Recommend an Excellent 12v "Car Kettle".... water heater

[One Awesome Inch]

I'm looking for some recommendations for a good quality hot water heater that can be plugged into your cig lighter socket. 

So far the best I've seen will boil 16 oz. Of water in 18 minutes. This would be really handy because it would mean I could cut down the use of a propane stove quite a bit. I could use the Car Kettle to warm water for tea. Also, could boil water and place in a 24hr thermos so that the next morning I could have hot water to wash up with.

Any recommendations on a good quality Car Kettle?

 

[GrantRobertson]

When are you planning to boil said water?

 

[One Awesome Inch]

About 4:00 pst July 3rd. Why do you ask?

Just kidding!

It will be on my way "home" from work... in the early evening. With a 24 hr thermos it should be plenty hot by next morning.

 

[karl]

I have a Roadpro - there a couple versions- mine is rectangular with a poorly designed spout....I have learned to pour from a corner..
I use it when driving long distance. It takes 10-15 min to boil 12- 16 oz.
Has a "boil dry shutoff' so you don't have to monitor it too much.
Came with a clip to hang on the door- I used Velcro on the doghouse.
Think I paid $20. at Pilot or Love's.
It's ok, but if I want more than a cup, I stop and use propane.

 

[GrantRobertson]

About 4:00 pst July 3rd. Why do you ask?

Just kidding!

It will be on my way "home" from work... in the early evening. With a 24 hr thermos it should be plenty hot by next morning.

If you wait two days, you can boil water for my birthday!

But seriously, I've just noticed a lot of people seem to think that powering something off of their alternator while driving is free. The assumption is that the car is running anyway so they might as get the most out of it. But all that energy has to come from somewhere. It comes from your gas tank. Every additional electrical load put on the alternator drags down the engine, using more gas.

Now, I can see using the alternator to charge house batteries when there is no other option. When you can't afford solar or there has been no sun. I don't know, but I presume the decreased fuel efficiency would still use less gas than running a generator separately. The point is: that heat ain't free, and you need to weigh your options, taking that into consideration.

Heating the water with propane may actually turn out to be the cheapest option, especially if you were gonna heat the space with propane anyway.


Now, one source of heat that IS "free" is engine heat. Usually, that goes to waste. Unfortunately, that heat is a lot more difficult to tap into than simply plugging in a 12V plug.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Understood. If it costs me a tad more mpg to run the 12v cig lighter into the car kettle, I am okay with that. Its mostly convenience factor.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

The point is: that heat ain't free, and you need to weigh your options, taking that into consideration.

Now, one source of heat that IS "free" is engine heat. Usually, that goes to waste. Unfortunately, that heat is a lot more difficult to tap into than simply plugging in a 12V plug.

That is so true.  It's why I don't use my vehicle to make electricity.

I'm surprised someone hadn't come up with a way to use the engine heat to heat water.    

 

[corky52]

There several units that circulate engine coolant through a water heater in the RV, all will work and most are more trouble than they are worth!  I do wrap a roast in several layer of foil and lay/tie it to the exhaust manifold, that is easy and cheap.

I've yet to find anything easier and cheaper than propane boiling water in a pan, though the flash water heater that costs about $120 comes close if you want to do many things with hot water.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it!!!!


Corky

 

[GrantRobertson]

There several units that circulate engine coolant through a water heater in the RV, all will work and most are more trouble than they are worth!  I do wrap a roast in several layer of foil and lay/tie it to the exhaust manifold, that is easy and cheap.

I've yet to find anything easier and cheaper than propane boiling water in a pan, though the flash water heater that costs about $120 comes close if you want to do many things with hot water.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it!!!!


Corky

And you don't have to worry about a propane burner leaking propylene glycol into your water.  I mostly only mentioned the waste heat in the engine for completeness sake. I agree that getting to that heat is a big pain in the rear.

Though, I do wonder if an electric pump on the coolant lines to the heater might be able to at least move some of that heat inside the van instead of leaving it outside under the hood. Of course you would have to shut it off as soon as the engine had cooled off to keep from cooling off the inside of your van. (Naturally, this would only be useful in the winter.) But this should be another thread, which I won't even bother to start.

 

[highdesertranger]

search for marine heat exchangers. very common way of converting engine heat to a useful purpose. highdesertranger

 

[Bdog1]

Heater core and a heater control valve. Pretty trouble free, lasts years and years. Most engines have the taps for aux. heater plumbing.

