Suggestions for a Poor Man's Engine Pre-Heater

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JoseCuervo

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JoseCuervo
Any suggestions for cobbling together a redneck engine pre-heater for this week?

Expecting temps below 20 for daily highs.

Plane is stored in a large hangar with free electricity. The hangar has 6 planes, so don't want to heat the whole building, nor do I want to burn down the plane nor building.

Plane is a C182.
 
A 60 watt light bulb under the cowl and a blanket over the cowl works remarkably well. Not without a very small risk, however.
 
Just about anything that can maintain a gentle, steady heat in the engine compartment will work. Even the old put an (incandescent) lightbulb in the cowl and cover everything with a heavy blanket (old sleeping bags work great for this). The real issue with a lot of redneck solutions are the ones that apply a lot of heat only for a short time which really don't do much to warm the engine and may cause damage.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
A 60 watt light bulb under the cowl and a blanket over the cowl works remarkably well. Not without a very small risk, however.
Click to expand...



Can you describe "very small risk"?

This idea seems cheap and easy, but would like to understand the risks.


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flyingron said:
Just about anything that can maintain a gentle, steady heat in the engine compartment will work. Even the old put an (incandescent) lightbulb in the cowl and cover everything with a heavy blanket (old sleeping bags work great for this). The real issue with a lot of redneck solutions are the ones that apply a lot of heat only for a short time which really don't do much to warm the engine and may cause damage.
Click to expand...



I have time, plugging in the night before is attractive.

Where do you insert the light bulb?


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JoseCuervo said:
Can you describe "very small risk"?

This idea seems cheap and easy, but would like to understand the risks.


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Click to expand...
On the cherokee, I put a 100 watt bulb on the underside of the engine-ran it thru the cutout of the bottom cowl where the front wheel extends. The posssible dangers are leaking fuel and leaking oil.

It depends what airplane, where can you situate the light bulb to minimize possble danger.

As for the oil pan heater taped to the oil pan, again, depending on the airplane, you probably need to remove the cowl. Oil pan heaters are usually 100 watts, so remember NOT to use duct tape. Use aluminum tape. But whatever, you definitely need a heavy cover over the top,of the cowl - sleeping bag, moving blanket, etc.
 
JoseCuervo said:
I have time, plugging in the night before is attractive.

Where do you insert the light bulb?


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Click to expand...
Is there enough room to slide the bulb thru the cutout on the bottom of the cowl where the front wheel extends? Make sure the bulb is OFF. Only after positioned with no obvious obstructions, then turn it on. Just in case, you do NOT wNt a live bulb/glass exploding while you're working with it.
 
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I've got a Tannis, but if I were to do it in my plane, just inside the cowling door. As long as it doesn't touch anything and nothing drips on it, it's not going to be much different than any other heat source. Rough service bulbs or trouble light enclosures will guard against you inadvertently smacking it into something.
 
WalMart or such. Heavy duty medical heating pad. Install UNDER engine, perhaps through bottom of cowl. Heat rises. Doesn't have to be in intimate contact with engine. MOST IMPORTANT is to have a LOT of insulation (sleeping bag, furniture pad, etc.) on the TOP and SIDES of the cowl to hold the heat inside.

No risk of popping bulbs and setting fuel on fire. Heat is generated over a large area, not a spot source like a light bulb. Not enough heat? Get two pads. THree pads. Whatever.

Post pictures, please.

Jim
 
I wonder how well it would work to use an electric blanket (the kind you sleep under) over the cowl, and another blanket or sleeping bag on top of that.

It would be really easy. Not energy efficient because you're applying heat outside the cowl instead of inside, but the OP said the electricity is free, and it would surely raise the temperature inside the cowl at least some.

The only problem I can think of is the possibility of burning the paint, but if the blanket is intended to sleep under, I'd guess that's not very likely.
 
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I used to have an airplane that I could fit one 100W incandescent bulb (and unshielded trouble light base) into each of two exhaust stacks. I figured not much can burn in there and it made the engine toasty warm at minimal cost. A really thick old quilt on the cowl helped keep the heat in.
 
