Installation of Arctic Fox tank and filter heaters

I installed two, 1.5" by 8" stick-on Arctic Fox heaters on the Mercedes to combat the cold MA winter. They heat up very quickly and keep the fuel liquefied. They are no substitution for the Vegtherm by any means, but they do keep the filter from waxing up and the grease in the tank from congealing. I put one heater on the fuel tank near the pickup and the other on a collar around the filter. The filters were roughly $60 a piece. They are powered by the battery (12V) but they draw just 6.7 amps a piece, so there is no power issue. They are part number EH-2874 from Arctic Fox's Fuel Heater Page.

Here is how they go on:

Here is the stuff that comes in the package from Arctic Fox. It includes the heater, a plastic applicator (yellow thing), and a tube of aluminum sealant.


First, wire the heaters. One wire from the heater is a ground, the other is a power supply wire- it doesn't matter which one is which. I wired mine to my Vegtherm power supply. Just find a wire that is live only when the key is in the "run" position (you can do this with a multimeter). I also used a relay, but that was over the top for this small-amperage application. If you want to do that, you will need a four post relay (male part) and a 4 post relay acceptor (female part). The wiring of a relay goes as follows:
#30- Power supply
#87- Power to application (heaters)
#85- Ground
#86- From switch
If you are using a switch with an "in" wire and an "out" wire, wire the "in" section of the switch to a different power supply. This power supply does not have to have a huge fuse on it because the power the switch draws is insignificant. The power to the switch is going to be used to turn the relay on, which uses the big juice to turn the heaters on. Then wire the "out" section of the switch to the #86 post on the relay.

If you are doing two heaters, leave one disconnected for the time being (just disconnect the ground wire). It is easier to set up one heater at a time.

Clean the surface(s) you will be applying the heater to with some rubbing alcohol. Then peel the backing off of one heater (the one that has power), and turn the car on so as not to drain the battery. Turn the heater on for 5 seconds and only 5 seconds- it will heat up very quickly. After turning the heater off, stick the heater onto the clean metal surface of the tank, trying not to get any creases or bubbles. I put mine next to the vegetable pickup. Use the plastic applicator to smooth the heater pad out. Now go turn the heater on again for 5 seconds to set the adhesive. Turn it off, and use the applicator one more time to smooth out any other bubbles. Now use the aluminum sealant to seal the edges of the heater so that vegetable oil or water can't get between the heater and the tank. It should look like this:


That is all there is to it, unless you want one on your fuel filter too. Here is how you go about making a collar. You will need some aluminum flashing, a drill, and a riveter.

Cut a section of aluminum flashing that will fit around your fuel filter about three inches thick. Wrap it around the filter and cut it off about an inch past the overlap. Use a "C" clamp to hold the collar in the cylinder of perfect diameter. Use a drill to drill three holes in the section of overlap. Make sure the holes are large enough for the thin part of the rivet to fit through. Then rivet the overlap together from the inside out. If you do not rivet from the inside out, the end of the rivet that sticks out will on the inside of the collar and it will not fit around the filter anymore. The rounded head of the rivet should be on the inside. Check that the collar fits snugly- it make take a few tries to get it just right. If it is not snug, the heat will not transfer properly.
This is what the collar looks like from above:


Now connect the ground on the second heater and apply the heater the same way you did earlier, this time to the outside of the collar. Seal the sides up now.
The final product should look like this:


I bought the switch for this project from the local junkyard- it is a stock rear seat light switch that I fitted into the power antenna slot (I just put the power antenna in the totally up position and left the switch behind the dash). Here is a picture from before my refinishing of the wood around it:


I love my heaters. It was a very worthwhile investment for me, since I am a cold weather greaser.
 

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