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Cab Heater In The Excavator

Started by Kim_Ked, October 26, 2020, 07:01:41 PM

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Kim_Ked

Hey folks. 
Its getting colder now. Froze solid this morning in the woods. I had to work at the plant, indoors today, but my Dad was running my processor. He hates the cold. I braved it last year in the machine but only ran a minimal amount. 
Its a Daewoo SL130-3. It runs at a nice 185 to 190 degrees but only blows minimal heat in the cab. We have gone over the controls that switch heat to cold and the intake positions. However, only get minimal heat from the OEM heater/AC unit. We even replaced the valves connecting this unit to the coolant system in suspicion that they were malfunctioning. Not the case. I suspect now that the unit itself is plugged or just corroded and DOA.
Im looking at simply grabbing a heater and putting in the cab. There are 2 types. The coolant loop type and the electric type. I have a 24VDC system with dual batteries and I'm thinking I can run one of the 24VDC electric heater element types. The one for about 60$ on Amazon is an 800watt..I think that would be enough with the little bit of heat I get now from the OEM system.. Has anybody installed something to keep them warm? electric or otherwise? I like electric only because its what I know. Its simple compared to coolant piping in the woods.  

Success or horror stories......
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

mike_belben

I bet you got a mouse nest in the blower box or main duct.  I would just fix the issue.. 190 engine should make a cozy cab. 
Praise The Lord

Maine logger88

Is the return hose from the heater core hot too? If not there could be a restriction "clogged core valve shutoff ect...". Or like mike said mice built a nest in the box
79 TJ 225 81 JD 540B Husky and Jonsered saws

Kim_Ked

Oh we have tried to get it fixed. We put new shut off valves on it already. The only thing left is to rip the neat-o seat out and take half the machine apart to get at the core. As far as the blower, it seems like its pushing lots of air, just not hot air.  
I figure that its plugged as one line is warm going into it, the other is not as warm coming out, seems like there is no flow!
We have tried to blow it through with bit of air pressure, portable compressor was not really ideal for the task though and I'm worried that since I do not understand the valving with the AC portion of the unit that I will only cause further damage blowing to hard. I've even tried and reversed the hoses, short of going into tear down mode all I can think of is to add a heater. Especially since this thing is back in the woods, not at my garage with the convenience of tools.
I dunno, maybe Ill get a chance to go look at it again in the next couple days to see what we can do. I find it hard to find time for machine work... My day job started today at 3:50 AM in high gear to get the plant running again that I work at, and now getting dark early makes evenings impossible to do anything in the woods. If anybody has a cloning machine Id be open to make an offer!  

 
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

mike_belben

I hear ya.  

A cheap truckstop or walmart cigarette lighter plugin heater might be enough to break the chill without any work until you have the machine back home.  I used one for a defroster in a truck with no heat.  Doesnt work as good as a bottle torch though.   :D
Praise The Lord

snowstorm

the last thing to do is buy a electric heater from amazon. fix what you have. any chance it says red dot on it? heater core and ac evaporator are usually in the same box using one fan. could be a air inlet filter and or hose taking outside air. a good place for hornets to build a nest or mice. the water control valve should be in that box 

Kim_Ked

Ill have a look for the filter and water control you speak of.  I have valves up on the water pump I replaced but  I didn't realize there might be more.  I certainly hadn't seen any other valves in the first couple goes at getting this working. Also, I don't see anything marked "red dot".
Don't mention to my Dad about using a torch or he'll have a kerosene heater in there yet....... He already smokes enough in the machine to make me nervous at the best of times. The summer was never wrecking! 

I guess that's my fault for making the machine to easy to run.  You only really need to pull the trigger once the tree is down and the processor does the rest.  If I make it so he has to use a button on both joy sticks to run, he couldn't smoke as much. Clever perhaps..... Or counter productive if he stops to smoke....
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

Glenn

My heter was cold in my old jeep last winter.  I removed the hoses and reverse flushed the core then let some clr sit in it for half an hour then flushed it again.  This year its crazy hot again !

mike_belben

I have also used CLR and water to get the crud out of cooling systems.  And a few drops of dawn thereafter. Strong surfectant, keeps sediment from adhering. 
Praise The Lord

snowstorm

usually if its a heat ac setup like a red dot the will be a water flow valve to regulate the temp. either a push pull cable or a knob to turn. most are plastic sometimes they break. i am guessing the valves you saw on the motor those shut all water flow off to the heater in the summer. do you have a ctl head on this machine? if so what make??

Kim_Ked

Good Suggestions. 
Ill see if I can get a the core.  If its plugged perhaps Ill try this CLR trick.

