A KISS engine warmer with no a/c mounted parts, and works GREAT too!

Hi all.

Here's my cheap and dirt simple engine warmer. It does a great job heating the engine, the battery AND the oil-cooler. As you can see, it heats up the entire engine compartment.

It consits of a 1400 watt heater made for heating the interior of the car, a camera-stand and a homemade mounting plate.

Here's the warmer on the stand:




To mount the warmer on the camera-stand, I made a plate and matchdrilled it to both the mount on the camera-stand and the mount on the warmer:






(The stapler is there just to give you an idea of the size of the bracket)




Here's the warmer in it's place on the stand:





And here's the whole setup in place:



In the foreground, you'll see a white "thing" with an antenna sticking up. This is used to turn the heater on. I simply call it up from my homephone beetween 2 and 3 hrs before I'm going to fly, enter a code and the "thing" turns on power to the warmer.
Thus, when I get to the airport, the entire engine compartment is nice and warm.


To further speed things up, I've covered the top cowling with a blanket and installed the Vans cowl inlet plugs.
The inlet plugs are installed with a little gap so the "used" warm air can flow out of the inlets.





I guess all these articles can be found in every country having cold weather during winter, so hopefully this can be a tip to others needing to preheat the engine.
I prefer this preheating method over others because I don't have to mount anything on the engine or aircraft itself.
That's both simple and doesn't add weight to the plane.

Cool, (or warm) but I want to know more about the "white thing".

What is it, where did you get it, how much does it cost?

Brantel said:

Cool, (or warm) but I want to know more about the "white thing".

What is it, where did you get it, how much does it cost?

Click to expand...

Not the exact same brand/model, but here's a couple links to a GSM cellphone-based device (can use cheap prepaid SIM cards for cell service).

http://www.gsm-auto.com/

http://wurtsboroelectric.com/preheat.html

Other pager-based device:

http://www.preferredwireless.com/home/index.cfm/nighthawk/nighthawk-nh100-air/

Here...

... is more info about the "white thing", or schould I say "the remote switch":

http://www.ondico.se/files/manuals/15030_15035_IB_EN.pdf

They work on the same band as your cellphone and to get it to work, you need to buy a phonecard (SIM-card) so the unit gets it's own phone-number.

The most common way of using these, are in a cabin: You connect them you the heaters in the cabin.
Then, you call it up from the housephone (or your cellphone for that matter) before leaving home and turn on the heat in the cabin.
When you arrive a few hrs later, the cabin is nice and warm.

So it's actually a thing that can turn electricity on or off.
It's practical that it also can turn OFF the power, because if you have to cancel your planned flight at some point before getting to the hangar, you can just call it up and turn off the warmer again.

I've bought it here in Norway and it costs about 1300 NOK (approx 220 USD)

A more pricey version is sold by Aerotherm Heaters in the US:

http://aerothermheaters.com/product_desc.php?id=6

Or, you could simply move someplace warmer...



Nice idea!

Full of Hot Air

Step one> Drive to Wal-Mart
Step two> Purchase cheap blow-dryer
Step Three> Pick up honey do list items while there
Step four>drive home, go to hangar (if not co-located)
Step Five> Place hair dryer up into lower cowling between exhaust (cowl plugs in) Technique: make hook from coat hanger, wrap around nozzle. Hangs from lower engine mount tube.
Step six> Turn on high, go get coffee or a spot o' tea, warm for 20 minutes or until top of cowling feels warm.

Go fly!
Step Seven, like previously mentioned, move where it's warm!

Smokey
HR2

Here's...

... the interior heater I'm using:

http://wup.defa.com/en/wup_products_interiorheaters.html

I want to use a product that is made for use (that includes starting up) in low temperatures and has a ground wire.
I hope that my insurance company won't make trouble then, if something schuld happen (fire for example)

In the temps we're having in Norway in this part of the country during winter (-20*C = - 8*F) 20 minutes of warming isn't nearly enough.
Further north the temps are much lower...

But the low temps can be nice too; in high pressure situations the air is stable, still and smooth as silk so it's nice to invite the wifeys to lunch now and then.
Here, a friend of mine and I has just landed after a 2-ship mission to Notodden airport (20 minutes away from my home airport) a couple of weeks ago.




And during the 20 minute walk to the small town, we passed this tree:



Mother nature sure knows how to make nice winter-art!



Regarding moving; well; on the 1st of February next year, I'm getting at early retirement at the age of 55 from my airline, so we'll see what the future holds...

early retirement

Early retirement from the airline? What's that?

That's a fantastic idea Alf! Can you post up some details on the heater itself? I haven't seen one quite like that...'course I haven't really looked yet either. Would be a great supplement to my sump heater! ...and much safer than my current setup that I don't leave unattended for more than a few minutes...



