Grid heater in the summer

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John - 15 Apr 2006 17:32 GMT

Now that I live in the Arizona desert, I have a question about the grid
heater.
During the summer it regularly gets to well over 100 degrees (up to 115
sometimes). Cooked batteries are a common problem here.

The grid heater obviously isn't needed during the summer months here.
Does that heater always come on? Or is it thermostatically operated?

I was thinking of disconnecting it, or maybe even putting in a switch
to keep it off during the summer. Giving the batteries a break during
the summer seems like a good idea. Any opinions?

John

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John Kunkel - 15 Apr 2006 18:13 GMT

> Now that I live in the Arizona desert, I have a question about the grid
> heater.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> to keep it off during the summer. Giving the batteries a break during
> the summer seems like a good idea. Any opinions?

The heaters are controlled by a temperature sensor in the intake manifold.
Watch your volt meter after startup and you will see a large drop in voltage
as the heaters are cycled on. From my observation they run fewer cycles as
the outside air temp increases.

There are two relays that activate the heater, they are located near the
battery on the drivers side; removing the small push-on connectors on the
relays will deactivate the heater. I have disconnected mine (Generation 1)
in the summer and noticed no difference in performance.

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Nosey - 15 Apr 2006 19:05 GMT

> Now that I live in the Arizona desert, I have a question about the
> grid heater.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> John

The grid heater shouldn't come on above 59°.
Grid heater chart:
http://www.dodgeram.org/tech/dsl/FAQ/cold_wx.htm

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Ken

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