Snowstrom asked if I have a "ctl" head..... I'm assuming your asking about the harvester?
Its an Arbro1000, (2001) model. I bought it with a failed computer and butchered wiring. I made some electrical prints for it and re-wired it. I put in an Industrial Controller. (Rockwell Micro850) and a Weintek 7" touch screen for the interface. Id never run a harvester before or even seen another Arbro up to that point. So, I watched some videos and figured out a sequence program to run in my computer. Lots of programming to make it work but its awesome accurate and fast! My Dad is loving it after swinging a saw his whole life. I taught him in about 10 minutes how to run it. He already knows how to cut wood.
I was thinking of making a web site to show my build procedure and some videos of the final product in action.  But it would take time I don't have..... 
I'm actually a controls and automation tech of about 20 years at the food plants where I work.
So if anybody on the forum needs consultation or assistance with controlling or automating a machine of any kind I would be glad to lend some guidance.
 Logging and excavation machinery is just my interest.  Hopefully, after my excavator and loader ( not too distant future) is paid off, Ill look at another machine of some type and hopefully I can make a decent company of some sort out of this eventually. 


Thanks for the heater advice!
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

mike_belben

You could probably make a fortune developing a plug and play retrofit system for the various obsolete harvester heads out there.  
Praise The Lord

Kim_Ked

I likely could make some money that way. 
Iv been retrofitting older machines of many types and industries with new control systems for years. Some of the machines I do are new, but purchased overseas, so they are not certified to be connected in North America. I will build them control systems that are CSA certified and re-install. Most of the time is in the programming, a bit in the writing and a little bit of time debugging the final install. 
I have tried to get into this a bit. However, I don't have enough contacts in the industry to find this gear laying around.  I was lucky to find the Arbro1000 that I have.  I would gladly provide a solution for any of these old machines.  Iv had my eyes open now fora bit looking for a well used Arbro400 that needs some love but no such luck. I just want it to do some of the smaller cutting, like firewood processing. Plus I just like the machines in general.....  They are so mechanically brilliant and simple.

If anybody has a line on some old gear Id be willing to at least discuss the possibility of providing a system or buying a machine.

I'm currently planning out a build for a semi automated firewood mill. Junk to desired length, split and conveyor out. Its still in the planning phases. I need a few more hydraulic motors in the pile yet and Ill probably end up buying a wood splitter from Home Depot or Canadian Tire, just to get the base frame and splitting ram.  Something to start with anyway.  I'm hoping once complete I could rent it out by the hour or the day. I see tons of homemade splitters on you tube but they are all still  mostly manual labor to run them.  I'm more of doing it with a touch screen and a couple joystick controls.
 
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

mike_belben

Heres a pretty substantial home made PLC machine, one of the best ive seen. 

Firewood Processor Cheboygan - YouTube
Praise The Lord

Kim_Ked

Quote from: mike_belben on October 28, 2020, 09:01:59 AM
Heres a pretty substantial home made PLC machine, one of the best ive seen.

Firewood Processor Cheboygan - YouTube
That is really cool. A bit similar to what I have in mind. However, I was planning on using a hydraulic saw motor and a bar / chain for junking the wood. Using a hydraulic knife might be something to look at as well. I had not planned on adding an onboard loader though. A few more dollars to do that. Not to mention how much heavier it would be. It would be convenient though to not have to use the tractor and loader.
Same concept though. The person sits the logs on the deck and they land on the truck!
Ill try to put together a thread sometime to show the pictures of my harvester. Ill put up my interface control screens and the like.
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

bushhog920

In the homebuilt aircraft groups they have tried those 12vdc heaters and say they minimum at best. Electric long johns that motorcycle riders use work a lot better if you going to be using 12vdc for heat.

Kim_Ked

Quote from: bushhog920 on October 29, 2020, 12:05:29 AM
In the homebuilt aircraft groups they have tried those 12vdc heaters and say they minimum at best. Electric long johns that motorcycle riders use work a lot better if you going to be using 12vdc for heat.
There are different heaters Iv been looking at. The rating is important.  Also,I have 24Volt and 2 large batteries to work with. There are 15$ heaters that are only 50watt hand warmers, there is an 800watt model for around 75$ and if you spend 250$ you can get the 3KW version. As long as the power is there to run it....... If not, it will perform poorly and likely kill the battery. Like when I was a kid, killing my car batteries and alternators with stereo equipment.
We are going to pull the core out hopefully this weekend but I am ordering the 800watt heater for the time being. In case after the weekend we still have no heat. No heat = no wood!
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

Corley5

That firewood machine was built by Kenny Myles.  He owned Firewood Depot in Cheboygan.  He retired and the machine was for sale.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Kim_Ked

The electric heater was a fail!

After 30 mins of runtime in the cold weather, it killed my power to the point that the PLC shut off. It ran the batteries down so much that the machine wouldn't start again. 

