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Engine Block Heaters For Warm Climates

550_smithDocksideCaterpillar Engine room

This tip is entered in our SMITH Optics “Win A Pair of Dockside Sunglasses” giveaway. Engine Block Heaters Brig Harris, Caterpillar One Star Block heaters allow the engine block and the subsequent components to come up to an ambient temperature above the relative dewpoint, keeping moisture out of the cylinders and engine components. The majority of these are thermostatically driven, says Brig Harris, Territory Support Manager for Caterpillar. In South Florida, the Caribbean and Central and South America, boat owners are usually baffled that we recommend engine block heaters. The ambient temperature fluctuates between the night and day and can raise the dewpoint in the engine, causing internal moisture in the engine room. A 95-degree day can be followed by a 75-degree night, building moisture in the engine room. It is also why we put de-humidifiers in our basements of our homes–sometimes you can’t see it or feel it but you know it there, and needs to stay outside the engine room!