For a 100w bulb, heating pad, or dipstick heater, how heavy of an extension cord??

Probably 30-40' run.


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I bought one from aircraft heaters.com. Wasn't what I'd call cheap, but at least half the cost of installing a Tanis system. Basically a little heater with a fan and a thermostat. Keep the engine bay warm (with blankets and cowl plugs) but not too hot to touch with your hand.

Flew the aircraft on the coldest day this year, and had to leave it out for hours. Plugged in the little heater with cowl plugs, nothing more. By the time I got back to the airplane, the cowl was cold as ice (below freezing day with 20 knot winds). Airplane started right up, no problems.
 
JoseCuervo said:
For a 100w bulb, heating pad, or dipstick heater, how heavy of an extension cord??

Probably 30-40' run.
Click to expand...
100W is less than an amp. You aren't really going to have too much of an issue over 50'. Besides, the voltage drop isn't going to affect these devices.
 
Make sure you turn your fuel lever to off in case you get a fuel leak with these heaters.
 
Moving blankets at Harbor Freight are $9.

Heating pads at WalMart all shut off after 60-120 minutes.




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I wouldn't worry about it unless it's under 20f.

If you do need to preheat do what the others said, also be sure to keep that battery and gyros warm (little safety space heater will work wonders).

Cheap engine preheater setup

image.jpg


Watch out for frost.

Make sure your crank case breather tube has a few holes / slits in it to prevent this.

image.jpg
 
The Reiff hotstrip is a good device and isn't expensive by aviation standards. However, it does take a while to heat the whole engine.

One thing I've done to speed the process (if I didn't leave the Reiff on a timer) is to poke blow dryers through the cowl inlets to heat the engine. 2000W of hot air blowing across the cylinder fins, crankcase, and oil cooler can make a difference relatively quickly in 20F conditions.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
A 60 watt light bulb under the cowl and a blanket over the cowl works remarkably well. Not without a very small risk, however.
Click to expand...

We did that, in conjunction with a Tanis oil sump heater, in Iowa and Wisconsin. The light bulb and blanket alone should work fine if it's only going down to 20.

Or, alternatively, come stay at the hotel. You can stick your plane in my hangar for a case of Shiner Bock beer. Although we did have to wear long pants here today. :)
 
Two 40 watt bulbs in work lights, through cowl exit, with blanket on top. Redundancy and lower bulb temperature.
 
weirdjim said:
WalMart or such. Heavy duty medical heating pad. Install UNDER engine, perhaps through bottom of cowl. Heat rises. Doesn't have to be in intimate contact with engine. MOST IMPORTANT is to have a LOT of insulation (sleeping bag, furniture pad, etc.) on the TOP and SIDES of the cowl to hold the heat inside.

No risk of popping bulbs and setting fuel on fire. Heat is generated over a large area, not a spot source like a light bulb. Not enough heat? Get two pads. THree pads. Whatever.

Post pictures, please.

Jim
Click to expand...



This is exactly what I do...my useful load is so low, that I didn't want to install anything that would reduce it.
I just put a heating pad in the bottom of the cowl (on the inside of the cowl, under the oil pan, I just "jam it in there") and then put a sleeping bag on top of the cowl that drapes over the sides. I put a thermometer under the sleeping bag/above the cowl, and it shows a temp of 50 to about 70, depending on the outside air temp. This is in a hangar, of course. Best part is, the heating pad never gets so hot as to start a fire...I can handle it immediately upon removing it, and it is only hot but not "burning hot". I'd be afraid of a light bulb...that gets too hot.
Oh, I also use two old pillow cases to insulate the prop (my mechanic said the prop is like a heat sink).
Tim
 
Not a recommendation or suggestion, just information. Something that I've seen used after unsuccessful start attempts on a cold day - a clothes dryer exhaust hose from an auto exhaust into the cowl inlet. Produced an amazing amount of condensation dripping out of the cowling. It did get the engine running when it wouldn't start cold.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Or, alternatively, come stay at the hotel. You can stick your plane in my hangar for a case of Shiner Bock beer. Although we did have to wear long pants here today. :)
Click to expand...