So we disected the cab. Not easy as this space was made for somebody of a tine stature. Finally getting the heater core out, it was realized that it was plugged!. We were able to free it up with CLR and after some soaking it seems nice nd clean inside. Put it back in.... No heat, no flow!
After standing by this machine idling fast for at least an hour, still no heat, the engine temperature is still cold and the rad is barely warm. So I'm sitting there staring at it and then I realized.  There has to be no thermostat! There cant be or the engine would warm up in that time frame. Flow through the heater core in the cab or not, the engine is still cold. Iv never had the housing apart either so its likely missing.  I remember when I got the machine, it had a rad leak. The moron was dumping jugs of stop leak into the machine just to run it, so I'm guessing it fouled up the thermostat so he yanked it out.  The first thing I did when I got the machine was pull the rad, had it fixed and flushed the system, I guess the heater core was still plugged from the stop leak. I never even thought to replace the thermostat.  Its the first thing I do when I buy an old truck or something, I'm not sure why I overlooked this.

Im willing to bet the thermostat will also create flow to the heater core lines.  

Now, the trouble is that its a week away. I don't have another one to compare it to, so without tearing it apart to get the size and risking one in stock at the local parts store, I have to wait till the order comes in next week.

There is some warmer days coming this week so I don't want to risk not having the parts and waiting without the machine. 

Otherwise, it works like a top, excavator and harvester. Its smooth and quiet running since all the rebuilding and tweaking of the harvester head and putting new chains on the excavator. 



1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

mike_belben

I will bet youre absolutely right.  If you put the oddball tube type thermostat in a dt466C backwards so that it doesnt stop flow, you can climb mount everest without getting the top radiator hose to 90.  


You wont have any heat in an engine with industrial sized cooling system unless there is a thermostat doing traffic duty. 



If the heater core doesnt flow real good i would put a water/CLR mix in it and put it ontop a woodstove then take it off when a heavy steam starts coming out the pipes.  Then blast it out with a garden hose adapter.  Itll be messy.. I wouldnt do it in the house.
Praise The Lord

2308500

Quote from: Kim_Ked on October 28, 2020, 07:55:41 AM
I likely could make some money that way.
Iv been retrofitting older machines of many types and industries with new control systems for years. Some of the machines I do are new, but purchased overseas, so they are not certified to be connected in North America. I will build them control systems that are CSA certified and re-install. Most of the time is in the programming, a bit in the writing and a little bit of time debugging the final install.
I have tried to get into this a bit. However, I don't have enough contacts in the industry to find this gear laying around.  I was lucky to find the Arbro1000 that I have.  I would gladly provide a solution for any of these old machines.  Iv had my eyes open now fora bit looking for a well used Arbro400 that needs some love but no such luck. I just want it to do some of the smaller cutting, like firewood processing. Plus I just like the machines in general.....  They are so mechanically brilliant and simple.

If anybody has a line on some old gear Id be willing to at least discuss the possibility of providing a system or buying a machine.

I'm currently planning out a build for a semi automated firewood mill. Junk to desired length, split and conveyor out. Its still in the planning phases. I need a few more hydraulic motors in the pile yet and Ill probably end up buying a wood splitter from Home Depot or Canadian Tire, just to get the base frame and splitting ram.  Something to start with anyway.  I'm hoping once complete I could rent it out by the hour or the day. I see tons of homemade splitters on you tube but they are all still  mostly manual labor to run them.  I'm more of doing it with a touch screen and a couple joystick controls.

local guy here in western nova scotia, has a couple INCHWORM stroke delimbers he talked about selling. they could possibly by integrated/converted into a firewood processor of some kind.

Kim_Ked

Quote from: mike_belben on March 09, 2021, 09:03:00 AM
I will bet youre absolutely right.  If you put the oddball tube type thermostat in a dt466C backwards so that it doesnt stop flow, you can climb mount everest without getting the top radiator hose to 90.  


You wont have any heat in an engine with industrial sized cooling system unless there is a thermostat doing traffic duty.



If the heater core doesn't flow real good i would put a water/CLR mix in it and put it on top a woodstove then take it off when a heavy steam starts coming out the pipes.  Then blast it out with a garden hose adapter.  It'll be messy.. I wouldn't do it in the house.
The core seems to flow well, very easily to even just blow through it. 
When I stated, "No Heat, NoFlow" I was saying that after clearing the core, and connecting it to the machine, I had no water running through it. However, it would take a bit of backpressure to make some water flow through the heater core. With no thermostat, its an open circuit to the top of the rad, path of least resistance...  My guess is that very little coolant will flow properly without it.  Ill know for sure when it comes in on Monday.
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

