Carburetor Heater Enhancement

Folks,

Was wondering if anyone modified their carburetor heat exchanger to improve its heating ability. I think the rpm drop is minimal to none in the winter and wondered if it might be smart to improve it to prevent or rid carburetor icing.

Was also thinking about doing the same with the cabin heat exchanger, but thought I'd check the carburetor first.

Thanks for any thoughts,
Tim

Tim,

The best solution is to replace the heater can with a better one. Here is a photo of the one I selected. There are others but you get the idea.

BTW, don't look too closely at my FAB as it is made to fit a James Holeycowl.

Try doing a search, there are a lot of threads out there on the topic.

Here are some links worth looking at:

http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalog/product_detail.php/pid=4733
http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalog/product_detail.php/pid=4494

Bill,

Thanks, I'm checking with my A&P and will probably do it this year or next after seeing how she does during a Michigan trip in the winter.

Thanks again,
Tim

I replaced the stock stovepipe carb heat tube with a Robbins Wings heat muff. I went from a drop that was audible, but not detectable on the RPM gauge, to a measurable 50rpm drop. I'm happier, although I still don't know how much of a problem carb heat really is on an O-320.

In five years of flying our 0-360 carbed -6A...

...we only had one known incidence of carb ice and that was on the delivery flight to the new owner! It was a cold day and we flew through some cold drizzle...around 45 degrees and saw a loss of RPM. I had never seen a drop in RPM when checking carb heat but I pulled it and the ice melted and the lost RPM's returned...go figure.

Best,

N941WR said:

Tim,
The best solution is to replace the heater can with a better one. Here is a photo of the one I selected.

Click to expand...

That's the one that we used... Works like a champ...