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Author Topic: Where Are They Now (Drive-In Heater) Steve Anderson Expert Film Handler Posts: 168 From: Nashville, TN Registered: Feb 2000 posted 09-29-2003 09:35 AM                        I found an old Drive-In heater at an antique store the other day and I was wondering the history behind this. How were they powered? ( 220v ) How were they distributed? I have noticed more Drive-Ins staying open during the first part of winter and some open all year. Are there any new in car heaters being marketed.  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-29-2003 01:46 PM                     They are usually 220 volt. Some were permanently attached to the speaker post and some were handed out at the boxoffice or the snack bar & the patron plugged them into a weatherproof quick-connect on the speaker post. EPRAD and SPECO (formerly known as Drive-in Theater Mfg) both made in car heaters. SPECO still has repair parts for both brands. I don't know if they still make new heaters, but I think they might.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 09-29-2003 02:24 PM                        Expanding on Ken's post: There were a few drive-ins in Washington that provided heaters. Most of them were located in the eastern half of the state. There is one left on our side that has the wiring to show they once provided them, but I don't think they still do. Liability, maintenance and power costs have killed the idea. Like window speakers and "Raingards", car heaters have become more valued as souvenirs than for their intended purpose.  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-29-2003 04:34 PM                     The manuals for the heaters are here on film-tech.  |  IP: Logged Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 09-29-2003 05:06 PM                     Here are some photos of the heater setup at the Y&W Drive-In in Merrillville, Indiana. There is a "heater room" attached to the snack bar, so I assume that the heaters were distributed from either there or the snack bar to customers who wanted them. Each speaker pole had a plug dangling from it to plug the heater into. You can see from the heater plug that it is 220v. There is an on/off switch on the back of the heater, but no identification of the theater it belongs to or manufacturer.  |  IP: Logged Steve Anderson Expert Film Handler Posts: 168 From: Nashville, TN Registered: Feb 2000 posted 09-29-2003 06:06 PM                        Cool pictures Adam! I was really young but I can remember my Dad getting the heater when you arrived at the ticket booth but I think when you exit the lot you went by the other side of the booth and returned the heater. I can't remember because I was asleep at the time....  |  IP: Logged Jon Bartow Master Film Handler Posts: 287 From: Massachusetts Registered: Nov 1999 posted 09-29-2003 08:17 PM                     A drive-in I serviced up until this summer still had the 220v lines in the field (the plugs were long gone from the poles though) and the breakers in the booth were just "locked" off. Up until about 10 years ago this drivein stayed open year-round (and in Central Michigan!) They also are still using the speakers-on-poles for both fields (1200 speakers in total [not a typo - 1200!]) in addition to FM sound that was installed this year to replace the ailing AM system.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-29-2003 09:21 PM                        Is anyone else bothered by the idea of having 220-volt lines hanging off of the speaker poles, just waiting for some child to zap himself?  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-30-2003 12:11 AM                     The heater that was pictured is an Eprad "Hot Shot".  |  IP: Logged Robert Golding Film Handler Posts: 65 From: Sutter, CA, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 09-30-2003 02:49 AM                     We had a Drive In, in Yuba City, Cal that had kerosene portable heaters until 1973. They outlawed them that yr. Believe it or not, never had a fire caused by one. I still have one in my display case.  |  IP: Logged Erick Akers Arse Kicker Posts: 201 From: Dallas, TX, USA Registered: May 2001 posted 09-30-2003 05:29 AM                     Another interesting fact is that junction boxes on the speaker poles with red difuser lights indicated what poles had a heater plug.  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 09-30-2003 12:48 PM                     Scott, 220V isn't substantially worse the 120V. It's the current that gets you, and its less at 220V anyhow. --jhawk  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 10-01-2003 04:48 PM                        quote: Scott, 220V isn't substantially worse the 120V. It's the current that gets you, and its less at 220V anyhow. Yes, it's the current that kills, but a higher voltage is more dangerous because it can overcome the skin's natural resistance more easily. And in the case of 220 volt service, both leads are "hot" relative to ground.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 10-10-2003 01:42 PM                       Bzzapt!  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 10-11-2003 01:58 AM                    220V will push double the current through a given resistance. But if as John suggests they are using two hot legs as in the typical 110/220 (120/240) Volt setup then the most likely shock scenario (contact with a single conductor) they would be getting only a 110-120 V shock. Someone might bridge both prongs of a partially inserted plug but the higher voltage shock would only be across the finger unless someone was handling the plug with both hands. Obviously if someone was putting this in nowadays they would simply use 120V and ground fault interruptors. Or maybe an isolation transformer whose secondary side has no grounded leg. And then there is the matter of the air conditioned drive in!  |  IP: Logged

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