hooking up 2 heaters

[croftonaviation]

Here's the deal. The truck I recently bought has two coolant heaters installed. One under the hood and one in the cab. Only one is currently hooked up, however I have swapped hoses around and they both work well and don't leak. Is there a problem with putting a tee fitting in the hoses so I can run both of them? I am planning on putting them on separate switches for power. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jimm1009]

dual heater system

Unfortunately I have not yet done this but was in the planning stage. One for Defrost / defog only and one for heat only.
If your hoses are in series they may work better than in parallel and I personally think that the system would flow better since it would be a loop rather than being a T.
Here is Louisiana it never really gets cold but there is the ever present danger of too much fogging in the windshield during the rain.
I think that this would work great for you as you need a little more heat where you are.
As long as you don't exceed 80% of your alternator total capacity you should be good to go.
I hope other will chime in on your thread and I'm anxious to read more.
jimm1009

 

[AceHigh]

I have a heater and a coolant bypass filter both teed off the engine. The filter is somewhat restrictive and my experience is the heater works great but the filter stays cold if both are on. In other words the coolant will flow where it is easiest to go.

Your plan should work though.

 

[atankersdad]

I would hook them up in series to ensure equal flow. I would put the flow to the cab heater first and then into the one under the hood. You would rather radiat the most heat into the cab verses the engine compartment. Either flow direction will work...How cold does it get in KY?? One fuel fired heater would run you out of that truck...

 

[jdr2710]

Back when I worked as a plumber doing hot water heat systems we used a thing called a diversion T. Basically it was a T with a restriction to force some of the hot water to flow on the main path and some for the T'd path.

Here are a couple examples:
monoflow T
venturi T

Note you could do the same sort of thing with a couple ball valves to balance the flow. One valve in line with each of the heaters, then fiddle them until they are both heating as you want.

 

[croftonaviation]

I would hook them up in series to ensure equal flow. I would put the flow to the cab heater first and then into the one under the hood. You would rather radiat the most heat into the cab verses the engine compartment. Either flow direction will work...How cold does it get in KY?? One fuel fired heater would run you out of that truck...

I think i'm going to do the series install with it going to the cab heater first. It gets fairly cool down here last week it got down into the high teens at night. also off hand does anyone know what size the line is that goes to the heaters, I would like to pick up a fitting while i'm in town. Thanks for all the advice and I will let ya'll know the results when the job is finished.

 

[rosco]

Do them in series. It works good. Wire them seperately (each with a switch), To better adjust the temperature.

Lee in Alaska

 

[dittle]

Any thoughts on adding coolant to make up for the amount that the extra heater will hold in its lines?

 

[Crackerjax]

I have 2 cores in series in the same heater box it works awesome I just insulated the box and all the duct work going into the cab it will run you out....