Engine Heater

Groundpounder

Groundpounder

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Emerson Bigguns
The new airplane doesn't have an engine heater in it, so we want to install one. Any particular models better than others? We have an IO-520, FWIW.

The Reiff Turbo XP seems to have the most wattage. Do we need an oil cooler heater as well? The plan is to have the airplane in a hangar next winter, so this won't be something we need to use every time we fly.
 
An oil cooler heater? I've never heard of such thing so I had to go look at Reiff's website. Did you read what they said?

I have a Tannis which I was happy with. It has heaters on each cylinder (in my configuration they are mounted to the cylinder flange using a narrower bolt that passes through one of the rocker cover screws). That is augmented with two heaters placed on the case (sump). If you give it 4 hours to work everything is nice and warm.

The question, since you seem to be outside, is how are you going to power the thing? None of these heaters really is worth a damn unless you turn them on well in advance of cranking the engine.
 
Groundpounder said:
The new airplane doesn't have an engine heater in it, so we want to install one. Any particular models better than others? We have an IO-520, FWIW.

The Reiff Turbo XP seems to have the most wattage. Do we need an oil cooler heater as well? The plan is to have the airplane in a hangar next winter, so this won't be something we need to use every time we fly.
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Oil pan heater, not cooler. Tanis and Reiff are the two main players. Both assume you have electrical power handy.
 
flyingron said:
An oil cooler heater? I've never heard of such thing so I had to go look at Reiff's website. Did you read what they said?

I have a Tannis which I was happy with. It has heaters on each cylinder (in my configuration they are mounted to the cylinder flange using a narrower bolt that passes through one of the rocker cover screws). That is augmented with two heaters placed on the case (sump). If you give it 4 hours to work everything is nice and warm.

The question, since you seem to be outside, is how are you going to power the thing? None of these heaters really is worth a damn unless you turn them on well in advance of cranking the engine.
Click to expand...

We’ll power it by plugging it into electricity.
 
It is indeed an oil cooler heater.

FWIW I have the 100W HotBand XP System from Reiff on my O470. On 0*F days without an engine blanket I saw about 80*F oil temp and CHT. With an engine blanket I saw about 120*F. And that's all with cylinder heat only, no oil pan heater or oil cooler heater.
 
Just went through this process. I park outside in the cold but have electricity. If you have electricity and can leave the plane plugged in, I can’t more strongly recommend a Switchbox and either a Tanis or Reiff system - the combination will make your life so much better.

I installed the Reiff Turbo XP system and it cooks. I can decide to go flying, text the switchbox, and in about 45 minutes have reasonable CHTs for startup. If I leave it on overnight, even when it’s 15 degrees out, my CHTs will be reading 140* and I’ll need to essentially hot-start the engine. I don’t mess around with a blanket, just cowl plugs. It has made those cold start mornings far less stressful and I’m seriously rethinking the need to spend any money on a hangar - as long as I have electricity.

PS -TKS fluid in a weed sprayer does a great job with morning frost.
 
I have the top shelf Reiff kit on my Lance and it works well, very well. Like , I could fire it up and take off immediately on a snow day. Oil temps around 140 after starting.

Did I mention it works very well?
 
I have the Reiff on my airplane ,works great.
 
I have Reiff xp system and it’s awesome. I live in ND, and I fly in winter. Nuff said
 
Older Tannis on a O-470. Heat to the top of each cylinder and oil pan. Works great. I can remote start it via cell phone app and 4G hotspot (which ironically didn't freeze this winter). @WannFly's coldest start (with pre-heat) beats mine but Fargo people are just weird :)

If I was installing a new engine heater I would also be looking at the engine monitor I have (or plan to have) so that the cylinder heat system doesn't conflict the cylinder temp probes.
 
I have the Twin Hornet 22, www.aircraftheaters.com. Works great in Northern Virginia winters. I also cover the cowl and prop with blankets my wife sewed up.
 
I've got the Reiff Standard System on the Mooney, and we installed the Reiff Standard System on the club's DA40 and old 182 as well. Never a problem with any of them, and the Reiff doesn't go into the temp probe ports on the cylinders so you don't need to worry about engine monitor compatibility.

With just a set of cowl plugs, the engine compartment gets toasty warm. I put a blanket on top of the Mooney's cowl to help keep the temps inside more even.
 
I have the Reiff standard (cylinder bands and sump) and it works great. For me the XP version would be overkill because I can plan for the 4+ hours it needs to warm up on a cold day. Normally I just set the WFI switch to start at midnight and by morning the engine oil temp says about 80F at start up. A sleeping bag on cowl for cold days near 0F helps it get plenty warm.
 
What does Switchbox, its connection (and anything else it needs to function) cost for 4 months?
 
I just have a 250 or 275w oil sump heater, wrapped up I have oil temp on start up and the entire engine compartment is in the 80s... not as fast as the reiff or tannis but If you can turn it on a solid 8 hrs or more my cylinder heads think it’s July... with oilsump only the insulated cover is all the more important so the whole engine gets warm...
 
Unit74 said:
A few bucks on the data card, extension cord, plus the actual Switchbox.
Click to expand...

Fairly overpriced for what it does. @sinister did his setup in less than half the cost.
 
I took a $20.00 heater like my secretary used to keep her feet warm in the winter while she wore Sandle’s,:rolleyes: and a piece of dryer hose to pipe the heat into the engine compartment and keep it turned on all the time during the winter months. Works great!
 
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