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propane preheater
I thought I'd follow up with some results. I ended up with a red dragon
propane heater that I bought off ebay for around $250.00 including shipping. I think the new ones are around $550.00. The nice thing about buying used off ebay is that if I am unhappy with the item I can always sell it and not lose too much money. I used the red dragon twice. Both times outdoor air temperatures were around 20F. I did not use any blanket over the cowling because I wanted to measure temperatures while the heater was running. In the future, probably not until next winter, I'll use an old sleeping bag on top of the cowling to help retain the heat. The highest surface temperature on top of the cowling I measured was about 170F. Next winter, I plan to take more measurements inside the cowling - cylinder heads, oil pan, etc. The red dragon did a great job. No problems with moisture. I've had condensation problems using the propane heater in my garage. Tons of moisture collecting on cold steel hand tools. I suppose the difference with the airplane is that after a few minutes, there aren't any cold surfaces under the cowling so the moisture can't condense anywhere. I let the heater run for about 20 minutes and my IO-470 started right up. I forgot to check the oil temperature so I don't know what is was before starting. By the time I looked at it it was already in the green. I ran the 12Volt blower from my car battery not the airplane. My first test next winter will be to run the blower off the airplane battery and see how much battery capacity I lose. I understand that the blower uses 4 amps at 12 volts so running it for twenty minutes should leave enough capacity for cranking but I'd like to make sure of that on a cold day at my hanger not at a remote location. No use warming up the engine and being left with a dead battery. I hand propped a cub a few times. I don't think I'd want to try that on the bonanza. On my last airplane, a citabria, I had a pan heater that if left on for 4 hours or so did a great job. On the io-470, if I went the 120 volt electric heating route, I'd probably go for the full Rieff or Tanis setup costing around $1500-2000 installed - I think. The two problems with the 120V arrangement is the need to turn it on several hours before starting and the possibility of being at a remote strip with no access to 120V power. All things considered, for my purposes, I prefer the red dragon. One more pirep, I had a question about the heater so I called the manufacturer, Flame Engineering. They were a pleasure to deal with. Dave Bonanza M35 dave wrote: Another thread made me think about using the portable propane heater I use in my garage to preheat my airplane. It's the standard metal tube type with the fan from Home Depot or Lowes. I've seen people simply attach a flex duct to the end of this type heater and blow the hot air into the cabin - poor man's red dragon. Any drawbacks? Thanks Dave |
#2
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propane preheater
In article ,
dave wrote: I ran the 12Volt blower from my car battery not the airplane. My first test next winter will be to run the blower off the airplane battery and see how much battery capacity I lose. I use a motorcycle battery to run the blower. -- Bob Noel Looking for a sig the lawyers will hate |
#3
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propane preheater
I ran the 12Volt blower from my car battery not the airplane. My first test next winter will be to run the blower off the airplane battery and see how much battery capacity I lose. I use a motorcycle battery to run the blower. So do I. It is amazing that you can use a little 9-12AH battery to run the thing. The MC battery also fits inside the toolbox setup I have. So, that is one less thing to carry around. Mike |
#4
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propane preheater
I understand that the blower consumes so little power, 4A for 15 or 20
minutes, it shouldn't be enough of a drain on my airplane's battery to affect cranking - assuming my airplane's battery is in good shape. If it looks like I'll need more juice, I think I might get one of those 12V jump starter packs. Most seem to have a battery with about 18AH. I'd like one that can be charged from either 120VAC or 12VDC. When I'm at my home field, I simply use my car battery but I'm wondering if one of the portable starter packs with the light and compressor wouldn't be a bad thing to have regardless. Dave M35 Mike Spera wrote: I ran the 12Volt blower from my car battery not the airplane. My first test next winter will be to run the blower off the airplane battery and see how much battery capacity I lose. I use a motorcycle battery to run the blower. So do I. It is amazing that you can use a little 9-12AH battery to run the thing. The MC battery also fits inside the toolbox setup I have. So, that is one less thing to carry around. Mike |
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