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#11
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Engine preheater on ebay??
skym wrote:
On ebay, ..... Ok. I have a portable propane model, so I don't have direct experience with either of these. Both appear to be adaptations of the sort of "ceramic" electric heater that sells for around $30 at Home Depot. The Sporty's unit looks like it would do a much better job, since it pulls it's intake air from the cowl. If I were using it, I would stick the discharge in the gap at the bottom of the cowl, though. I have two of these units for helping heat poorly heated rooms in my home. They do that job very well. I even got decent results using one to heat up an unheated garage -- it kept things from freezing, at least. Based on that, I believe Sporty's claims about the efficiency of their unit. Dunno if it's worth that kind of money, however. The main disadvantage I see is that these units require electricity. They're also not going to be weatherproof. That means the portability is of limited use. George Patterson Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self. |
#12
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Engine preheater on ebay??
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#13
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Engine preheater on ebay??
Cool! Didn't know there was such a thing.
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#14
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Engine preheater on ebay??
Thanks to all for the responses. I have a Tanis heater for the oil,
but just was wondering if an air-flow heater might be useful here. I'm in Montana, and temps well below 0 degree F are not uncommon in the winter. An airflow heater can warm up the engine and the cockpit for the sake of the avionics. As for putting together something myself I'm reminded of the old Groucho Marx joke about belonging to any private clubs: "I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member." |
#15
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Engine preheater on ebay??
skym wrote:
An airflow heater can warm up the engine and the cockpit for the sake of the avionics. Just pick up one of the $30 ceramic heaters from Wal-Mart for heating the cabin. IMO, the Tanis is all you need for the engine. That heat will get everywhere in the engine -- aluminum is a good conductor. George Patterson Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self. |
#16
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Engine preheater on ebay??
Well, every time you start it your CHTs go up 200 degrees in a matter
of seconds. |
#17
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Engine preheater on ebay??
skym wrote: Thanks to all for the responses. I have a Tanis heater for the oil, but just was wondering if an air-flow heater might be useful here. I'm in Montana, and temps well below 0 degree F are not uncommon in the winter. An airflow heater can warm up the engine and the cockpit for the sake of the avionics. As for putting together something myself I'm reminded of the old Groucho Marx joke about belonging to any private clubs: "I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member." I'm across the ramp from you and all a guy needs is a couple of glue on heating pads from Tractor Supply and a cover from Kennon. At 0 degrees F the oil will be 100F and the cylinders will be 80F. |
#18
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Engine preheater on ebay??
Paul kgyy wrote:
Well, every time you start it your CHTs go up 200 degrees in a matter of seconds. Really? Mine didn't. It usually took at least 5 minutes for the CHT gauge to move off the peg. George Patterson Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self. |
#19
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Engine preheater on ebay??
I bought a $40 1.5 kW ceramic heater at Ace Hardware, a length of 4"
metalized dryer duct, and a 4" to 6" duct adapter. A bit of metal bashing turned the 6" end of the duct adapter into a square, flanged surface that could be sheet-metal screwed to the outlet of the heater. Two feet of duct goes on the 4" end with a hose clamp. We stick the end of the duct up into the cowl on top of the nose gear scissors (Archer). Half an hour of preheating with this raises the temperature exiting the front of the cowl to well above freezing (circa 40 degrees F) when the air temp is -10 degrees F. We experimented with leaving the cowl plugs in or not, and it seems to heat the engine faster with the heat rising through the cylinder fins and out the cowl inlets. If there is any significant breeze (which might reverse the air flow) we put the cowl plugs in and give it 45 minutes. More gentle heating than the $25 preheat service (big propane heater stuffed into only one front cowl inlet), and the whole rig cost around $50. Of course we scored the only tiedown next to a hangar, with outside outlets within five feet of the wingtip, but others run long cords over the ramp temporarily for tools, etc. -- Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways) "George Patterson" wrote in message news:Y06nf.14684$OK6.11811@trnddc03... skym wrote: On ebay, ..... Ok. I have a portable propane model, so I don't have direct experience with either of these. Both appear to be adaptations of the sort of "ceramic" electric heater that sells for around $30 at Home Depot. The Sporty's unit looks like it would do a much better job, since it pulls it's intake air from the cowl. If I were using it, I would stick the discharge in the gap at the bottom of the cowl, though. I have two of these units for helping heat poorly heated rooms in my home. They do that job very well. I even got decent results using one to heat up an unheated garage -- it kept things from freezing, at least. Based on that, I believe Sporty's claims about the efficiency of their unit. Dunno if it's worth that kind of money, however. The main disadvantage I see is that these units require electricity. They're also not going to be weatherproof. That means the portability is of limited use. George Patterson Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self. |
#20
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Engine preheater on ebay??
On Tue, 13 Dec 2005, Bob Chilcoat wrote:
We experimented with leaving the cowl plugs in or not, and it seems to heat the engine faster with the heat rising through the cylinder fins and out the cowl inlets. Have you experimented with blowing the heat in the cowl inlets and letting the coldest air inside the cowl come out the bottom? Seems like it would heat much faster that way since you'd be exhausting the coldest air instead of the warmest air. -Dan |
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