Wed 21 Oct 2009
It’s all good
Posted by 1buba under Alaska
[4] Comments
Finally got a second to try and string a couple of thoughts together. That doesn’t mean they will be coherent thoughts though.
We’ve completed the heating systems for the cars. Only thing left for winterization is new tires for Denise’s car. Probably a couple weeks out on that yet. The heating part is pretty cool – an engine block heater that takes the place of a freeze plug, an oil pan warmer and a transmission warmer, both of which are pads that are silicone’d to the respective area. The three of these go into a 3 plug extension that tied to, and hangs out of, the front of the car. They also change out the coolant and replace it with fluid good to -50. I’ve heard that if try to lower the temp resistance to more than -50, it inhibits your heaters ability to heat. I don’t like that idea.
We’ve had the cars plugged in a couple of nights now. Most folks plug them in when it will be in the single digits, however, it’s proven to be better on your rigs if you plug them in when it’s below 20, so we’ve just been plugging them in when we are in for the evening.
We had some snow yesterday or the day before. It didn’t melt, but most of it kind of blew away. It is so light and dry, that all I had to do was turn on the wiper and the snow dusted off. No streaks, no sign of moisture at all. We have a few days coming up that will be 32-35 for the high, but for the most part, we will be below freezing for the next 10-15 days. The lows look to stay above single digits, so it will stil be nice out side. I don’t know about Denise and Anthony, but i noticed a little difference when it got down below 10 – especially if I was wearing thin slacks. o_O
Snow should be falling over the next 2-3 days too. Should be a beautiful week!
Well, I think thats all the news that’s news for now. Y’all take care!
fun fun fun
no battery warmer? hope that doesn’t get affected. i like how quickly you’ve acclimated; “The lows look to stay above single digits, so it will stil be nice out side.” lol!
It really is nice out if it’s over 10 – not bad, but you do need a jacket.
Some folks use the battery pad, but I’m not going to. The thing is, when you plug in, they have timers that feed juice to the heaters. They only run about 15 minutes every two hours or some folks set them for 2 hours before you leave for work. Either way, the temp drops enough that if your battery is weak, it looses the charge. If it isn’t weak, the heater won’t help it. They’ve also had some batteries that blew-up / caught on fire up here, all had the blanket on them.
Don’t let Steve fool you. I’m wearing my big jacket over two to three layers and gloves, boots and scarf.
Planning on getting a long winter parka soon and maybe start layering my hats and pants. 
Keep that all in mind when you see any pictures of me K? Those are layers, I don’t want you to think I’m preparing for hibernation and putting another kind of “layer.” 