Van's Air Force
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Engine pre-heater ?
- Thread starter RKellogg
- Start date
Sid Lambert
Well Known Member
My hangar mate and I took small space heater and screwed a duct fan to the inlet and a dryer hose to the outlet. Throw a quilt over the cowling and stick the hose in the front of the cowl. It turns on at midnight and by 8:00 am the oil is 100+ down to the mid 20's outside.
$15 and no installation.
It usually cools off some before takeoff.
If you hanger your plane and have electric available, its hard to beat a simple Reiff sump pad heater with a built in thermostat switch or a similar make. This combined with Phil's Switchbox remote is a great combination. I keep my plane plugged in during the winter and have a blanket over the engine cowling and also have plugs in the air inlets. A few hours before you want to fly, you just make a call to your Switchbox and the unit turns on. The oil in the sump will be very warm and even the engine cylinders will be warm when you arrive.
i won't trust an unattended preheater with a motor and fan. i think the risk of a problem is too high.
i have a jab 3300 and a pair of stick on auto oil pan heaters each at 150 watts warms my engine pretty quickly. the 2 of them cost about $60 total.
probably preheat in less than an hour if oat is 20 deg. oil temps about 100 deg and head temps 50 deg. for $15 i put together a printed circuit kit and use a cell phone to turn on my preheaters if a longer heat is needed. i have heard and read more bad than good about 24/7 heat to the engine.
the preheaters are pretty durable i think. 5 yrs ago i bought one to ''test''.
it is still stuck to the curved oilpan of my toyota and going strong.
i have even tapped into the power outlet of the cell phone switch and trip another contactor which turns on a couple heating elements in my 10 x 10 shop in my hangar.
i am used to 20 below temps around here and this set up works!
i have a jab 3300 and a pair of stick on auto oil pan heaters each at 150 watts warms my engine pretty quickly. the 2 of them cost about $60 total.
probably preheat in less than an hour if oat is 20 deg. oil temps about 100 deg and head temps 50 deg. for $15 i put together a printed circuit kit and use a cell phone to turn on my preheaters if a longer heat is needed. i have heard and read more bad than good about 24/7 heat to the engine.
the preheaters are pretty durable i think. 5 yrs ago i bought one to ''test''.
it is still stuck to the curved oilpan of my toyota and going strong.
i have even tapped into the power outlet of the cell phone switch and trip another contactor which turns on a couple heating elements in my 10 x 10 shop in my hangar.
i am used to 20 below temps around here and this set up works!
Sam Buchanan
been here awhile
This topic gets kicked around every year. Use the Search feature of the forum to find a host of archived threads on this topic.
Sorry...
Yeah, I see that now, Sam. The technology doesn't change that much, year to year, cold oil is still cold oil.
But nowhere in the old posts did I see the novel "jumpstart" solution that Vlad shared...
Thanks to those who responded, it warmed my heart, if not my crankcase.
Roger
This topic gets kicked around every year. Use the Search feature of the forum to find a host of archived threads on this topic.
Yeah, I see that now, Sam. The technology doesn't change that much, year to year, cold oil is still cold oil.
But nowhere in the old posts did I see the novel "jumpstart" solution that Vlad shared...
Thanks to those who responded, it warmed my heart, if not my crankcase.
Roger
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Sam Buchanan
been here awhile
Yeah, I see that now, Sam. The technology doesn't change that much, year to year, cold oil is still cold oil.
But nowhere in the old posts did I see the novel "jumpstart" solution that Vlad shared...
Thanks to those who responded, it warmed my heart, if not my crankcase.
Roger
No problem, Roger. My RV-6 went on the sump heater this weekend and will be on it 24/7 until April. My plane thinks it's in Florida all winter.
We can depend on Vlad to come up with unique applications for nearly all situations!
I'm pretty lazy - we throw an old blanket over the cowl, tuck it in the air inlets, then shove a worklight with a 100 watt bulb in the cowl exit and leave it there all night. Oil is usually about 70 degrees on a 20 degree morning. Aircraft in a hanagr of course, not out on the Siberian tundra.....
alpinelakespilot2000
Well Known Member
I do the same, except I use 2 60W bulbs each in their own safety cage. Lights are set in on the bottom cowl pointed down so that if any oil drops off the engine it only drops on the plastic shield of the safety cage and not on the bulb itself. The advantage of this is that it warms the whole engine. Disadvantage of this, it takes a bit longer to warm the engine up than if you used a dedicated engine heater. Good luck.
Dayton Murdock
Well Known Member
Oil heater
Hi All
This is the pre-heater that I use
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I installed foam insulation over a room oil type heater and slide under the cowl exhaust of my -4. It it on 24-7 and with the warm air lofting into the cowl the engine is heat soaked. The oil, carb, case and cylinders are all at 61degs on this day with a OAT of 34degs
[/IMG]
I have been using this for 2 years with a good result.
Hi All
This is the pre-heater that I use
I installed foam insulation over a room oil type heater and slide under the cowl exhaust of my -4. It it on 24-7 and with the warm air lofting into the cowl the engine is heat soaked. The oil, carb, case and cylinders are all at 61degs on this day with a OAT of 34degs
I have been using this for 2 years with a good result.
