Engine oil heater question

[Alan Carroll]

A lot of the conventional wisdom on this topic seems to rely on speculation rather than actual data. Here's an exception:

http://www.reiffpreheat.com/Article-...Preheating.pdf

This author found that relative humidity inside the crankcase of a heated engine is considerably lower than that outside (ambient). This suggests that leaving the oil heater on subjects the engine to conditions not unlike a summer day in Phoenix (assuming use of a blanket and with oil filler open).

[Onewinglo]

Ken Sutton of the Twin Cessna Flyer association did a comprehensive study of pre-heating, which pointed to the need for dehydration.
Lots of imperial data.
http://nebula.wsimg.com/1fd3c69cbb20...&alloworigin=1

[Tankerpilot75]

I?ve learned a lot from the different opinions/wisdom/articles presented here on this subject. So what am I going to do?

1. Leave the Reiff heater plugged in for the rest of the winter season.
2. Loosen/remove the oil cap so moisture can vent from the engine (something I wasn?t doing before).
3. Cover the engine compartment to help the heat be retained so a more uniform /higher temperature level will be maintained.


Again thanks for everyone?s imput.

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by Tankerpilot75

I’ve learned a lot from the different opinions/wisdom/articles presented here on this subject. So what am I going to do?

1. Leave the Reiff heater plugged in for the rest of the winter season.
2. Loosen/remove the oil cap so moisture can vent from the engine (something I wasn’t doing before).
3. Cover the engine compartment to help the heat be retained so a more uniform /higher temperature level will be maintained.


Again thanks for everyone’s imput.

A couple more tips for continuous heating:

Plug the cowl openings behind the prop and

Fly your plane often.

[rv8ch]

Originally Posted by Onewinglo

Ken Sutton of the Twin Cessna Flyer association did a comprehensive study of pre-heating, which pointed to the need for dehydration.
Lots of imperial data.
http://nebula.wsimg.com/1fd3c69cbb20...&alloworigin=1

I'm always impressed with someone when they validate what I've already done!

Originally Posted by KenSutton

Summary:
So what have I learned from all of my efforts that will help me better manage the engine health of my C-310? Going forward I plan to:
? Preheat the engines before every flight in an attempt to get their temperature as close as possible to normal operating temperature. The GSM Auto cellular switch goes a long way to providing convenient and timely control to the engine preheating process.
? Use engine dehydrators when preheating to reduce the relative humidity and lower the dew point inside the engines.
? Use insulated engine cowl covers to increase effectiveness of preheating, and to more uniformly preheat all the engine components.
? Within 30-minutes of engine shutdown, begin using engine dehydrators to rapidly reduce the relative humidity inside the engines. Continue to run the dehydrators on the engines until the next time the engines are ready to be started. This will maintain a very low relative humidity environment inside the engines, protecting them from rust and corrosion even after the oil coating on those components has dripped back into the sump.
? Use an engine oil that contains an anti-corrosion additive, or use an anti-corrosion additive in the engine oil.