Engine pre-heat...step one

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 9:33 pm

I still haven't decided on a pre-heater for the oil sump, so in the meantime, I made this as an aid to whatever sump heater I end up with...

This little space heater plus the blanket actually does a pretty good job! I made a flange to go over the heater, and riveted a 6" dryer hose to it. Works great!

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:45 pm

That should work out great Chad, nice going on making your own

.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 9:05 pm

I used it this morning before flying...25 degrees in the hangar, turned it on and went to the chapter breakfast across the hangar aisle for an hour. When I got back, I flipped on the efis and the oil temp was 70 degrees!! Who needs a sump heater!

I'm still gonna get one (Reiff wins btw), but this thing works great!!

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:58 pm

My first airplane was a Grumman TR2, and I put a Reiff system on it.
It worked great and I usually left it plugged in the night before.

I would urge you to get the cylinder bands as well as the sump heater.
You get a nice even heating of the entire engine and reduce condensation that way.

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:56 am

That is an excellent pre-heater Chadley!!!

CJ

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:25 pm

Wicked Stick wrote:My first airplane was a Grumman TR2, and I put a Reiff system on it.
It worked great and I usually left it plugged in the night before.

I would urge you to get the cylinder bands as well as the sump heater.
You get a nice even heating of the entire engine and reduce condensation that way.

Can't drop that kind of money this close to Christmas, but that's the good thing about the Rieff system...I can expand it in the future.

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:43 pm

Chad,

Nice going. I like that! It's hard to imagine how warm air from a blower like this could ever damage your engine. I would think it gives nice even heat, too.

Post by **bullojm1** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:30 am

Quick update on the Reiff engine sump pads. One thing the Reiff pads have that other cheap auto style ones don't is a thermostat which controls how hot the sump will get. I rigged up my system the other day and left it on for about 13 hours. It got to about 35 degrees in the hangar at night. Here is the EFIS readout from the morning:

You can see my oil temp is up to 71 degrees and my CHT's were around 50. Also, I didn't have the cowl on!

One last thing I am working on figuring out is how to remotely turn on the heater. Leaving the heater on all the time can lead to condensation in the engine. I have heard mixed reviews to whether this is a myth or not. Well, for $200 I found a remote controlled on/off switch that works via texting with a cell phone:

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

Seems you can buy a cheap "go phone" pay-as-you-go SIM card for it and basically pay very little. I am probably going to get one and will report back with how well it works.

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:36 am

Mike,

I'll bet if you add the cylinder base bands those CHT's will be closer to the oil temps and thus less chance of condensation in the engine.

Thanks for posting the remote web link, I Love that idea from a saving electricity stand point as well. No need to leave it on overnight if you can turn it on about 2 to 3 hours before you get there.

Post by **bullojm1** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:04 am

Dave,

I plan to order one shortly to check it out. I found a T-Mobile pre-paid SIM card that is $10 every three months. Text messages costs $0.05 incomming/$0.10 outgoing, which eats away at the $10 fee paid. Looks like a winner to me. I might even rig up a chad-style heater on the second output to turn on an hour before I fly.

smithhb · Post by **smithhb** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:41 am

Mike,

I remotely turn on my hangar heater, sump heater and coffee pot remotely from either my home computer or my Droid phone using this...

http://www.smarthome.com/2412N/SmartLin ... ler/p.aspx.

$129.00

You then add one of these modules for each appliance to be controlled...

http://www.smarthome.com/2856S3B/ICON-R ... Pin/p.aspx

$34.00

Post by **bullojm1** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:47 am

Bret,

That would be the cat's meow if I had internet access at my hangar! Thanks for posting this though. Hopefully it will be useful to someone else.

smithhb · Post by **smithhb** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:56 am

bullojm1 wrote:Bret,

That would be the cat's meow if I had internet access at my hangar! Thanks for posting this though. Hopefully it will be useful to someone else.

What? No internet at the hangar? C'mon, now. I pull the internet from the FBO for free.

Post by **bullojm1** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 10:16 am

Yeah I know. My hangar is too far from the FBO for WiFi internet access. If I want access, I need to tether my laptop to my blackberry. Fine for when I am there...

smithhb · Post by **smithhb** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 12:08 pm

Mike,

Gotcha covered! You just need one of these... Strong signal up to 800'...

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... EgQ8wIwBQ#

painless · Post by **painless** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 12:10 pm

Chad:

I have practically the same setup as in your pics up here in da great white nort. I have a few blankets like you have, but also cover the entire cowl with two water heater blankets. I have my heater plugged into a water pipe heat tape thermostat that rests on top of the engine. Chords come out one of the cowl intakes.

I leave this on 24/7 and it keeps everything, including the battery I might add at about 45F. On average over the last 3 winters it costs just under $20.00 in electric/month to run it. I have monitored it running in some wicked cold weather and the heater runs for 2min tops, maybe 2-3x per hour, again in really cold weather. In other words, the heater never gets overworked. Duct going into the cowl, which is also insulated, is the same size as the inlet for the heater, so there is no restriction in airflow through the heater.

I set my heater off to the side and out from underneath the airplane in case there is any problem with the heater. That plus the presence of a fuse in the heater as well as a circuit breaker allows me to sleep at night.

Has worked great over the last three winters.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:55 pm

painless wrote:up here in da great white nort.

I will extend the duct out more so I can set the heater off to the side...good idea!

Do you have any pics of the rest of your setup?

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:56 pm

Makes no difference to me how much it costs...electric is part of the monthly rent, so I can run things all day/night, and not worry about the cost.

painless · Post by **painless** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 2:08 pm

No pics on file Chad. I'll take some in a couple days and post them. Not too much different from what you have.

"Free" electric.......sweet!

Post by **Spike** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:02 am

Niice. I had a Tannis on my 172 and loved it. Will probably go the same route on the RV.

We had a thermo switched cube that would automatically turn on at a temp and then turn off at a higher temp. It worked like a champ!