General Information

Serial #

Prototype

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

Engine pre-heater

Patents

N/A

General Description

Synthetic casing and wire covering/ Metal wiring and parts/ Paper labels

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

12.5 cm

Width

7.0 cm

Height

5.7 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Motorized Ground Transportation

Category

Automotive parts

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Pinedale

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Chalk River

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

circa 1996. A pre-production model never used.

Canada

An example of the second version of a pre-heater invented by Walter Woytowich, a Canadian. According to him, this new version corrected the flaws he didn’t like in his first design, despite it having been a commercial success with over one million sold. Mr. Woytowich was born in Saskatoon in in 1925 and moved to St. Catherines, ON. In 1938 he joined the Air Force after high school and was discharged in March 1945. He then took a grade 13 refresher course after which he worked at English Electric until December 1947. He moved to Chalk River in February 1948 and worked in the Physics branch until January 1977. On his retirement he continued inventing and this pre-heater is an example of his work.

Function

A device used to pre-heat a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine in cold weather for better starting and to reduce engine wear.

Technical

The donor, Mr. Woytowich was the inventor of this device, which was part of the pre-production group of 200 made for testing. This heater represents another answer to the problem of starting a vehicle in cold weather, to be used instead of a block heater which needs to be installed by a professional. Also, a block heater needs a timer. Other heating devices for engines have also been invented through the years, such as lower radiator hose heaters, glue-on and magnetic oil pan heaters, "in-line" and "tank" heaters. None used the principal of an engine heater using a pumping system and capable of being installed in the heater hoses of a vehicle. Mr. Woytowich's design pre-heats the engine by using a pump to circulate the coolant heated by an element in the heating unit (600 watts) through all the cooling passages and the cabin heater. It allows the engine to be heated more uniformly than with a block heater. According to the inventor, this version of the pre-heater is better than the first one because it is really energy efficient. The first one, despite working well, was loosing too much heat (heat radiation). This version is also smaller than the first. It is easier to install, more efficient and has a control so that it would not start when the engine temperature is over 0° Celsius. Testing was done around Deep River, Ontario, on Baffin Island and in Alberta. Reports of the heater's operation were never returned to Mr. Woytowich. Two hundred of these heaters were produced for testing. It was never put on the market commercially because the interest had vanished since today's cars with fuel injection are easier to start and people no longer worry about engine wear. Initially, Mr. Woytowich had bought the components to make 1,000 heaters. The plastic moulds were made in Renfrew. There has been no activity in the development process since 2002 when Mr. Woytowich began to have problems with his eyesight. His invention was copied by someone in China but that version was larger and heavier.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Typed black lettering on label reads 'PINEDALE PRODUCTS/ Chalk River ON (613) 589-2576/ 600 watts@ 120 volts, AC only./ U.S. Pat.# 5,408,960'

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Black exterior/ White labels

Decoration

N/A