Preheater

Roger Long wrote:

The oil flow is the lifeblood of the whole engine however and proper
viscosity is critical. Trying to pump molasses around until the combustion
and friction (engine wearing out) heat warms it up enough to flow properly
is what really screws up your engine.

In the high cam Lycomings, the molasses also doesn't get up to the cams very
well.

And to add more fuel to the fire, recall that parts of the engine receive oil by
"splash lubrication". You ever seen molasses splash? Me neither.

Russell Kent

In article RT7qb.111063$HS4.961499@attbi_s01,
Jay Honeck wrote:
In another few weeks, however, the temperatures will fall below 40, and
mostly stay there for the next 10 weeks or so. From that point on, the
heater will be on basically 24/7.

So what do you cold-climate people do about oil when you're always
preheating? Do you keep a multiweight oil in just for starts away from
home?

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

Ben Jackson wrote:


So what do you cold-climate people do about oil when you're always
preheating? Do you keep a multiweight oil in just for starts away from
home?

I use Phillips XC 20W-50 year round. Can't figure out why you'd use
anything else.

I have the Reiff cylinder heaters and oil sump heater. Mine are for the narrow
deck engine, so each cylinder heater is 50W. I think the sump heater is 300W,
so for my Six, a generator capable of at least 600W should work fine. I think
most of the portable generators are good for about 1000W.

Jay Honeck wrote:

We have a 300 watt oil pan heater and the engine starts much better and
oil
temperature comes up faster than when we used the FBO's dragon. The size
and weight of a portable generator that would power one of these is
similar
to the size and weight of a dragon. Why not buy the generator which would
have all sorts of other uses?

It's much easier on the fiberglass cowling, too. (I actually bubbled the
paint on a rental bird, using one of those "stick it in the cowling" jet
engine heaters...)

However, it doesn't warm the cylinders at all.

I wonder if a portable generator could power the cylinder warmers, too?
We've got the oil pan and cylinder warmers, and the oil is usually warmer
when we start up in winter (verified with our digital oil temperature gauge)
than it is in spring and fall.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

A pager operated one would be a cheaper service. I'm contemplating picking up a
cheap pager and wiring it to a box to do just that. Tanis sells a box that
listens for the pager's beep, although it is pricey.

Andrew Gideon wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:

Of course, the rub is turning the danged thing on 3 hours in advance.
Didn't someone rig up a "cell-phone-on/off-trigger" for their pre-heater
last year?

I remember thinking it was way cool, for those who don't have a hangar
with
electricity. (If you have a hangar, the best trigger, IMHO, is the
temperature-sensitive cubes. They go "On" at 35 degrees, "Off" at 40
degrees...)

My club has been looking at preheating solutions, and I wonder if this would
fit. But there are some aspects about this solution about which I'm a
little unclear.

First, we're speaking of an electrical system that's powered by a portable
generator, right? So the "on/off" mechanism would have to switch the
generator on/off, right?

Is temperature really the right solution? I kind of like the cell-phone
idea. It seems inefficient to keep the engine warm against bitter cold
that's so bitter nobody's willing to visit the airplane.

More than inefficient, though: what about fuel for the generator? If the
generator is on for "a while", won't it eventually run out of fuel? That
would be an annoying thing to learn only when one wanted to fly and found a
cold aircraft when a warm one was expected.

Is there some commercial source for cellular on/off switches? Or did
someone ever post instructions for building one?

Thanks...

Andrew

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Ben Jackson wrote:

Do you keep a multiweight oil in just for starts away from home?

I keep multi-grade in all year. I have a few friends who change grades with the
season, and there are always periods during Fall or Spring when they can't fly
because it's too warm or too cold and they either changed the oil too soon or
haven't changed it yet.

That said, my pre-heater is portable, and I carry it with me if I expect to need
it. I think it is no longer in production, though.

George Patterson
If you're not part of the solution, you can make a lot of money prolonging
the problem.

I use Phillips XC 20W-50 year round. Can't figure out why you'd use
anything else.

I use Aeroshell 20W-50 year round, too. Same here -- I can't figure out why
you WOULDN'T use a multi-grade all the time. Sure, it's a bit more
expensive, but it covers all your bases.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

First, we're speaking of an electrical system that's powered by a portable
generator, right? So the "on/off" mechanism would have to switch the
generator on/off, right?

Actually, in my case, no. My cube is turning on the electrically power
pre-heaters on my plane, using the electricity in my hangar. No generator
needed.

However, the original poster is looking for a portable,
outdoors-parked-on-the-ramp solution. The temperature cube wouldn't work
for that, AFAIK.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:iNVpb.107048$Fm2.91449@attbi_s04...
Say Jay, isn't it also time for the annual "To hand turn the prop or not
to
turn the prop before starting a cold engine party" ?

Nope. You absolutely, 100% convinced us all of the lunacy of THAT old
wive's tale...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck

Wive's tale? Certainly turning the prop doesn't do anything to "loosen" the
oil, as is sometimes claimed, but I do pump the throttle, turn all the
switches off, etc and then turn the prop by hand on cold mornings. I figure
it moves some of the mixture into the cylinders, as opposed to trying to
start the engine with the extremely lean mixture that is already in the
cylinders. Also, I back the prop off so the starter doesn't have to
overcome engine compression for the first 1/2 prop revolution. I figure the
additional rotational velocity will help to get that first or second
cylinder to fire.

KB

"Newps" wrote in message
news:lheqb.113991$Fm2.101147@attbi_s04...


Ben Jackson wrote:


So what do you cold-climate people do about oil when you're always
preheating? Do you keep a multiweight oil in just for starts away from
home?

I use Phillips XC 20W-50 year round. Can't figure out why you'd use
anything else.

Maybe because in the bird I normally fly, the manufacturer says ONLY Mobil
254 or, in an emergency, Exxon 2380. :~)