Tanis Heater

[mandm]

My plane has a tanis heater and I have never used it. The plane sits in a heated hangar, would you still plug in the Tanis heater prior to flying to warm her up more? Tanis FAQs on their website say ideally 6 hours 60F above ambient but that after just 2 hours it would be 50F above ambient.

 

[OneCharlieTango]

I preheat when it’s less than 40-ish degrees. If the heated hangar is warmer than that, I wouldn’t preheat.

 

[Clip4]

There is no reason to use a Tanis in a heated hangar. If you use a multi grade oil and expect an engine start with a cold soak of the engine less that 32°F, I would plug it in. If you are using a heavier oil, you need heat at a high temp.

 

[mandm]

I currently have mineral oil, would that be a lighter oil? I keep the hangar at 56 degrees but of course different areas are different temps. But the idea is it’s warmer than 32.

 

[flyingron]

My hangar never gets below 60. The only time I use the Tanis is when I'm away from home in colder weather. Amusingly, a while back I parked at Dulles overnight. I asked the line guy if he could either put it in their hangar or move it close enough to the building to plug in the Tanis. I showed up the next morning to find the Navion sitting lonely in the middle of monstrous hangar (they don't get much traffic there on the weekends) and the block heater plugged in.

 

[Rgbeard]

few people would call 56 degrees "cold" from a pre-heat perspective.

Unless your name is @RyanB