Pre-Heat

[mike.smith]

I'll have my plane tied down outside during the winter. I have access to electricity at my pad. What do other Sonex owners do for pre-heating in the winter?

[MichaelFarley56]

Good question Mike. For my setup, I have a small ceramic heater (from Wal-Mart I believe) with an expandable dryer duct that I plumb into the bottom of the cowling. I also put a blanket on top of the cowling and put foam plugs into the cowling air inlets and oil cooler inlet. If I turn on the heater and let it run for a few hours it warms the engine and oil quite well.

Being outside, I don't know if I'd go with the ceramic heater. My recommendation would be to get a 100W or higher shop light and stick it into the bottom of the cowling. Put a blanket over the cowling and you have an effective preheater if you can let the shop light stay plugged in for a few hours.

Just a thought!

[N111YX]

A $19.99 hairdryer stuffed into the bottom of the lower cowling outlet holes and some T-shirts stuffed into the inlets get's my engine toasty before start-up in the frigid Georgia winters.


:)

[mike.smith]

A $19.99 hairdryer stuffed into the bottom of the lower cowling outlet holes and some T-shirts stuffed into the inlets get's my engine toasty before start-up in the frigid Georgia winters.


:)

Funny you should mention that. I just saw this in a hangar today:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127253485 ... 614391418/

I have seen in the past, setups where a cell phone call can start an electric device like a pre-heater. Anyone using something like that?

[vigilant104]

I have seen in the past, setups where a cell phone call can start an electric device like a pre-heater. Anyone using something like that?

Mike,
That's the setup I have. Dial the cell phone number and my heater goes on for 2 hours (or other duration--it is programmable). My heater is just a metal portable room heater with a plenum that feeds two 4" AL dryer ducts that I stuff into the cowl's exit air opening, it does a great job of pre-heating down to at least 5 deg F. For your setup outside, you'd probably need a big drop-light under cowl or else the pricy stick-on heat panels that adhere to the oil pan.

I did a short write-up on the switch at the SBPF web site "Tips and Tricks/Files/Waldron_Engine_Heater_Remote_Switch.pdf) http://sonexfoundation.com/Files.html . The cell phone subscription has approx zero subscription costs if you choose the right providerr (see the write up). It has worked great for me.

Mark

[mike.smith]

I also found this tonight doing a Google search:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/s ... hp?t=38729

[DCASonex]

[quote="mike.smith"][quote="N111YX"]A $19.99 hairdryer stuffed into the bottom of the lower cowling outlet holes and some T-shirts stuffed into the inlets get's my engine toasty before start-up in the frigid Georgia winters.

Frigid Georgia Winters ???

David A. near Buffalo NY, Tanis multi-point heater on a 3300.

[daleandee]

Frigid Georgia Winters ???

I had to laugh at that too!

I live on the frozen tundra of South Carolina which is a little north of him. We did have a couple of days last year where it nearly got cold ...

:lol:

Dale
N319WF

[Bryan Cotton]

Global warming is killing us here in Illinois. Last year we only had a few months straight of below zero temps.

[daleandee]

Global warming is killing us here in Illinois. Last year we only had a few months straight of below zero temps.

Actually we did have a pretty nasty ice storm last year caused by global warming that shut down many roads because of all the down power lines, trees, and limbs falling everywhere. It was shortly after the storm that I managed to get into the air and was quite surprised at the haze that was caused down low by all the smoke from so many people burning all the trees limbs that had fallen. Had a number of folks without power for a few weeks.

As to cold weather and the airplane ... I'm kinda wimpy I guess. For me freezing (the term meaning 32ºF) is about the point where I believe all sensible people head indoors. Of course I'm a southerner so, like Kip, I have a little different take on what is "severe weather" when it comes to cold.

:oops:

Dale
N319WF