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  Dec. 17, 2009 11:14 p.m. Leo Basile Reader

  So Im thinking in the shower a few moments ago and realized that I have come up with a couple of cool (but maybe impractial) ideas in the past...and one Im working on in my garage...

  What crazy things have you guys thought of or actually tried out.

  The one that sticks out in my mind is a system that uses a hot water tank and quick release fittings to keep the car(when its outside in the winter)warm. Thus preventing ice build-up on the windshield and cold soaking. Also quick warm ups and that just put on the launch pad look the the Apollo ships had...All those umbilical cords hanging off.

  Another while I was in High School physics class: Moving a magnet through a coil produces current. So Im thinking that if all the sidewalks were flexible like treadmills the city would have lots of "free" power.

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  Dec. 18, 2009 12:00 a.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director

  My old roommate wondered if you could install some kind of pee-powered electricity generator in a urinal.

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  Dec. 18, 2009 1:37 a.m. candy12345 New Reader

  Good idea! ugg boots

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  Dec. 18, 2009 6:30 a.m. André Rousseau HalfDork

  Champ Cars years ago had something they called R2D2. The Mercedes Benz engines needed to be pre-heated.

  So it did just that.

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  Dec. 18, 2009 12:09 p.m. Leo Basile Reader

  Damn, A day late...

  Speaking of out of touch racing, The F1 energy thingy on the front wheels is kina cool.

  Leo

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  Dec. 20, 2009 6:07 p.m. Ian F Dork

  Coolant pre-heaters are somewhat common. At least in the TDI world. I have one in my car, made by a company called frostheater.com. More elaborate systems are available as well, such as one that uses engine fuel and is integrated into the car's HVAC system to turn the interior fan on and is turned on remotely via a key-fob.

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  Dec. 21, 2009 8:18 p.m. porksboy Dork

  I used to instal a hand ful of block heaters each winter when I worked for a Mercedes dealer. The diesels had a coupon in the owners manual for the install. There is a "freeze" plug that screws into the side of the block. Unscrew the plug and quickly cram the heater in whilst getting soaked with coolant. It pluge into the house current and while the coolant wasnt hot it was warm enough to make a difference.

  The problem I see with circulating hot water from your house is it wouldnt have anti freeze/anti boil properties with predictable results.

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  Dec. 22, 2009 8:00 a.m. Ian F Dork

  porksboy wrote: The problem I see with circulating hot water from your house is it wouldnt have anti freeze/anti boil properties with predictable results.

  I would assume (hope?) his idea would be a closed-loop set-up with a small, dedicated water heater and a circulating pump. Which in reality would be a somewhat complicated solution to a question already answered by a simple in-line heater that self-circulates via simple convection.

  At the same time, this would really only be useful in a diesel as modern gas cars get up to operating temperature pretty fast.

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