Cold Weather Ops

[n85ae]

This only has to do with oil sump pad heaters - hot oil, and cold upstairs
in the engine - when the water in the oil is evaporated it condenses upstairs
and you get rust. Not an issue if you heat the entire engine compartment,
or the entire engine (i.e. cylinder band heaters in addition to the sump)

Jeff

The owner of the Cherokee i fly is an AME (A&P for you southerners) and he says only to preheat for a few hours before you go flying and that preheating all the time isn't good for the engine either. Why this is I don't know but I will ask him next time I see him

[jiott]

That sure is a beautiful color scheme Dorsal. I have admired it ever since I first logged in on this forum.

[Dorsal]

Thanks Jim

Paul,
The little white box is a cell switch, turns on the heater when I call it.

[Slyfox]

This only has to do with oil sump pad heaters -...

I don't know. I check my engine all the time here when checking the oil and on annual. I have not seen any rust or condensation in the oil cap nothing, all looks normal on my plane. I guess if you have that problem, you can always stop. me, I have no issues with what I'm doing.

another thing I do, the kitfox I don't, but the rv I loosen the dip stick and leave the oil door open. never had an issue with condensation or rust in that engine. maybe it's because I fly 300+ hrs a year between the two.

[Slyfox]

Thanks Jim

Paul,
The little white box is a cell switch, turns on the heater when I call it.

doesn't that work where you have a sim card in the unit and have to keep it up like a cell phone, with monthly charge, like 10 dollars a month. just curious.

[Dorsal]

Sort of, $10 every 3 months which I don't pay in the summer so $20-30 per year. Oil, coolant, battery and the entire engine at 90 deg when I get there, nice rig but not the cheapest option.

[Paul Z]

Dorsal, how much is the service for the cell switch? I do not feel comfortable leaving a heater plugged in overnight running, with my luck I would go out to the airport to find the plane burned to the ground. I am contemplating getting something, I don't fly much in the winter because it takes so long to warm up. I was thinking of the Reiff Sstem it weighs little to nothing, cost a lot less, and I could order the cell switch. I would imagine that would suffice for Texas. Any thoughts on the subject?

[n85ae]

There's some talk about it in this article, whether or not a problem will
really occur ...?

http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/1828...l?redirected=1

I don't know. I check my engine all the time here when checking the oil and on annual. I have not seen any rust or condensation in the oil cap nothing, all looks normal...

[Dorsal]

Paul, About $20-30 year, Reiff even sells a version for their systems.

[Paul Z]

The big advantage I see with the Reiff is that it is always available, price is about 1/2 of an Aerotherm, and the Aerotherm will end up left at the hanger because I fly a SLSA. The downside the Aerotherm will do a lot better job soaking the engine! I am the type that doesn’t want to sit around and wait for it to heat up.