Preheat / Pre-Oiler

[Fastglasair]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:_Uykd.324061$wV.233990@attbi_s54...
>> The faster a good oil film gets established on the cam, the less chance
>> there is of lifter damage. Anything under 60 degrees carries some risk.
>> We preheat below 40. A single cold start when it is really cold can
>> damage a lifter.
>
> Which always leads me to this same question: Does anyone here have a
> "pre-oiler" installed in their airplane?
>
> It would seem so logical, yet I've never met anyone with one installed
> (other than on big warbird engines...).
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"

I have one on my Glasair Experimental. It is a Moroso (performance auto) unit.
It accomplishes 3 things. Pre-oil and pre-pressurize engine oil system 3 quart
capacity, Stabilized oil pressure (steady pressure), will maintain oil pressure
for the prop during aerobatics.

[Morgans]

"Fastglasair" > wrote

>
> I have one (pre-oiler) on my Glasair Experimental. It is a Moroso
(performance auto) unit.
> It accomplishes 3 things. Pre-oil and pre-pressurize engine oil system 3
quart
> capacity, Stabilized oil pressure (steady pressure), will maintain oil
pressure
> for the prop during aerobatics.

So is this the type that is externally mounted, and driven by a belt?
--
Jim in NC


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[Fastglasair]

>So is this the type that is externally mounted, and driven by a belt?
>--
>Jim in NC

Not sure what you mean by this. Mine is a cylinder shape with a shuttle inside.
It is charged with nitrogen. When the engine is running the oil is forced (3
quarts) into the accumulator until equilibrium is reached. Before shutting down
the engine a manual valve is closed. It could also be done remotely using an
electric normally closed solenoid valve. I typically have a 70+ psi charge of
oil to use when starting my engine. I can also easily remove the accumulator, I
have it mounted on my seat back. When really cold I can remove it, I have used
hydraulic quick disconnects which do not leak. I can take it to my hotel room
and keep it warm by a heater. My mounts are also useful for an Oxygen tank as
well for high altitude flights.

[Bushy]

What a ripper idea!

Just the thing to make my little plane go well down here in Australia where
we fly inverted all the time!

I've seen these in car mags and I might have to do this when I set up my
toy! Might even have to look at homebuilding it for the challenge of doing
it! (Hmmm, an old gas bbq tank, cut in half and a bladder just like my house
water pressure pump...)

Mind you, what's the cost like for these units? Might be a little different
over here so I'll see what the local speed shops stock.

Peter


"Fastglasair" > wrote in message
...
> >So is this the type that is externally mounted, and driven by a belt?
> >--
> >Jim in NC
>
> Not sure what you mean by this. Mine is a cylinder shape with a shuttle
inside.
> It is charged with nitrogen. When the engine is running the oil is forced
(3
> quarts) into the accumulator until equilibrium is reached. Before shutting
down
> the engine a manual valve is closed. It could also be done remotely using
an
> electric normally closed solenoid valve. I typically have a 70+ psi
charge of
> oil to use when starting my engine. I can also easily remove the
accumulator, I
> have it mounted on my seat back. When really cold I can remove it, I have
used
> hydraulic quick disconnects which do not leak. I can take it to my hotel
room
> and keep it warm by a heater. My mounts are also useful for an Oxygen tank
as
> well for high altitude flights.

[Bob Hoover]

> >
> > Which always leads me to this same question: Does anyone here have a
> > "pre-oiler" installed in their airplane?
> >

-------------------------------

Old news, guys. Pre-lubers are pretty common. Do a Google on
'pre-luber,' see what you get. I posted the following a couple of
years ago.

"Wanna see your engine last virtually forever? Add a pre-luber. Go
on. No big
deal. See that screw-top aerosol canister from Harbor Freight? Buy
one. Make
a mount for it. (Upside down, please). Now pull the Schrader valve
and
replace it with a 12vdc continuous-duty solenoid valve. You may use a
fuel
tank purge valve from the junk yard, if you wish. But the real thing
-- about
$40 -- will work better. Now wire the solenoid valve into the
ignition
circuit. (Circuit ON, valve OPEN) Then plumb the thing to your main
oil
gallery.

Now when you turn on the key about a pint of PRESSURIZED oil will be
delivered
to the engine BEFORE anything starts rotating. After the engine
begins to run
it will pump that amount of oil back into the pre-luber... and will
trap it
there, under pressure, when the key is turned off. (You may elaborate
upon
this scheme if you wish but the Plain Vanilla version will work just
fine for
an engine as small as a Volkswagen.)"

---------------------------------------------------

Veedubs are small engines, only run a couple quarts in the sump, have
oil galleries with a fairly low internal volume so you can get by with
a small pre-luber. If you don't have an electrical system, a manual
valve works fine. If the reservoir is the one mentioned (HF aluminum
canister thingee) the whole shebang weighs just over a pound, not
count counting the oil.

-R.S.Hoover

[Dan Youngquist]

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004, Bob Hoover wrote:

> Now wire the solenoid valve into the ignition circuit. (Circuit ON,
> valve OPEN)

If the valve doesn't close until you turn off the mag switch, then you
can't shut down by pulling the mixture, or you lose the oil pressure. So
there's still fuel in the cylinders, which could ignite if a P-lead is
broken and someone turns the prop. There's not a huge chance of that
happening, but it would still be safer to have the valve on a manual
switch that you turn off white the engine's still turning.

-Dan

[Bob Hoover]

Dan Youngquist > wrote in message . org>...
> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004, Bob Hoover wrote:
>
> > Now wire the solenoid valve into the ignition circuit. (Circuit ON,
> > valve OPEN)
>
> If the valve doesn't.... yadayadayada...

---------------------------------------------------

Dear Dan,

My original message descibed the installation of a pre-luber on my my
1965 VW BUS. Bus, not airplane. No magneto, singular nor plural. No
P-lead. And no problem when shutting down.

The purpose of the message was to show that pre-lubers are more common
than most folks realize and relatively simple to install. THEN comes
a reference to slipping the surly bonds, etc.

I was just leading the horse to water. The rest of the job is up to
the horse.

-R.S.Hoover