LettersFromFlyoverCountry
Well Known Member
I looked at all these various contraptions and finally just ordered a Reiff system. No lugging everything out and setting it up.
Just plug it in.
Pricey? Yeah. But really effective and even.
Plugged it in the other night when it was 4 degrees and started in the next morning when the engine thought it was 80 degrees.
Get the system with the bands around the cylinders.
Frankly, some of these home-brew contraptions look like a great way to make a quick insurance claim and P*** off your hangar neighbors after their airplane burns along with yours.
Just plug it in.
Pricey? Yeah. But really effective and even.
Plugged it in the other night when it was 4 degrees and started in the next morning when the engine thought it was 80 degrees.
Get the system with the bands around the cylinders.
Frankly, some of these home-brew contraptions look like a great way to make a quick insurance claim and P*** off your hangar neighbors after their airplane burns along with yours.
AK4x4
Well Known Member
Reiff for no power
The Reiff preheat system works fantastic and if you don't have power handy you can pair it with something like a Yamaha EF1000is generator and get portable 120v for the preheat & 12v DC for charging the battery if necessary, all for 30lbs and super quiet. My .02 this is much safer and simpler than some of the portable preheat approaches/systems I have seen. Russ
The Reiff preheat system works fantastic and if you don't have power handy you can pair it with something like a Yamaha EF1000is generator and get portable 120v for the preheat & 12v DC for charging the battery if necessary, all for 30lbs and super quiet. My .02 this is much safer and simpler than some of the portable preheat approaches/systems I have seen. Russ
Neal@F14
Well Known Member
I built my own preheater with a $12 ceramic cube heater from WalMart and some flexible aluminum dryer hose. I attached the hose to the heater by fabricating a flange from some sheet aluminum scrap pieces and held it all together with aluminum foil furnace duct tape.
I shove the dryer hose a few inches up into the lower cowl exist ramp, usually over one of the exhaust pipes, and let the heater run for 30 minutes or longer depending on how cold it is. I don't usually bother blocking off the cowl air intakes but can stick some foam pieces in there if it's really cold enough. All I need to do is get the oil temps up to at least 50-60 degrees F and the engine will start easily even though I have no primer.
EDIT: I do not let this heater run unattended for extended periods. I'm either in the hangar with it while it's running, or no further away than the FBO office or a neighbors hangar having coffee while it's running.
I shove the dryer hose a few inches up into the lower cowl exist ramp, usually over one of the exhaust pipes, and let the heater run for 30 minutes or longer depending on how cold it is. I don't usually bother blocking off the cowl air intakes but can stick some foam pieces in there if it's really cold enough. All I need to do is get the oil temps up to at least 50-60 degrees F and the engine will start easily even though I have no primer.
EDIT: I do not let this heater run unattended for extended periods. I'm either in the hangar with it while it's running, or no further away than the FBO office or a neighbors hangar having coffee while it's running.
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I agree with Bob. My Reiff system will raise the engine to nice starting temps in 2 to 3 hrs, regardless of OAT. With Phil's Switchbox, this makes for hassle-free winter flying. (if you forget snow shoveling and ice chipping
) The Reiff is not difficult to install, either. It's a well designed/engineered package.mikesmithstormlake
Member
Buy a Reiff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
phillipny
Well Known Member
Hey Terry, download the new app update here
http://switchboxcontrol.com/iphone-app-free/
http://switchboxcontrol.com/iphone-app-free/
one day at the hangar my work light bulb exploded, nothing had bumped it, or touched it. leaving electric on over night should be thought thru thoroughly.
I've had issues with my hangar-mate preheating when it's 50? outside. local mechanic from AK says only need to below freezing. I don't like the idea of those space heaters running unattended, especially how they are under the engine, prone to anything that might spill down.
I've had issues with my hangar-mate preheating when it's 50? outside. local mechanic from AK says only need to below freezing. I don't like the idea of those space heaters running unattended, especially how they are under the engine, prone to anything that might spill down.
... and we have heat!
Four weeks after original post, we have heat. After considering alternatives I installed the Rieff cylinder heat band system, 200 W per cylinder. The heater won't be left powered indefinitely, so the higher power means shorter pre-heat wait times. Preliminary testing indicates that the system will heat heads and oil about 10 degrees F per hour, in a closed hanger, with inlets plugged.
It was easy to install the cylinder bands. It appears that the system is robust. I appreciate the minimal compromise of other maintenance tasks, and the safety of this method.
- Roger
Four weeks after original post, we have heat. After considering alternatives I installed the Rieff cylinder heat band system, 200 W per cylinder. The heater won't be left powered indefinitely, so the higher power means shorter pre-heat wait times. Preliminary testing indicates that the system will heat heads and oil about 10 degrees F per hour, in a closed hanger, with inlets plugged.
It was easy to install the cylinder bands. It appears that the system is robust. I appreciate the minimal compromise of other maintenance tasks, and the safety of this method.
- Roger
