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Shop heat

I bought a pair of heated ski mitts off Amazon.ca the brand name is Snow-Deer.
The best $156 I ever spent! I have raynaud's syndrome AKA white finger.
mitts.jpg
 
Wife has Raynauds. She's not happy when she's cold....My Christmas presents for her the last few years have all been heated clothing. Gloves, mitts, socks, vest, jacket, Mattress pad, blanket, throw blanket for couch and this year also a big box of hot pockets handwarmers. I feel like I'm forgetting one, but I have found the secret to a happy life is a warm wife. I already know what I'm getting her next year, and it's some of the heated pads and controller you can sew into your own clothing.
 
Doggggboy said:
Have you tried the Toasterz? You snap the metal disk and they warm up as they solidify. Stays warm for about 1-1.5 hours. Then you just throw them in boiling water for 5 minutes and they're good to go again.
They're great.
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THAT'S what I was forgetting. Those are what started the whole "warm" theme years ago. I got them from lee valley as a stocking stuffer, and she loved them so much I just continued buying her things that kept her warm :D. I got her rechargeable ones too a couple years ago but they suck, would not recommend.

Turns out there is a limit to how much you can re-use them. Got to the point where they'd turn solid instantly on their own after boiling, and I think one sprung a leak. She did get a lot of use out of them though. I need to buy some more.

I remember taking them on an ice fishing trip once, and finally got to the point when my hands were getting cold, so I dug into my jacket pockets thinking I was a genius because I actually remembered to bring them for once, and found they had already gone off and were just as cold as I was :(. Good idea, but a narrow window of practical usability, the were not very outdoor activity stable.

We tried to make our own by making a super saturated sodium acetate solution, and vaccum sealed bags, but could not get them to work. Probably did not get all the water boiled off as much as I thought. I wanted to make a horseshoe shaped neck pillow, but a magic bean bag in the microwave works just as good and almost as quick.
 
JustaDB said:
It was -35 this morning en route to work, managed to hit -17 by mid-afternoon. S'pose to be warmer next few days, but now calling for a foot of snow mid-week.
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Fun fun fun. We've already had two school days canceled cuz of cold and I've been "worried" about snow drifts and school bus, but hasn't been a problem yet....

If they cancel one more day of school due to snow I think I'll put the chains on all four and volunteer to pick up and deliver each student and teacher myself! (Or at least my 2 kids if they'll take just them and it means I can get them out of the house).
 
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Dan Dubeau said:
Wife has Raynauds. She's not happy when she's cold....My Christmas presents for her the last few years have all been heated clothing. Gloves, mitts, socks, vest, jacket, Mattress pad, blanket, throw blanket for couch and this year also a big box of hot pockets handwarmers. I feel like I'm forgetting one, but I have found the secret to a happy life is a warm wife. I already know what I'm getting her next year, and it's some of the heated pads and controller you can sew into your own clothing.
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Wow and she’s never given you a Peter Heater?
IMG_0485.gif

I also have what I call white finger it doesn’t take much cold either.
 
DPittman said:
Fun fun fun. We've already had two school days canceled cuz of cold and I've been "worried" about snow drifts and school bus, but hasn't been a problem yet....

If they cancel one more day of school due to snow I think I'll put the chains on all four and volunteer to pick up and deliver each student and teacher myself! (Or at least my 2 kids if they'll take just them and it means I can get them out of the house).
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..... drastic times call for drastic measures.....:rolleyes:
...... How very Canadian of you to be thinking of the poor teachers and their lost wages and offering to shuttle everyone to school. Educating our kids is a very important part of our leisure time. :p
 
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Dan Dubeau said:
I've grown accustomed to certain comforts and amenities in life and if that's "soft" then so be it. I'll wear that label. Add heated seats to my list too.
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I never would have had them on my list but my last car came with them…….I’m hooked. :)

BTW, it’s -2 with flurries here, I don’t like winter but I’ll take this over life on the prairies. Respect to you out there, you’re hardy!

