742G bucket heater review, mobile guys time to warm up in the winter

[PhaRO]

Well I came home tonight to find the 742G bucket heater sitting at my door. I ordered mine from PBS Animal Health - complete livestock health product catalog for dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, sheep, goats and more Price was $30.26 plus $7.50 shipping handling charge for under $75 order. I would have liked to have bought something else to get the free shipping but don`t have any pets. If I did it over again, I`d have bought multiple heaters to get the free shipping. Wasting no time I unpacked it. First thoughts were it is larger than I expected. The stainless steel ring is about 9" long and 18" long to the point were the cord comes out. I poured 1 gallon into my bucket and went to test it out. Water was about 58 degrees. I plugged it in and temperature started to rise very little. After 5 minutes I figured something was wrong. Instructions stated 8" of water was needed. I thought I had enough but didn`t which was causing it to cycle on and off. Sigh. I added more water to bring the total to 2 gallons. Here are my readings.
8:46 64 degrees (start)
8:48 72
8:49 78
8:50 84
8:51 86
8:52 92
8:54 96
8:55 98
8:56 102 ten minutes, 38 degree jump in 2 gallons
8:57 106
8:58 110
8:59 112
9:00 114
9:01 118 fifteen minutes, 54 degree jump
9:06 140 twenty minutes, 76 degree jump

At this point I stopped. I figured with almost a 40 degree jump in 10 minutes, that would get me to 70-80 degrees on a cold morning which would feel pretty nice when it`s in the upper 20`s or lower 30`s. 2 gallons is plenty for my wash soap or my QEW or ONR.

Next I looked around to see what I had that would hold less water but be at least 8" deep. My wifes tupperware was ruled out for fear of bodily harm. I remembered I had a 1 gallon cooler jug that I use in summer time. It was perfect. I used some ice to get water a little colder and filled jug up with just under 1 gallon. Plugged the heater in and here were my readings.

9:17 54 degrees Start
9:18 63
9:19 72
9:20 82
9:21 94
9:22 102
9:23 110
9:24 116
9:25 126
9:26 134
9:27 148 ten minutes 93 degree jump
9:32 180 I`m thinking drop some ramen noodles in and I`m having a hot lunch in my truck lol

I stopped at that point, it would clearly boil and didn`t want it to bubble over container. I used a meat thermometer to measure temperature with so readings may be off a little here and there since the lines were so small.

Bottom line is this looks to be the best $40 I`ve spent for work in a long time. I`ve been cleaning cars mobile for 16 years. Putting my hands in cold water never has been something I`ve gotten used too. I certainly wouldn`t recommend using very hot water on a cold car but damn warm water would be nice. Another idea for use is a fashion a simple hot water extractor. Since I have a pump, vacuum and a stainless steel carpet tool (need a better one though) already, this would be a simple task. I think I seen it a couple dollars cheaper somewhere else online but don`t remember where or how much shipping would be. I plan to heat the water while I vacuum and do interior glass. Figure wouldn`t use much gas on the generator. Since they are only 1000 watts, you could run more than one depending on generator size and heat water even faster.

[budman3]

Thanks for posting this. Really good info. I rarely do winter washing and when I do I use hot water from the house. Now if you`re mobile, like you, this seems like a great way to quickly warm up your washing water. Is there a way you can control the temperature of the water? I mean 100 degrees would be more than enough and that took less than ten minutes. Any reasoning why you opted for the drop in element instead of the whole heated bucket itself?

[PhaRO]

Thanks for posting this. Really good info. I rarely do winter washing and when I do I use hot water from the house. Now if you`re mobile, like you, this seems like a great way to quickly warm up your washing water. Is there a way you can control the temperature of the water? I mean 100 degrees would be more than enough and that took less than ten minutes. Any reasoning why you opted for the drop in element instead of the whole heated bucket itself?

Don`t know of a way to control the temperature. For me I plan to let it heat until I`m finished with vacuuming. If not hot enough I can leave my generator running and clean the inside glass, wheels, tires, fenderwells. The drop in element seemed to be the most versatile to me. I wanted to be able to move it to a second bucket if needed plus I like using the standard 5 gallon buckets. Also allows me to add a 2nd or 3rd one later if I need to heat up a larger amount of water to a higher temperature for extraction.

[CalgaryDetail]

Thank you for the review. I am going to have to look into getting one for myself. Good reivew

[derek37]

thanks buddy for the review. Been thinking about one of these for quite awhile. What sort of warranty does it come with?