Preheater

Jay Honeck wrote:

That's sad, George. You really must move back to America soon, where we
don't lock the doors at night...

Three more years, if all goes as planned. Then Carolina here we come.

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

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

"Ray Andraka" wrote in message
...

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.


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.

"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.

Kyler Laird wrote
I second the generator idea. Electric heaters are *so* handy. You can
even put some in your cabin to keep your seat and instruments warm. If
you run the generator off of 100LL, you won't have to mess with carrying
(other) tanks of fuel.

Small generators often have 12VDC
outputs
http://www.mayberrys.com/honda/gener...ls/eu1000i.htm
so if your plane has a 12V system, you're all set.


Kyler,
What heater system do you power with the Honda generator? We are
deciding on what type of electric heater to put on our new Lycoming
engine which will work with a portable generator:

1. Tanis: ~$400-$600 (250w -500w) - cylinder/oil pan heaters
http://www.tanair.com/heatersystems.html
2. Reiff: ~$350 (4cylindersx50w= 200w + 100w oil sump = 300w) -
cylinder/oil pan heater
http://www.reiffpreheat.com/faaelig.htm#price
3. E-Z heat: $160 (300w or less)- oil pan heater
http://www.e-zheat.com/index.htm
4. Safe-Heet $130 (300w) - oil pan heater
http://www.aircraftsupply.com/categories.asp?cID=133
5. ProHeat pad - Model 512 $55 (250w) - oil pan heater (not specified
for aircraft but should work the same)
http://www.engineheaters.com/

We are leaning towards the Tanis/Reiff type system (for more
complete heating) but not sure whether they can be powered with a
portable generator such as the Honda EU100i or the equivalent Yamaha
EF1000iS (
http://www.usalight.com/yamaha/ef1000is.htm)

Thanks.

(hlongworth) writes:

What heater system do you power with the Honda generator?

Sorry if I mislead you. I *don't* use a Honda generator with my
heaters. I do have a (big clunky) generator, and I do have Reiff
cylinder bands and oil heaters though.

For quite awhile I thought I'd get a generator to carry in the
plane but with 120VAC so readily available I haven't been able to
justify it. (It wouldn't take much for me to justify a spiffy
little generator though.)

We are leaning towards the Tanis/Reiff type system (for more
complete heating) but not sure whether they can be powered with a
portable generator such as the Honda EU100i or the equivalent Yamaha

Resistive heating elements can be run by just about anything.
They aren't sensitive to frequency or waveforms, they don't have
super-high startup demands, and they can take over- and under-
voltage situations without a hiccup. With the light load you
have, it should be easy to find something adequate. (I have
12*50W + 2*150W = 900W of heating so I'm on the edge of some
generator capacities.)

EF1000iS (
http://www.usalight.com/yamaha/ef1000is.htm)

That looks good. I wonder if I could find a Yamaha dealer to
take my FJ1100 in trade.

--kyler

Kyler Laird wrote in message ...
(hlongworth) writes:

What heater system do you power with the Honda generator?

Sorry if I mislead you. I *don't* use a Honda generator with my
heaters. I do have a (big clunky) generator, and I do have Reiff
cylinder bands and oil heaters though.


We will most likely order the Reiff system but will go for the Turbo
version (4x50watts + 200watts = 400watts). The two main lightweight
portable 1Kw generators are Honda and Yamaha. Unless I find something
negative on the Reiff system and these generators, these combo seems
to be the best choice. Thanks.

The people at Tanis are working on a generator that you might want to
research. Their primary objective is power to weight. I have thought about
a Honda generator for preheating in remote areas but I would need the 2K
version which is a lot heavier than the 1K.

Mike
MU-2


"hlongworth" wrote in message
m...
Kyler Laird wrote in message
...
(hlongworth) writes:

What heater system do you power with the Honda generator?

Sorry if I mislead you. I *don't* use a Honda generator with my
heaters. I do have a (big clunky) generator, and I do have Reiff
cylinder bands and oil heaters though.


We will most likely order the Reiff system but will go for the Turbo
version (4x50watts + 200watts = 400watts). The two main lightweight
portable 1Kw generators are Honda and Yamaha. Unless I find something
negative on the Reiff system and these generators, these combo seems
to be the best choice. Thanks.

"hlongworth" wrote in message
m...

We will most likely order the Reiff system but will go for the Turbo
version (4x50watts + 200watts = 400watts). The two main lightweight
portable 1Kw generators are Honda and Yamaha. Unless I find something
negative on the Reiff system and these generators, these combo seems
to be the best choice. Thanks.


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.