Rotax 912 Preheaters

[Willard]

I have a SLSA on order which uses a Rotax 912 engine. The owner's
manual for this aircraft specifies that the engine should be preheated
when the temp falls below 41 degrees F. I see that both Tanis and
Reiff have engine-intalled preheaters available for the 912. Anyone
have any experience with any preheater installed on a 912?

[Ron Lee]

"Willard" > wrote:

>I have a SLSA on order which uses a Rotax 912 engine. The owner's
>manual for this aircraft specifies that the engine should be preheated
>when the temp falls below 41 degrees F. I see that both Tanis and
>Reiff have engine-intalled preheaters available for the 912. Anyone
>have any experience with any preheater installed on a 912?
>
I have a Reiff oil sump heater on my RV-6A O-360. I would assume that
an engine is an engine so as long as the Reiff system fits it would
perform as well on your Rotax 912 as it does on my engine. I use a
timer rated for this application that turns on about five hours before
I fly. I am in an insulated and heated (to 40 deg F) hangar and the
oil temp is around 90 deg F when I start up.

Ron Lee

[Willard]

Ron Lee wrote:
> "Willard" > wrote:
>
> >I have a SLSA on order which uses a Rotax 912 engine. The owner's
> >manual for this aircraft specifies that the engine should be preheated
> >when the temp falls below 41 degrees F. I see that both Tanis and
> >Reiff have engine-intalled preheaters available for the 912. Anyone
> >have any experience with any preheater installed on a 912?
> >
> I have a Reiff oil sump heater on my RV-6A O-360. I would assume that
> an engine is an engine so as long as the Reiff system fits it would
> perform as well on your Rotax 912 as it does on my engine. I use a
> timer rated for this application that turns on about five hours before
> I fly. I am in an insulated and heated (to 40 deg F) hangar and the
> oil temp is around 90 deg F when I start up.
>
> Ron Lee

Thanks Ron,
After a couple of e-mail exchanges with Bob Reiff I decided the Reiff
heater should be adequate. What I like about this unit is that it
includes a heater for the oil tank (which, of course, "wet sump"
engines don't have). I couldn't get the guy from Tanis to say exactly
what their preheater includes, and it's a lot more expensive. They do,
however, heat the cylinder heads thru bolt heaters. The preponderance
of the opinions I have read is that this is not important. The Rotax
engine manual says only that you have to heat the oil if the engine is
hard to start.

Willard