 

[MK7]

But seriously, I've just noticed a lot of people seem to think that powering something off of their alternator while driving is free. The assumption is that the car is running anyway so they might as get the most out of it. But all that energy has to come from somewhere. It comes from your gas tank. Every additional electrical load put on the alternator drags down the engine, using more gas.
 
Now, one source of heat that IS "free" is engine heat. Usually, that goes to waste. Unfortunately, that heat is a lot more difficult to tap into than simply plugging in a 12V plug.

[font=Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]No it doesn't. The stock alternator of a van is at least 65 amps max. That's a hell of a lot of amps. But it doesn't pump out 65 amps at all times. It runs off of the serpentine belt and causes a parasitic loss on your engine, even when it's idling. While driving normally, it's still running and making electricity, whether you use it or not. Boiling water is not that big of a deal. The alternator is not kicking into high power and causing more drag (and wasting gas) just to power a little water kettle. My 1000w amp and CD deck probably uses more power than a 12v kettle. And I like my music loud.

The only time that my alternator kicked in hard was when I drained the battery by leaving accessories on for days. After jumpstarting the car, the computer sensed that the battery was dead....and kept the motor running at 3000 rpm, which is crazy speed on a 400HP Corvette (60mph in OD is like 1500rpm).  It stayed at high idle, no matter what I did. Had to stand on the brakes to not crash into people. I should have parked it and recharged the battery with a charger, but I had and appointment. It dropped down to normal idle after like 15 minutes of driving. Yeah, this battery won't last long.
[/font]

 

[SternWake]

Ciggy plugs are poor connectors. The higher the amps they are asked to pass, the more issues there will be on the circuit.

If one insists on using such a device as a 12V kettle, then one should upgrade the receptacle to a quality marine one, like Blueseas, and upgrade the wiring to it from the battery with at least 12awg, preferable 10awg.

The will allow the kettle to work better.

Ciggy plugs start getting hot passing 5 to 6 amps, and passing 15 amps for any period of time will cause the spring loaded nipple to overheat, and the spring will melt into the plastic, and the connection will be lost.

Yes the alternator can easily power a 12V kettle, but at Idle speeds when hot the alternator is not very capable. its '130' amp rating is when cold, spinning at high rpm over cabling thick enough to pass 130 amps and loads capable of asking for 130 amps.

The alternator makes as much amperage as necessary to hold the voltage that the voltage regulator allows. Sometimes this task is easy, other times it is taxing. The electricity is not free however. It is said each 25 amps the alternator produces gobbles 1 engine HP.

I can easily tell by the throttle feel when my alternator is making 75 amps compared to when it is making 10 amps.

And I will never use battery power to heat water for a Kettle, however I do use battery power sometimes, to heat my 5 gallon shower bag on top of my 50 watt heating pad powered by my PSW inverter. This is not something I do overnight as it basically consumes 5AH an hour, depending on the temperature of the water at the time.

I've considered wrapping a manifold or exhaust pipe with copper tubing, and running a circulation pump, But I imagine this can also overheat the water too with all sorts of safety needing to be built in. If I get my shower water much over 117 degrees, it burns, and my heating pad can get it to 135f given enough time and insulation over the bag itself.

For any hot water consumption like for tea coffee or ramen soup, I use propane and a thinner aluminum pot with tight fitting lid, and have boiling water within 2 minutes. I can't imagine waiting 15 minutes for a 12v kettle to get near that.

 

[MK7]

Yes the alternator can easily power a 12V kettle, but at Idle speeds when hot the alternator is not very capable. its '130' amp rating is when cold, spinning at high rpm over cabling thick enough to pass 130 amps and loads capable of asking for 130 amps.

You must have an upgraded alternator, because most stock alternators of older vans only comes with a 65 amp or so, alternator. I know that people with big stereos would upgrade to a 120+ amps and thicker cabling to handle the load.
 

The alternator makes as much amperage as necessary to hold the voltage that the voltage regulator allows. Sometimes this task is easy, other times it is taxing. The electricity is not free however. It is said each 25 amps the alternator produces gobbles 1 engine HP. 

And alternator is already wasting a certain amount of of HP, even if you've turned off all vehicle accessories. Say for my Corvette, an SLP underdrive pulley will free up about 8 RWHP, which is about 10 HP at the crank.  That's a lot of HP right there. But 8-10 HP is not the total HP wasted....because the U/D pulley still needs to spin it enough to power accessories and recharge the battery. I have a 1000w amp in my car and it runs fine. I'm thinking that a stock alternator probably causes a parasitic loss of around 20-30 HP.

