Also I plug in when ever it is 10' F or colder. It will reduce the emissions and decrease your warm up time. I live in Alaska and that is how we roll here.

 

jeez, where do you live that you need that much heat??

Or do you do it just to put less stress on the truck?

 

The factory original block heaters should be 1000 watt. You'll want an extension cord with at least 12 gauge wire if you are going over 50 feet. under 50 feet a 14 gauge should be fine. Your cheaper cords sold at stores like Walmart use 18 or 16 gauge wire so look close when you purchase one. Also to save on power bills, I put mine on a timer that I got from the local hardware store, set it to run about two hours before you leave for work and it will start fine.

 

the timer... good idea didn't even think of that...

 

North Pole Alaska, Clear AFS

 

there was a thread a time back the man put a clamp meter on the factory 6.0 heater and it pulled 820W give or take a few so i dont know where you got your info but i hope it was NOT the dealer.

 

I plugged in my 96 up north with a 100 foot 12/3. I bought it from Sams. Sams and Cosco both have them for between 30 and 35 bucks. Throw those ORENGE cords in the trash. They are rated for household use only. In some places code will not even let you use them in a factory.

 

I am planning to install an outside outlet where I park my truck......I will run this from the box, underground with 10/3 wiring in exterior underground conduit.

This will be available for vacuums, power washers, trouble lights christmas lights etc. I figure this will cost approximately $200.00 including the waterproof box.

I have been thinking about doing this for some time now, and my new Diesel gives me an excuse.

 

Make sure that you use a direct burial rated wires in that conduit or you will have problems down the road. It has a moisture proof outer jacket and is less likely to water log, underground conduits do get water in them. Also you can run pvc conduit but for the last section and the upright I would use heavy wall rigid so it don't break if you tap it with the lawn mower. Remember that has to be a GFI protected outlet by code also.
Another thing to consider is the outlets most commonly sold are 15 amp rated. Ask for the 20 amp rated and you'll have fewer problems in this application.

 

Good advice..............Thanks a million

 

I talked to the dealer today. I have a 2005 6.0L 1 plug single heater and they stated its @ 1100 watts give or take a few watts. They say a 12/3 for short runs or bigger for anything over a 20 foot run just to be safe.

 

1100 watts is 10 amps. A 14 ga 20 foot cable will handle it. A 12 gauge will run 100 feet ok. 1100 watts is not a lot of power. Your average 2 slice toaster pulls that much. Now if you go adding stuff to the load, (battery charger, etc) tha'sa diff'rnt story, as they say. Naturally the dealer will tell you to go heavy. You won't hurt anything that way........ Initial investment aside, a #12 3 wire heavy duty 50 footer will handle 90 % of the average shop jobs. (GFI HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED). And most likely you will be plugging it into a 15 amp rated outlet anyway. YMMV.

 

that is how the canadians in river-de-lope had their gas trucks set up at preimer peatmoss. but they had to start everything at 55 below and lower. i saw that kind of cold, and you cant emagine how bad it is unless you have seen it in person. i thought 29 below was cold until i saw 55 below. man,,that is COLD!

 

Seems to be some uncertainty about the rating of the factory stock block heater. It is 1000 watts. Say's so right in the shop manual. At 120 volts that draws approximatley 9.0 amps. I have personally had an amp meter on the line to test this. If the voltage is lower the amperage will increase slightly and vise versa. I can state these facts accuratley because I am an electrician. The heater is a fixed load and does not become variable in any way. It has a steady amount of resistance in the circuit.
50' or less 14 ga, 50' to 100' 12ga over 100' go with 10ga cords. When in doubt always go with a heavier gauge cord, you won't go wrong.
Everyone should consider a timer of some sort. I have a timer that cycles on every two hours, then off for a hour. I am a volunteer fireman an need my truck to be ready to go right away. Nothing is more painfull that beating on a cold diesel. That block heater on all night long will really empty your wallet !

 

I just got my first diesel and my first block heater. Any other tips/warnings I should know about concerning the heater?

I have it on a timer, heating approx. 2hrs. before I need it. Being told to plug her in any time it drops below 32 degrees.

Any damage leaving it on all night?