Tanis heaters

I live in northern lower Michigan where we have real winters some years
(not this one yet). My partner and I own a 2000 Cessna 182. We are
currently debating the proper use of the Tanis engine heater. It has
been our practice in the past to plug the heater in after a flight and
leave it plugged in until the next. We have heard lately that best
practice is to only use the heater for a few hours prior to flight.
Any opinions among other owners in cold climes?
Thanks. CPW

cpw wrote:
I live in northern lower Michigan where we have real winters some years
(not this one yet). My partner and I own a 2000 Cessna 182. We are
currently debating the proper use of the Tanis engine heater. It has
been our practice in the past to plug the heater in after a flight and
leave it plugged in until the next. We have heard lately that best
practice is to only use the heater for a few hours prior to flight.
Any opinions among other owners in cold climes?
Thanks. CPW


This is a "hot" topic (grin) and you will get strong opinions on both sides.

I belong to the 'church' that says you can't get condensation if the
engine stays warmer than the ambient temperature. Had a discussion with
John Deakin who believes this is correct, as well. I plug mine in after
flight and open up the oil filler tube (IO520) to allow any humid air to
escape the engine.

Others believe that leaving the heater on all the time will promote
corrosion brought about by changes in the ambient temperature. Both
Tanis and Reiff do not recommend leaving it on all the time.

I have several airport friends that have rigged up devices to turn
theirs on and off with a cell phone timing device.

Perhaps a factor is what kind of winters your plane must endure. What's
right for Michigan may be wrong for Tennessee.

Rich
SE Michigan

Any opinions among other owners in cold climes?

This debate rages every year at this time. Some folks swear that you
shouldn't leave them plugged in all the time (due to condensation
build-up), others have devised cell-phone switches that allow you to
call your plane to turn on the heat a few hours before each flight.

Personally, I used to leave mine plugged in all the time, with an
in-line sensor that turned the heater on automatically when the temp
dropped below 40 degrees.

When that sensor went T.U. last year, I just started plugging it in,
and leaving it on all winter.

Some people say that this risks "burning" the oil right near the heat
pad (we also have the cylinder heaters) -- but I'm betting that this
heat pales to insignificance compared to the temperatures generated by
the titanic forces inside the engine during regular operations.

I'm also betting that it's better to leave the heat on all the time
than it is to forget to pre-heat, and just start it up and go. I've
had to do that once or twice, and I just cringed at how stiff and
clackity everything sounded at start-up...

Probably the thing I worry about most is burning out the heat elements
from over-use.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Rich" wrote in message
...

I belong to the 'church' that says you can't get condensation if the
engine stays warmer than the ambient temperature. Had a discussion with
John Deakin who believes this is correct, as well. I plug mine in after
flight and open up the oil filler tube (IO520) to allow any humid air to
escape the engine.

Or to enter the engine. When the engine is cooling from operating
temperature to the temperature maintained by the heater, doesn't outside air
get drawn into the engine?

"cpw" wrote in message
s.com...
I live in northern lower Michigan where we have real winters some years
(not this one yet). My partner and I own a 2000 Cessna 182. We are
currently debating the proper use of the Tanis engine heater. It has
been our practice in the past to plug the heater in after a flight and
leave it plugged in until the next. We have heard lately that best
practice is to only use the heater for a few hours prior to flight.
Any opinions among other owners in cold climes?

THINK: How would keeping the oil at 70 degrees differ from, say, Florida,
where those are typically year-round temperatures?


--
Matt (prefers the Reiff heater, and keeps it on six months of the year)
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO (MTJ)

"Rich" wrote in message
...
cpw wrote:
Others believe that leaving the heater on all the time will promote
corrosion brought about by changes in the ambient temperature. Both Tanis
and Reiff do not recommend leaving it on all the time.

Caveats: http://www.reiffpreheat.com/FAQ.htm#QA3


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO (MTJ)

Matt, if the entire engine was warm you'd be correct. The problem is
that any unheated parts of the engine may be cold enough to allow
condensation. You need to keep the entire engine at the same
temperature. So if you use a pan heater and cylinder heaters and also
use an insulated cowling cover, you should be fine by leaving the
heaters on all winter because the entire engine should be warm. That's
the theory anyway.

I'm trying to decide which way I want to go. I had a pad heater on my
citabria that I would turn on for several hours before I flew if it was
cold out. I just got my bonanza a couple of weeks ago and I'm thinking
about using the full Rieff package or getting a portable red dragon.
The advantage of the red dragon is that you can use it anytime and it
should warm the engine up in about 30 minutes. The disadvantage is that
to make it truly portable, you need to get the 12V model and run it off
your battery. Not a problem at my airport, I'll simply run it off my
car battery but I can imagine being at some airport on a cold Sunday
afternoon with a very warm engine and a dead battery.

Any red dragon users out there? How long to warm up an io-470?

Dave
1960 M35


Matt Barrow wrote:
"cpw" wrote in message
s.com...
I live in northern lower Michigan where we have real winters some years
(not this one yet). My partner and I own a 2000 Cessna 182. We are
currently debating the proper use of the Tanis engine heater. It has
been our practice in the past to plug the heater in after a flight and
leave it plugged in until the next. We have heard lately that best
practice is to only use the heater for a few hours prior to flight.
Any opinions among other owners in cold climes?

THINK: How would keeping the oil at 70 degrees differ from, say, Florida,
where those are typically year-round temperatures?

cpw wrote:
I live in northern lower Michigan where we have real winters some years
(not this one yet). My partner and I own a 2000 Cessna 182. We are
currently debating the proper use of the Tanis engine heater. It has
been our practice in the past to plug the heater in after a flight and
leave it plugged in until the next. We have heard lately that best
practice is to only use the heater for a few hours prior to flight.
Any opinions among other owners in cold climes?
Thanks. CPW

Since there is usually a week or two between our flights in winter, it
seems pretty inefficient to leave it on all the time. In our case, we
drive past the airport nearly every day so it's no big deal to stop and
plug it into a timer to get a few hours of heat just before a planned
flight. Wish I knew if it was OK to leave it plugged in or on a
thermostat, but everyone it so busy covering their backsides that there
is no useful info available.
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

I leave mine on all the time when the temperature is close to freezing.
That is most of the winter.Before that, I make a trip a day or two prior
to plug them in. Over ten years, no problems.

Down the row the guy plugs in after every flight, always on. Most of the
year. All but for the middle of summer. Ten plus years, no problems.

John

cpw wrote:

I live in northern lower Michigan where we have real winters some years
(not this one yet). My partner and I own a 2000 Cessna 182. We are
currently debating the proper use of the Tanis engine heater. It has
been our practice in the past to plug the heater in after a flight and
leave it plugged in until the next. We have heard lately that best
practice is to only use the heater for a few hours prior to flight.
Any opinions among other owners in cold climes?
Thanks. CPW

Rich wrote:
I belong to the 'church' that says you can't get condensation if the
engine stays warmer than the ambient temperature. Had a discussion with
John Deakin who believes this is correct, as well. I plug mine in after
flight and open up the oil filler tube (IO520) to allow any humid air to
escape the engine.

That does seem to make sense. Probably much better than being on a
thermostat that turns it off and on.
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.