If you use a Thermostasis Oil Therm, your oil is good. It is confusing, but the temp we see on the display is the oil temp at the engine, not the tank. The "Bender Baffle" as some call it, has been my best mod for cold weather comfort. I have scheduled a Flyout for tomorrow. It will be about 18 degrees when I take off. I will be comfortable heat-wise. Once you greatly slow the air-flow thru the rad., it warms the engine coolant, and slows down the air SPEED going thru the rad. That combination gives very good heat. Yes, it takes a few hours to build the "Heater Damper Door", but worth it if you want to fly in cold weather.
The Thermostasis kit has proven to be very popular. John was one of the early installers, and worked with us to develop the kit.
One advantage is that it is a year round package that doesn't need to be changed as the temperatures change.
The only disadvantage is that it is definitely a higher price point than a metal plate over the cooler.
Steve
Was about 4 degrees F at Alt today. I have Thermostasis. Oil temp at engine was 153 degrees on display. NO PROBLEM. Oil in tank is between 195 - 205 degrees. Very cold oil from cooler was blending with warm oil thru Therm, and 158 degrees was going back to engine.
I do understand how it works John (we actually have one installed on the RV-12iS).
Scott,
That’s awesome news to hear. It appears that Vans has come to the conclusion that a thermostat is a very worthwhile addition to the rotax engines in cold weather climates.
We have been selling a complete thermostat install kit since March, 2014 for the 912ULS rv-12 Aircraft. Unfortunately SLSA builders have repeatedly been told that there is no data to support installing a thermostat. Since Vans now appears on board with the idea of the Thermostasis, let’s work together to make it available for SLSA customers. We are already utilizing the same thermostat and have figured out the hose routing and lengths to fit into the cowl well. Also, there is detailed documentation for the installation.
It would be a great way to allow all the SLSA owners in cold climates the option of installing a thermostat.
Steve
Our experience is that it does help with reducing warm-up time but it doesn't have a huge influence on elevating in-flight temps.
Inflight Temperatures
Without Thermostasis temperature drop to 122 degrees in long reduced power descent
With Thermostasis temperature around 200 degrees in long reduced power descent
Cruise temperatures with thermostasis at -13 Celsius were in the 180-190 degree range."
Was about 4 degrees F at Alt today. I have Thermostasis. Oil temp at engine was 153 degrees on display. NO PROBLEM. Oil in tank is between 195 - 205 degrees. Very cold oil from cooler was blending with warm oil thru Therm, and 153 degrees was going back to engine.
Power demand is an important factor. Notice I was not demanding much power, so less warm oil was involved with the blending on return, and oil going even slower thru the cooler makes the blend even cooler. If I run the engine harder, the return oil does warm up more on return to engine.
That's how I'm set up. The only time I see WOT is during takeoff and climb, the rest of the time I have to throttle back some. My static ground RPM is right at 5K, as I recall. Maybe a tad higher. But I'm consistently burning over 6 GPH, and my EGT rarely gets over 1220 or so. Just seems like it's running awfully rich to me.The carbs are configured so that the mixture is richest at or near WOT.
This is another reason that using an appropriate prop pitch that requires throttling back aways at anything other than rather high cruise altitudes (above 10K) is beneficial for performance.