Winter warmer
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by Brian Weatherley
RAYCHEM is about to begin full production of a new range of light commercial vehicle diesel fuel line heaters ready for sale in Britain this winter.
Pre-production versions of the Thermoline Canister Heater or TCN have already been evaluated in the United States with a large diesel van. operator, and Raychem's UK Transportation Group has carried out its own test programme with TCN units in a cold chamber.
TCN beaters will be available in 12 and 24V versions offering varying outputs from 150 to 600 Watts and will be capable of preventing diesel fuel waxing down to —20° Celsius — 11°C below the current UK Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP) of —9° Celsius.
The circular TCN unit weighs around lkg (2.21b), and is fitted close to the fuel filter. It comprises a spiral length of Raychem's self-regulating polymer heating elem en t derived front the company's existing Thermoline heated fuel line.
Two entry ports ensure maximum fuel/heater contact without restricting fuel flow and the unit is self-purging to prevent any air pockets collecting.
Raychem has developed the TCN heater specifically for vehicles with restricted mounting space which prevents a conventional Tbermoline unit from being used. It will be sold in two basic versions consisting of a 150 to 300 Watt output unit for diesel vans up to 3.5 tonnes gvw and a 300 to 600 Watt TCN for light-middleweight rigids and small tractive units.
Initial production will be limited to 12V 450 Watt units for US applications, although a full range of UK models is expected to be available for the 1985/6 winter. Raychem expects a typical light van TCN installation to cost below i:100.