So if you're driving a van, with everything stock....at a decent RPM, it's already wasting HP whether or not you use the electricity that it's putting out.

I agree with not using the stock wiring and stock ciggy plug as that can cause a fire. Although I've done it a long time ago in a Ford Escort w/o any problems until that cheap kettle broke after about 1 year's use. I used it everyday to make coffee and save money while going to college. I remember always heating it up at idle when I arrived and parked, and it worked.

 

[Abrin]

I have a Roadpro - there a couple versions- mine is rectangular with a poorly designed spout....I have learned to pour from a corner..

I have the same one as karl.

It does have a tendency to leak if it is not upright but for its cheap price and the ability for the convenience of not having to stop to get a cup of hot water...it is perfect for me.

 

[ccbreder]

Really? How much gasoline or horsepower does a 12 volt hot cup use while heating 16 ounces of water?

 

[jimindenver]

What I can add is an example of the why to up grade the wiring and plugs. We have a 12v 200w auto drip. We bought it for when we were on the road but the first time we used on the vans ciggy lighter, it took forever and the coffee was horrible. It went back into the box until I needed a load to test a solar system. This time I connected it at the battery backed up by the system. Holy moly it was a different coffee pot. It was done running the water through in less time than a 120v pot takes.

So if you want the most out of a device, give it a chance to give it to you. I bet there are a lot of 12v devices in boxes right now because the wiring wasn't up to running them.

 

[Oberneldon]

I used a 20 oz water heater in my Prius conversion to heat water often. It took 15 min. I have a dedicated heavy ga connection directly to a heavy duty 12 volt outlet. I powered it while in ready mode where the high voltage battery recharges the 12 volt battery. I did not notice any reduction in mpg. I got 52.1 mpg for average over 19,500 miles. I also powered my phone, iPad, laptop, led lights, and charged my Gel Cel house batteries & engel fridge 24x7

 

[SternWake]

Ask anybody on the street, the alternator is a magical instant battery recharger providing free energy anytime the vehicle is driven. Why all you need to do after a jump start is required drive around the block, once, and the battery is now magically full!!

And if you believe this, you should do the world a favor and let these same people perform heart surgery on you, while watching your children and pets, and sign over power of attorney to them as well.

12 volt ciggy plug outlets are horrible, unreliable connectors. Just because they are widespread and ubiquitous does not make them adequate or just fine desirable, or any other positive adjective.

They waste power and they waste more when they are asked to transfer more electricity through them.

And let the 'Just fine brigade' come out of the woodwork with their tales of longevity, perfection, and magical properties.

Ciggy plugs are junk. Ubiquitous junk, and if they are asked to pass more than 6 or 7 amps regularly for any duration, they will fail, and can fail disastrously, not just inconveniently.

Fuses are not cheap, and a worn ciggy plug causes lots of voltage drop. the more voltage drop, the more amps that have to flow for the required wattage to reach the device. More amps cause more voltage drop, causing more amps to be required to flow and on and on until something melts.

Something will melt. It is just a matter of time. Hopefully it is just a fuse.
Anybody using a heating device with a Ciggy plug attached, if they were to cut off the ciggy plug, and hook it right to the battery terminals, the time required to heat the material to the desired end point would be significantly decreased, and less energy would be consumed from the battery to accomplish this.

If however you like to heat up copper wiring and fuses and springs and steel contacts instead, and use more battery power to do it, by all means surround yourselves with Ciggy plugs and receptacles and start your "works just fine" chant.

Perhaps somebody else will believe it too and justify your thinking.

They want to believe it.

This task will be easy.

BTW, my Van gets 35MPg city, its exhaust smells like fresh roses, and my local electric company constantly pesters me to hook my Ciggy plug inverter to the grid to power the city and avoid rolling blackouts, they even offer to pay for any increased gas usage from my magical alternator, which also farts a special type of collectable fairy dust which when concentrated, can illuminate sporting event venues, and cure erectile dysfunction too.

 

[Oberneldon]

SternWake - not quite sure who your remarks were for.

I stand behind my results & at the same time agree with you on what is best for wiring. I think in a different thread it was discussed that there are a number of ways to do things and that not everyone can, or know how to do it the best way. For people that would like to consider using a 12 volt water heater, it is possible considering that special wiring is more likely required. I liked the 12 volt water heater I had and it worked for my needs and my special wiring.