One Christmas time my daughter was in the middle of finals at PSU and we decided it was best if I retrieved her from KUNV and went straight to IAD where we'd left a car to make it to my parents house with the minimum delay. Seeing how it was expected to be in the teens that night and we were planning an early departure I called Landmark (back when they still had some what of a clue) and asked if they could either put me in the hangar or move me close enough to the building and plug in my Tannis.

The next day I came to the FBO to find my plane sitting alone in the middle of this massive heated hangar...with the Tannis plugged in. Yeah, that works. I gave the line guy who did it a hefty tip.
 
Here's a pic of the blanket Mary made for Atlas (our old Piper Pathfinder) out of an old sleeping bag. It velcroed on and withstood even the strongest wind. It worked great, with our Tanis heater.

And, yes, that's the Basler ramp in Oshkosh, back in 2004. For those of you who only see it in the blazing hot summer during Airventure, it's shocking to know that it routinely gets down to -25 there in the winter.

c1dbe97b12630cf1fcdd5afc645e7228.jpg
 
Jay Honeck said:
We did that, in conjunction with a Tanis oil sump heater, in Iowa and Wisconsin. The light bulb and blanket alone should work fine if it's only going down to 20.

Or, alternatively, come stay at the hotel. You can stick your plane in my hangar for a case of Shiner Bock beer. Although we did have to wear long pants here today. :)
Click to expand...


What would be the point of staying at your hotel if the outside air temp was below 20F?

If I am on a beach, I better not be needing to preheat the airplane. :mad2:
 
Jay Honeck said:
And, yes, that's the Basler ramp in Oshkosh, back in 2004. For those of you who only see it in the blazing hot summer during Airventure, it's shocking to know that it routinely gets down to -25 there in the winter.
Click to expand...
I know, I bought my Navion in Watertown, about 50 miles due south of Oshkosh in February. I don't know how people live there. Must have to put prozac in the water supply.

The first thing the flight instructor helping me ferry the thing home on the test flight did is pull out the heat knob. When it got warm he said grab a gallon of hydraulic fluid and we should be able to make it.
 
Having a hard time finding medical heating pads that don't shut off after 120 minutes.



Any comments on using a dipstick heater?
11Ma%2BNQcgsL.jpg


It would only be plugged in the night before a flight, and would not be left on indefinitely.
 
JoseCuervo said:
What would be the point of staying at your hotel if the outside air temp was below 20F?

If I am on a beach, I better not be needing to preheat the airplane. :mad2:
Click to expand...

lol No worries -- it never gets that cold! The coldest we've seen in the 5+ years we've lived here is 30, and that was like "the end of the world" here. :rofl:
 
flyingron said:
I know, I bought my Navion in Watertown, about 50 miles due south of Oshkosh in February. I don't know how people live there. Must have to put prozac in the water supply.
Click to expand...

There's a reason Wisconsin is the #1 consumer of brandy, per capita. :yikes:

I lived there for 39 years, and often marvel at it. More amazingly, I marvel at my German ancestors who came half-way around the world, only to end up in a place that was even colder, damper, darker, and more depressing than home.

Not that Iowa was much better, but we got about 2 weeks more of decent weather there than in Wisconsin.

14 years there convinced me that an island in the Gulf of Mexico was a great idea. :lol:
 
JoseCuervo said:
Having a hard time finding medical heating pads that don't shut off after 120 minutes.



Any comments on using a dipstick heater?
11Ma%2BNQcgsL.jpg


It would only be plugged in the night before a flight, and would not be left on indefinitely.
Click to expand...
Downside of the dipstick heater is the oil is not circulating, so there's not much heating of the block or cylinders. Multiweight oils are designed to be flowing at low temps. What you are looking for is a warm block and cylinders, not only warm oil.
 
murphey said:
Downside of the dipstick heater is the oil is not circulating, so there's not much heating of the block or cylinders. Multiweight oils are designed to be flowing at low temps. What you are looking for is a warm block and cylinders, not only warm oil.
Click to expand...


I have a single weight AeroShell in the motor.
 
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