Kim_Ked

Quote from: 2308500 on March 09, 2021, 11:07:26 AM
Quote from: Kim_Ked on October 28, 2020, 07:55:41 AM
I likely could make some money that way.
Iv been retrofitting older machines of many types and industries with new control systems for years. Some of the machines I do are new, but purchased overseas, so they are not certified to be connected in North America. I will build them control systems that are CSA certified and re-install. Most of the time is in the programming, a bit in the writing and a little bit of time debugging the final install.
I have tried to get into this a bit. However, I don't have enough contacts in the industry to find this gear laying around.  I was lucky to find the Arbro1000 that I have.  I would gladly provide a solution for any of these old machines.  Iv had my eyes open now fora bit looking for a well used Arbro400 that needs some love but no such luck. I just want it to do some of the smaller cutting, like firewood processing. Plus I just like the machines in general.....  They are so mechanically brilliant and simple.

If anybody has a line on some old gear Id be willing to at least discuss the possibility of providing a system or buying a machine.

I'm currently planning out a build for a semi automated firewood mill. Junk to desired length, split and conveyor out. Its still in the planning phases. I need a few more hydraulic motors in the pile yet and Ill probably end up buying a wood splitter from Home Depot or Canadian Tire, just to get the base frame and splitting ram.  Something to start with anyway.  I'm hoping once complete I could rent it out by the hour or the day. I see tons of homemade splitters on you tube but they are all still  mostly manual labor to run them.  I'm more of doing it with a touch screen and a couple joystick controls.

local guy here in western nova scotia, has a couple INCHWORM stroke delimbers he talked about selling. they could possibly by integrated/converted into a firewood processor of some kind.
I would be very interested in this.... 
Could you PM me the contact information?
Iv got a ton of ideas I want to make work on things like wood splitters, harvesters, saw mills. 
All with PLC and servo controls. I know some of this stuff is out there already, but its terribly overpriced engineering for what your actually paying for. 
I'm always keeping my eyes open for some opportunities to make something work.(If anybody is looking for engineering or automation help) Iv been thinking about pitching an 
Abro400/1000, pre-packaged, ready to go unit that I could sell with electrical prints, a manual and pre-wired joystick buttons, the necessary sensors, ect. 
So long as the installer has enough understanding to wire number by number.
Of course with a little massaging and ideally, but not required, aided by some OEM drawings, I could adapt this particular package with just about any stroke harvester. 
Iv been working on making my HMI screens a little more attractive before I put them on a website or something. I managed to find an example of a newer Kesla harvester HMI. I'm not copying it, but it gives me an idea of what the guys in the industry are already used to looking at. If its familiar to them it might have a chance. My father and I are both so impressed with how my Arbro is running that I'm confident anybody else would like it to. 
My only shortcoming is... The hydraulic temperature of the machine determines the accuracy of the harvester head. Upon first start up, and for about 20 minutes of running. The harvester will gently coast past its target. So if the target is 8'4", it would land on 8'5 1/2", then upon warming up, it will be a more consistent 8'4" to 8'3 1/2".  It really means nothing to us, but I like things accurate. I considered adding a button to buffer slightly the target with a small offset when the machine is cold, however I'm betting, every machine is different. Oil viscosity, running temperature and age of the machine are all factors. Perhaps It should just be up to the operator to make his own adjustments as run time progresses. We don't change it.  To us, having an extra inch or two on a few sticks is not an issue.  So long as its never short!
 
 
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

mike_belben

Quote from: Kim_Ked on March 10, 2021, 05:24:27 AMWith no thermostat, its an open circuit to the top of the rad, path of least resistance...  My guess is that very little coolant will flow properly without it.  
Thats probably true too.   if you put a temp gun on the radiator and big hoses you may find theyre not breaking 100F.  On cars the radiators are tiny to acieve the small frontal area needed for todays fuel economy so no thermostat will overheat.  But trucks and equipment have huge radiators .. typically no thermostat means they stay cold so its a double whammy.
Praise The Lord

Kim_Ked

An odd twist of events...
I got the new thermostat and gasket. I went to work putting it in, completely expecting to find that there was no old thermostat in the machine at all. To my surprise, there was a thermostat. It was very rusty and seized in a closed position. 
Upon installing the new thermostat, starting the engine, I'm up to temperature in 10 minutes. Before I couldn't get the temp guage to move at all.

So, I'm confident now that my cooling system is working properly. However, I'm very confused about it all. With the stuck thermostat, the engine ran too cold. With a new thermostat it runs perfect. I'm baffled as in any engine I have ever worked on, a stuck thermostat means an overheat. Not a cold run. This thermostat was in it all last summer as well!  It appears as the only route to circulate water to the top of the rad is through the thermostat.  

I dunno about this one.....
1995 Daewoo Solar 130-3, 2001 Customized Arbro1000, 1995 Case 685, Patu525, Chevy C10 383Stroker!

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