Reiff PreHeat going in - cold weather or not!

The hangar floor is at about 30F with this rotten cold weather in the mid west but I am determined to get Reiff engine pre heat system installed.

The first step is to glue the strip heater to the oil sump so I set up a 1500 watt heater under the engine with a blanket over the whole thing to the prop. After 6 hours the oil sump area was up to 75F so I mixed up the glue and taped the heat strip and glue to the sump with duct tape. After 2 hours the epoxy stuff was setting up nicely and I am sure it will be quite hard by morning. (Off course, two days ago I applied 5 coats of strip eaze to remove the paint from the sump. The heat strip has to be glued to metal, not paint)

Next will be installing the heat rings on the cylinders. That appears easy. They are large skinny hose clamps with a 50 watt heat element glued to each. The wire harness is all made up and appears it will last a long time, it is well made.

As soon as this is all done, I will report the results. Hopefully, the snow on our runway will evaporate in a few days of sub freezing temps. We were lucky with this last storm, we got about 4" of rain and an inch of snow.

reiff=great heater

Hi David - I'm on my 2nd winter with the Reiff system in Iowa. Works great, absolutely no problems. I turn it on when the hangar gets to 40 and leave it on until spring, flying about 1-2x per week if the weather allows.

On a typical winter day, it will be in the low teens outside, about 25 in the insulated hangar. When I start the engine, the CHTs and oil temp are all about 100. Starts like a summer day.

Good luck - you'll love the Reiff heater. Please post your results so we can see how they work in an RV. I'm planning to install one in my -9A when I get to that point.

dave

I use a Reiff Hot Strip on my little Cessna here in Michigan and also leave it plugged in 24/7 with the cowl openings plugged and a blanket over the cowl in and uninsulated hangar. I don't have the cylinder bands but the cylinders are toasty warm also. You will love it.

The epoxy attaching the heat strip to the sump cured nicely the night before last with the 1500 watt heater warming the area to about 90F.

Note: the Superior cold air sump does not have much flat area to attach the strip, but there is room on the aft surface mounting it vertical.

Yesterday the rings were installed around the cylinders and the wires temporarily hooked up over night to see how it all worked. With no cowling and just a blanket thrown over the engine (bottom was open) the oil temp was 81F and CHT 71F this morning. Not only that, the entire top of the engine including the valve push rod tubes were warm to touch. All that on just 300 watts. I am impressed.

This system is AOK as many of you already know.

Reiff Preheater

I love my Reiff preheater. I had one on my Cherokee 6, my 1946 GC1B Swift and my RV6. I don't leave it on all the time though. I have a timer and stop by the hanger the day before and program it to come on about 4 hours prior to my arrival. It always starts lie a summer day. I love it, and its worth every penny and easy to install.

One final report on the Reiff Preheat Standard system. (4 rings and one oil sump element)

Yesterday I finished tying off and securing the wires, reinstalled the cowling and this morning the oil temp is 104F and the CHT is at 92F. That is a rise of 66F and 54F respectively over hangar temp. OAT is somewhat less.

This is slightly less rise than Reiff has charted with the 0540 but without intake plugs and using an old bed spread and thin blanket over the cowl. It could be tucked in better as the cover is not optimal.

I am however very satisfied, sure beats no heat. Now if we could do something about partially melted snow, ice and turf....that may be resolved tomorrow night with the temp forecast to drop to 9F. Maybe Saturday or Sunday we can blast off once again. There is another guy here at the airpark really chumping at the bit to fly also.

(A few of us have been agitating for a hard surface runway around here and have prodded the board of trustees to have a meeting in January to at least talk about it. The upside would be increased property values and utilization, the down side the cost (about $21/yard). It will be an interesting meeting.

Does your airport get FAA funds (typically $150,000 a year and more for big projects)?

Hey David,,,,see if you guys can get some of this Obamamoney. At least I would know that some of my hard earned tax dollars are going to a good cause and would be wisely used!

From AOPA:

Privately owned airports get $240M in FAA funding



Privately owned airports have received $240 million in FAA grants intended to create a more robust aviation system by alleviating congestion at nearby commercial facilities. Some of the airports are mom-and-pop operations, while others are operated by big corporations. In every case, the owners say their airports promote local economies, but critics say there is little direct benefit to the general public, according to an analysis by USA TODAY. USA TODAY (12/31), AOPA Online (12/31)

Bonded Sump Heater Today

I fitted the Reiff heater bands a couple of days ago but it has been so king cold up here for the last few days that duct tape wouldn't stick and brass monkeys were wandering around looking for welders.

It finally warmed up to almost 30 degrees today and the heater bands alone brought the cylinder heads up to 60 degrees so I bonded the heater element on to the sump. I'll plug it in tomorrow to finish the adhesive cure and see what the extra 100W does to the temperature delta.

Have a great new year everyone!

Jim Sharkey
RV-6 Phase 1

Reiff Pre-Heater

I have the sump heater and bands on my O-360. I checked today and with no blanket over the cowl after heating overnight the temp was 45 degrees above ambient.

Low cost alternative

A low cost alternative to the Reiff sump heater: http://www.wolverineheater.com/

jsharkey said:

I fitted the Reiff heater bands a couple of days ago but it has been so king cold up here for the last few days that duct tape wouldn't stick and brass monkeys were wandering around looking for welders.

It finally warmed up to almost 30 degrees today and the heater bands alone brought the cylinder heads up to 60 degrees so I bonded the heater element on to the sump. I'll plug it in tomorrow to finish the adhesive cure and see what the extra 100W does to the temperature delta.

Have a great new year everyone!

Jim Sharkey
RV-6 Phase 1

Click to expand...

Adhesive is curing and heater pad is too hot to touch. We'll see what the overall delta T with cylinder and sump heaters is tomorrow.

jsharkey said:

Adhesive is curing and heater pad is too hot to touch. We'll see what the overall delta T with cylinder and sump heaters is tomorrow.

Click to expand...

OAT 27F
CHT 71/72/76/76
Oil Temp 60F - no flow just temp as measured at sensor in block

Good to go - trouble is we're in the middle of a storm and the field (1B8) has 10" of snow and accumulating - and the plow needs work

Jim Sharkey
RV-6 Phase 1

Hangar temp: 39 F

Oil temp: 76 F

CHT: 66 F

This is with an old style pad Reiff system on for about 12 hours (sump heater only). Packing pad over the top/sides of the cowl and intakes mostly blocked.

No doubt adding the CHT heaters would help but I see no reason to add them at this point. If the plane were outside I might.

Reiff standard system in an insulated hangar

OAT: -5F
Hangar betwen 15F and 20F (untill you open the door )
CHTs: 80F
Oil Temp: 85F

Inlets plugged and a heavy blanket on top of the cowl

Ron, what wattage is your old pad heater?

I do not know what the wattage is of my Reiff pad. I will check the website and/or email him to see if I can get answer. I am getting less temp increase compare to others in hangars.

Actually, I am not sure that I can state that it is a Reiff unit. I would have to find pictures or some positive ID.

As another person noted, oil temp is from the probe which is not in the oil. I probably should note it perhaps 30 seconds after engine start up. Regardless of the actual temp I use, the assumption is that the engine mass is above a good starting temp.