Show us a picture of your Home made pre Heater

[rv7adak]

plus 1 for the Reiff works great trouble free from 2006

[Prepperpilot]

Yup. Same thing for me in Ohio. Just plug it in and leave it on. I do open up my oil cap when I leave it on for lengthy time. Put heavy blankets bungee corded around cowl. Keep a my oil at 75F
I know the debate about moisture and corrosion. But I fly often.

[rv6n6r]

This is a fun thread to watch just for some of the crazy-wonderful innovations!

But I'm seeing some people focusing on oil temps and getting heated up in short times (like, an hour or less). According to Mike Busch on Engines,
All the warm oil in the world won’t help if the crank-to-bearing or piston-to-cylinder clearances go to zero. To avoid this, it’s essential for a preheat to warm up the both crankcase and the cylinder barrels.

That takes time and is probably why Reiff shows warming times in hours not fractions of hours. Just sayin'.

[wawrzynskivp]

Originally Posted by rv6n6r

According to Mike Busch on Engines,
[i]All the warm oil in the world won’t help if the crank-to-bearing or piston-to-cylinder clearances go to zero. .

Does Mike have numbers for when our engines cold seize?

Seems like the aluminum and copper and babbitt would shrink faster than the steel by their coefficients of expansion/temp

[rv6n6r]

Originally Posted by wawrzynskivp

Does Mike have numbers for when our engines cold seize?

Seems like the aluminum and copper and babbitt would shrink faster than the steel by their coefficients of expansion/temp

I think the book has those numbers but I don't have it handy at the moment. And he mentions that the numbers won't be the same for every engine since engine wear will be a factor. There's good info in this article at AOPA, but I really think it's worth getting the book, and not just for this. Tons of good info on preheating, cooling, oil, repairs, operation, maintenance etc. especially for people like me who are good with a wrench but not necessarily engine experts.

[wawrzynskivp]

Originally Posted by rv6n6r

There's good info in this article at AOPA

Thanks! I hadn't considered the aluminum bearing webs for the crank.

[gmcjetpilot]

I like #26 blanket. If you look at any real cold weather operators, Northern Canada, Alaska parked outside they put insulated covers over cowl.

Never have done this but some use King Sized electric blanket and wrap the cowl and stuff in the cowl inlets and exit. It may not be fast but it seems to work if allowed to run for several hours or overnight. Is it safe? Up to you to decide. I don't see why not.

Biggest wear factor is long periods of disuse. Flying to full operating temps for 30-60 minutes daily daily makes engine last longer. Short run ups are the worst. If it's above freezing and see oil pressure right after start you are good. Min oil temp before take off? Some say 100F. Lyc states no stumble when applying takeoff power. OP in green of course.

Lyc says
Prehead required when 10F or lower (some 320H models 20F).
Don't over prime (I prime and wait 30 secs or more to crank letting fuel vaporize)
OP indication right after start shortly after normal delay as during warm temps.
Do not low idle (1000 RPM min) to avoid lead fowling of plugs.
When flying OT 165 to 220F

[MacCool]

Originally Posted by gmcjetpilot

I like #26 blanket. If you look at any real cold weather operators, Northern Canada, Alaska parked outside they put insulated covers over cowl.

I understand and agree with the value of using a blanket or similar insulated cover if there's a heat source...it makes the heat source, like a Reiff preheater, that much more efficient by limiting convective loss while heating. And I agree that it helps retain engine heat (for a few hours) if applied after shutting down an engine. But after a few hours (depending on the efficiency of that particular blanket) on a cold ramp without any external heat source, the engine will be at ambient air temperature and the blanket accomplishes nothing.

[cderk]

I don’t have a DIY engine heater, but I did build my own cell phone switch to turn my heater on as well as a portable space heater to warm the cabin…

Parts list at the end of the video.
https://youtu.be/BVtY0MzXYDs

[wawrzynskivp]

I have two Reiff heater pads adhered to my oil pan.

Overnight temp was 15F. 4 hrs on with cowl plugs in and horse blanket over top of cowl. Prestart oil temp indication was 67F, CHT 52F. Immediately after start oil temp rose to 90F.

Considering where the CHT probes are I think it safe to assume the cylinder barrels were warmer than 52F.