the action in the cab is the same. That's the extent of what I know about them.

Cold start Ether kit vs Intake heater

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