It works, but I like yours better!

cjensen said:

That's a fantastic idea Alf! Can you post up some details on the heater itself? I haven't seen one quite like that...'course I haven't really looked yet either. Would be a great supplement to my sump heater! ...and much safer than my current setup that I don't leave unattended for more than a few minutes...

It works, but I like yours better!

Click to expand...

Chad, what don't you like about your setup? If you're worried about stuff dripping down onto/into the heater, why not fab something so you can blow the air into one of the front cowl inlets with the heater out from under the airplane? Put a foam plug in the other inlet and you're golden..

I woudn't worry at all about leaving a $25 ceramic heater running in my hangar unless it was too close to flammables...

Hot oil

I put one of these on my engine and it does just what e-z heat advertises. On a 20 degree morning the oil temp was about 145, heads were 70. That was being plugged in overnight and no cover or cowl plugs. More money that a ceramic heater but don't have to stow anything more that the electric cord. See e-zheat.com and check the tests.

cjensen said:

That's a fantastic idea Alf! Can you post up some details on the heater itself? I haven't seen one quite like that...'course I haven't really looked yet either. Would be a great supplement to my sump heater! ...and much safer than my current setup that I don't leave unattended for more than a few minutes...

It works, but I like yours better!

Click to expand...

I have a setup just like this but with a milkhouse heater. It stay's on 24hours and keep's it 70degree's. I like it better than the oil sump warmer's.

Kyle Boatright said:

Chad, what don't you like about your setup? If you're worried about stuff dripping down onto/into the heater, why not fab something so you can blow the air into one of the front cowl inlets with the heater out from under the airplane? Put a foam plug in the other inlet and you're golden..

I woudn't worry at all about leaving a $25 ceramic heater running in my hangar unless it was too close to flammables...

Click to expand...

Flammables is my main concern...fuel tanks sitting above the heater. I have stretched the ducting out so I can run the heater at the leading edge of the wing, but it's still near the tank. Just can't bring myself to trust that it won't go terribly wrong. I run it for a half hour while I'm getting ready and I'm in the hangar.

Thermo Cube

I love the idea of a pager or cell phone interface to turn on a preheater remotely; a cheaper alternative is the Thermo Cube, which is just a thermostatically controlled outlet for around $12 USD:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...19x00001a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM197730184

I used one of these with a couple of 100W light bulbs stuck inside the cowl of my 182 all winter long and if well insulated with inlet foam & blankets, the engine was always ready to go. One other benefit is that an always-warm engine will generally not allow condensate to form on the metal parts, so the risk from internal rust is reduced. The light bulbs came on anytime the air temp fell below 40F. Can't get much cheaper, safer, or easier than that!

Heater-details

Hi Chad.

Thanks for the nice words.
Here's more info about the heater:

http://wup.defa.com/en/wup_products_interiorheaters.html

If you don't have Defa-products over there, I'm sure you can find similar ones.

If you do have Defa, note that the version I'm using, comes in two different Watt-sizes; 2100 and 1350.

I would prefer the 2100 version but the powersupply to my hangar can't handle that much since we are four planes, a toolschack and the aeroclub-cabin which shares the same fusebox.

Thanks a bunch Alf! I'll do some checking to see what I can find...

GSM Heater Control Units - A Word of Caution

Hello Everyone,

I would like to put in a word of caution regarding the GSM control units that have been recommended in this thread.

Alf is using a product that has been produced and sold in the European market. There are a number of these type of controllers that have been produced for the European market that carry a CE safety rating. This rating is NOT recognized in North America and can lead you into a bunch of trouble should you have a fire resulting from their use.

It is entirely legal for someone to market and sell an electrical appliance here in North America with this type of electrical rating. It is NOT legal for you to INSTALL or USE it! If the device you use to control your engine pre-heater were to cause a fire and it is not properly safety certified the Insurance company WILL NOT PAY A CENT!.

My company's electrical control unit is in the final stages of electrical safety testing. (Completion January 2011) We will be certified under the cTUVus mark that is equivalent to UL and CSA and recognized throughout North America. I have yet to see another GSM controlled switch sold that carries the proper electrical safety certification for North America.

Please do not take this as a plug for my product. In fact, I am not even going to mention its name. I just want to get the information out that a product may seem OK and have a CE rating on the back of it when in fact you are putting your prized possession at great financial risk.

Dave Hertner

If you would like to contact me off-line send a message to:

effectus (at) rogers (dot) com

Interesting heating option but, what do you do when you are away from home and need engine heat? I have used my Wolverine sump heater at least twice away from home.

Dave Hertner said:

Hello Everyone,

If the device you use to control your engine pre-heater were to cause a fire and it is not properly safety certified the Insurance company WILL NOT PAY A CENT!.

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Can you share some examples of actual claims that have been denied because of this or similar issues?

Personally, I find the assertion hard to believe. I've heard similar claims around many, many issues, yet insurance still ponies up with a check. It doesn't matter how badly the pilot violated the FAR's, how drunk the driver was, or if that bare wire violated electrical code - insurance still pays.