Pre-Heat

[Bryan Cotton]

When Sikorsky closed Schweizer I had a chance to work at our flight test facility in Florida, but of course winters there are not severe enough. Heck, water freezes at 60F that far south.

[aripilot]

Hi all,

DEFA and CALIX make pre-heaters for Volkswagen type engines. Available in Europe for about USD 100.
Safe to operate and easy installation.

Ari Tamminen

[n982sx]

Here is my quick build Home Depot device.



1500 watt heater and some ducting - about $30. It will raise the temperature of the oil 40 degrees above ambient in a little over an hour.

[39cubcoupe]

I would say a heat pad stuck to the oil pan is the best solution IF you do not have the time to wait around for 1-3hrs preheating. Especially when a plane is tied outdoors.

[mfazio]

I am by no means an expert and would not even claim I am knowledgeable in the subject but ran across an article which I found interesting. I think preheating is more than warming the oil and is more about warming dissimilar materials. Warming the cylinders sounds like a critical part of the warming process.

This thread is very timely as I have been trying to come up with a solution to preheat an aircraft that lives outdoors in Chicago.

http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182846- ... directed=1

Mike Fazio
Chicago
Waiex #63 - still building

[kmacht]

Any inexpensive solutions for those of us who tie down without electricity available? I need something either propane powered or can be hooked up to my jeeps battery.

Keith
#554

[mike.smith]

This thread is very timely as I have been trying to come up with a solution to preheat an aircraft that lives outdoors in Chicago.

http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182846- ... directed=1

Good article. Thanks for sharing.

[mike.smith]

Any inexpensive solutions for those of us who tie down without electricity available? I need something either propane powered or can be hooked up to my jeeps battery.

Keith
#554

There are several at Aircraft Spruce:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/ep/ ... aters.html

[kmacht]

The cheapest non 110v option at Spruce is the red dragon at almost $500. There has to be something out there less expensive.

Keith
#554

[vigilant104]

The cheapest non 110v option at Spruce is the red dragon at almost $500. There has to be something out there less expensive.

Keith
#554

How about a simple propane heater under a metal "hood" that dumps into cowl air exit? Here's one: http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-F215100-3800-BTU-Indoor-Safe/dp/B001CFRF7I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414636606&sr=8-2&keywords=coleman+catalytic+heater 3800 BTU = 1100 watts, which is approx the size of my electric heater and it works well. But it will have to run for awhile before that warm air transfers sufficient heat to the case/cyls/oil.

If it's very cold out, I doubt a practical 12VDC answer will put out sufficient heat. Harbor Freight does sell a small heater/fan that plugs into the cigarette lighter (http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-auto-heater-defroster-with-light-61598.html ), but at just 180 watts I'm not sure how effective it would be. If you go with a DC solution, it will probably require heating elements applied directly to the metal/in the oil.

Cowl plugs and a blanket of some sort will help, especially if it is windy out.