D :cool:
 
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When I left school, early '60s I worked for a while at a company called Road Rollers, they rented the machines out to contractors. When they came back to the yard they were brought into the shop for service. Most of the big ones were diesel engines and hand-cranked from the back end. You can imagine cranking a very cold engine by hand, thickened oil and all. so they would build small fires underneath the engine to warm them up a tich. This was in England so it didn't get very cold that often.
 
I'm looking forward to warmer weather so I can get out in the garage again. Bare hand, steel and a light coating of oil is not a good combination for someone who has frost bit his fingers as much as I did growing up in SK.
 
Raygers said:
When I left school, early '60s I worked for a while at a company called Road Rollers, they rented the machines out to contractors. When they came back to the yard they were brought into the shop for service. Most of the big ones were diesel engines and hand-cranked from the back end. You can imagine cranking a very cold engine by hand, thickened oil and all. so they would build small fires underneath the engine to warm them up a tich. This was in England so it didn't get very cold that often.
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My father in law grew up in Saskatchewan in the old days (he's in his 90's) and likes to tell the story of their old Dodge they had back on the farm. They would drain the oil and antifreeze at night in the winter. Heat the oil on the wood stove, bring the antifreeze to a boil, pour them into the motor, wait a couple of minutes for the block to warm a bit and then drag the car around the yard, in gear, for a while until it finally started.

He's a fan of the modern engine, block heater and battery warmer.

He also moved out to the coast with us a few years ago. Now his favourite winter saying is "It doesn't get cold here."
 
Raygers said:
so they would build small fires underneath the engine to warm them up a tich.
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I use a propane tiger torch inside an old exhaust stack laying under the engine. The stack directed heat and covered the exposed flame. When its super cold you have to hoard in the engine with heavy tarps with the propane tank under there as well to keep it from freezing up.

One logging company i worked for had quick couplers installed on the heater hoses of every vehicle and equipment. With extension hoses we could use a running vehicle to warm up a frozen engine. Worked super good. We also had 'hot boxes' which were essentially a Webasto in a portable box which worked great too.
 
Darren said:
I use a propane tiger torch inside an old exhaust stack laying under the engine. The stack directed heat and covered the exposed flame. When its super cold you have to hoard in the engine with heavy tarps with the propane tank under there as well to keep it from freezing up.

One logging company i worked for had quick couplers installed on the heater hoses of every vehicle and equipment. With extension hoses we could use a running vehicle to warm up a frozen engine. Worked super good. We also had 'hot boxes' which were essentially a Webasto in a portable box which worked great too.
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Way back in the day, my dad worked highways construction in AB. Drove a 1965 VW Karmann Ghia. In the winter he put a catalytic heater under the engine for an hour in the morning. He said that on one job down by Pincher Creek they didn't shut off the vehicles for three weeks.
 
Tomc938 said:
My father in law grew up in Saskatchewan in the old days (he's in his 90's) and likes to tell the story of their old Dodge they had back on the farm. They would drain the oil and antifreeze at night in the winter. Heat the oil on the wood stove, bring the antifreeze to a boil, pour them into the motor, wait a couple of minutes for the block to warm a bit and then drag the car around the yard, in gear, for a while until it finally started.

He's a fan of the modern engine, block heater and battery warmer.

He also moved out to the coast with us a few years ago. Now his favourite winter saying is "It doesn't get cold here."
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My father talks about the same thing, heating the tractor or car coolant on the stove to get it to run in winter. No power at their place growing up and he is in his late 70's. Also talks about the blankets being frozen to the wall when you woke up in the morning.
 
Getting back to Shop Heat for a minute, does anyone have experience with Chinese diesel heaters in their shop? My "shop" is only 140 square feet, I have an electric oil heater but it takes hours to warm the space sufficiently to work in. I used a propane heater but with too much moisture my tools started to rust.
I've looked at the reviews online and they all seem favourable, anyone have a bad experience with them?
 
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