Cheap recirculation pump

There was a system years ago that just fitted in place of an engine block core plug, around 200 W, You could turn up a plug & fit something like soldering iron elements + thermostat into it. Why bother with a pump ? Mark G.
I'd like a Kenlowe Hotstart for my Landrover, but they cost about £300. Was thinking, and please bear with me, that I could make a much cheaper system that used a domestic kettle element and thermostat in a suitable container, plus a pump to circulate coolant past the heater. If the pump failed for any reason, then the local temperature of the coolant would rise until the thermostat cut the power to the coil.
Not sure of what kind of pump to use - has to be cheap (read "free"!!!) - thought about a washing machine pump or maybe a shower pump.
Whole system will run off mains voltage (220-240V) just like the Kenlowe system.
Thoughts, please!!

heater. I have relatively recently fitted two of the "core plug substitute" heating elements to my 100KVA generator but had to import them from the states as I couldn't find them in the UK at a sensible price. I got them off eBay for only a pound or two each. They are each 600 watt (I got the beefiest I could find), and as they are 115v I've put them is series. Makes a HUGE difference starting in cold weather. Pain fitting them as one core plug was behind the manifold, and the other behind the aleternator.
AWEM

Those ale-ternators can be damned obstructive, especially if they're firkin sized. :-)
Tom

Just out of curiosity, what engine's on your genny?
Core plugs are ****always**** a f#cking nuisance to get the fingers (or any form of tool) to. I'm sure it's how engine architects get there jollies. Watching some poor chump of a fitter cursing a blue streak while trying to change a 10p plug...
Dad fitted a preheater kit (not a kenlowe, waaaaaaay older than that - think late 40's vintage) on Grandads old Merc 220 diesel (1958, one of a handful built for the Berlin taxi market with an MWM engine - and a right royal PIG to start too...) until he forgot to unplug it and managed to remove all of the garage wiring and the bottom rad hose too. Silly awd bugger!!
And that was after he'd demolished the old wooden garage with a pre- selector Armstrong siddley...
Cheers, Scruff.
PS if you ask a couple of the sellers on ebay USA, they'll sell you a 220V version of the same deelie that Andrew describes.

shower engine Just out of curiosity, what engine's on your genny?
Core plugs are ****always**** a f#cking nuisance to get the fingers (or any form of tool) to. I'm sure it's how engine architects get there jollies. Watching some poor chump of a fitter cursing a blue streak while trying to change a 10p plug...
Dad fitted a preheater kit (not a kenlowe, waaaaaaay older than that - think late 40's vintage) on Grandads old Merc 220 diesel (1958, one of a handful built for the Berlin taxi market with an MWM engine - and a right royal PIG to start too...) until he forgot to unplug it and managed to remove all of the garage wiring and the bottom rad hose too. Silly awd bugger!!
And that was after he'd demolished the old wooden garage with a pre- selector Armstrong siddley...
Cheers, Scruff.
PS if you ask a couple of the sellers on ebay USA, they'll sell you a 220V version of the same deelie that Andrew describes.
Engine is a Ford 6 litre turbo charged in line 6 pot 2704ET of mid 1970's vintage and to complicate matters the core plugs are two different sizes so I had to make an adaptor!
AWEM

Ah yes... I can almost hear the faint echoes of you cussin' from here lol. Same engine was used on quite a few combines of about that period too. I still blame farmers dislike of anti-freeze (which contains huge amounts of corrosion inhibitor) for my current blood pressure... B@st@rds! Cheers, Scruff.

The type of thing you mention will stop the engine freezing in really cold weather - useful in Canada and the like. However, in the UK, not so much of an issue. My system would mean that I get into the car and the coolant is already hot, thus giving me instant heat from the, um, heater allowing fast demisting...

Washing machine drain pump sounds ideal provided the seal is good enough, it would need an enclosure to keep water out. The washing machine would yield thermostat switches and a heating element. Just make sure that 'container' can't melt if it boils dry...
Guy

Robin,
If the entire engine and water jacket are up to 28 deg C (as is the case when my heaters have been on for an hour) then quick engine warm up for demisting is no longer a problem !
AWEM