Preheater

Jay Honeck wrote:

Doesn't it fog up/ice up as soon as you pull the plane out of the hangar?

A propane pre-heater will definitely do this. Combustion of propane produces
inordinate amounts of water vapor.

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

We used an electric fan heater in the planes when I was in
Stockholm. It was thermostat controlled and was on all the
time the plane was in the hangar (if the last person to fly
remembered to plug it in). No problems with misting up at
all.

Paul

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:7MVpb.108620$e01.372593@attbi_s02...
I also leave a cube heater in the cabin w/ a t-stat cube on both
products.

Doesn't it fog up/ice up as soon as you pull the plane out of the hangar?

Victor J. Osborne, Jr. wrote:

The Reiff is owner installable
w/ an A&P signoff.

They all are.

"Victor J. Osborne, Jr." wrote in message
...

I've had Tanis in two planes and now have the Reiff product. The Reiff
was easier to install, doesn't mess w/ the CHT probes and is owner
installable
w/ an A&P signoff.


Everything is owner-installable with an A&P signoff.

I purchased a Hot Padd heater from Reiff. The heater could not be mounted
on my engine in accordance with the supplied instructions, so I made do as
best I could. The adhesive didn't cure and the pad easily peeled off. I
returned the pad to Reiff for a refund, they sent it back to me with more
adhesive. Apparently I violated the warranty by not following the
instructions to the letter, (the fact that it was impossible to follow them
was of no interest to Reiff). I don't know if the Reiff heater is any good
or not, I do know that their product support and customer relations are
terrible. I won't do business with them again.

I purchased a "milkhouse heater" and some ductwork at a local home
improvement store. The cost was about $35 and it does a fine job.

Sorry to hear that. I put the Reiff cylinder and hot padd heaters on my Six
back in 1996, and have had no problems with it whatsoever. At the engine
change this summer, we re-adhered the pad to the new engine using some kind of
hi-temp goop the A&P had on hand, and again, no problems. My guess is you may
have either had some residual oil left on the sump or on the heat pad, or you
had a bad batch of adhesive. My cylinder bands were custom made for me, as I
bought them soon after Reiff came out with them, and the original models were
too wide to fit on my narrow deck engine. I think they've since asked you to
specify wide or narrow deck. The narrow deck ones are 50W instead of 60W, and
are a bit skinnier. At the time, the customer service was exemplary, but since
I have not had to deal with Reiff since, things may have changed.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

"Victor J. Osborne, Jr." wrote in message
...

I've had Tanis in two planes and now have the Reiff product. The Reiff
was easier to install, doesn't mess w/ the CHT probes and is owner
installable
w/ an A&P signoff.


Everything is owner-installable with an A&P signoff.

I purchased a Hot Padd heater from Reiff. The heater could not be mounted
on my engine in accordance with the supplied instructions, so I made do as
best I could. The adhesive didn't cure and the pad easily peeled off. I
returned the pad to Reiff for a refund, they sent it back to me with more
adhesive. Apparently I violated the warranty by not following the
instructions to the letter, (the fact that it was impossible to follow them
was of no interest to Reiff). I don't know if the Reiff heater is any good
or not, I do know that their product support and customer relations are
terrible. I won't do business with them again.

I purchased a "milkhouse heater" and some ductwork at a local home
improvement store. The cost was about $35 and it does a fine job.

--
--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

"Ray Andraka" wrote in message
...

Sorry to hear that. I put the Reiff cylinder and hot padd heaters on my
Six back in 1996, and have had no problems with it whatsoever. At the
engine change this summer, we re-adhered the pad to the new engine using
some kind of hi-temp goop the A&P had on hand, and again, no problems.
My guess is you may have either had some residual oil left on the sump or
on the heat pad, or you had a bad batch of adhesive. My cylinder bands
were custom made for me, as I bought them soon after Reiff came out with
them, and the original models were too wide to fit on my narrow deck
engine. I think they've since asked you to specify wide or narrow deck.
The narrow deck ones are 50W instead of 60W, and are a bit skinnier. At
the time, the customer service was exemplary, but since I have not had to
deal with Reiff since, things may have changed.


The heater is a flat pad. I'm sure if you have easy access to a flat oil
sump, like a Lycoming, it's a simple installation. But I have an Aeronca
7AC with a Continental A65, the small Continentals have a kidney-shaped
tank. The Reiff instructions stress the importance of a thin, uniform layer
of adhesive between the pad and the tank. How do you keep a flat pad in
contact with a round tank while the adhesive cures? You've gotta clamp it,
and the instructions do say that may be necessary, as I recall. But there
is no effective way of clamping it while it is hanging from the engine, so I
removed the tank. While I had it off I took the opportunity to clean it up
and repaint it. It was cleaned in a solvent bath, and old paint and
corrosion were removed with a combination of wire brush, sandpaper, and
sandblasting. I used a good quality automotive primer and paint. It was
beautiful. I mixed the adhesive and applied a thin uniform coat per the
instructions. I put a piece of wax paper under a large bean bag and used
several strap clamps and duct tape to ensure uniform contact of the pad to
the tank while the adhesive cured. I applied heat and let it sit for
several days. When I removed the clamps the pad returned to it's former
flat state, the adhesive was a slightly sticky gray putty. Most of the
adhesive peeled off very easily, the remaining bits were cleaned off with a
solvent, leaving the heater in pristine condition. The whole kit, less the
adhesive, was returned to with Reiff with a letter explaining my experience
and a request for a refund. Instead I got the kit back with a different
type of adhesive, which I consider to be de facto admission that the
original adhesive was inadequate for the task. I hardly consider that good
customer relations. This was about seven years ago as well.

I have a Red Dragon that I put into a leather case (with a hole on the side
for the air output and another for the input). I also can fit 2 portable
propane bottles in the case. On the wall of the case, I put two bolts that
the power leads clip to. After that I carry a little coleman 12v power
source that clips on the bolts outside of the case.

It'll preheat maybe 5 or 10 times with the bottles and power before
recharge. I throw it in the baggage area in the winter and it weighs about
30 lbs.

It's invaluable for XC trips in the winter.

--
remove underscores to email


"Tony Roberts" wrote in message
...
Hi
I'm looking for a preheater for my 172.
I don't have a power source near my tiedown.
I don't own a generator.
Because of all of the above I'm looking for a propane powered preheater
but I can't find one.
Any recommendations? Any reason why I shouldn't buy a propane one.

Thanks very much for all of your replies.
They have given me food for thought and are very much appreciated.

--
Tony Roberts )
PP-ASEL
VFR-OTT - Night
Cessna 172H

There is, of course, the 'build it yourself' $50 propane preheater on page 84
of the October 2001 Kitplanes magazine. No batteries required. I use two of
them on my Cessna 172 and they do a pretty good job. Both fit into a small
flight bag.

Jim