Recently had REIF preheat installed on my SR20. Went down to the airport this past Sunday and temps were around 35 degrees and windy. Plugged in the REIF and waited a couple of hours for the wind to subside. Pulled the plane out of the hanger, 15 seconds of prime, switched to boost, and she started as soon as I turned the key.
Recently had REIF preheat installed on my SR20. Went down to the airport this past Sunday and temps were around 35 degrees and windy. Plugged in the REIF and waited a couple of hours for the wind to subside. Pulled the plane out of the hanger, 15 seconds of prime, switched to boost, and she started as soon as I turned the key.
Can we assume your hangar is unheated?
What was the temp in your hangar?
Typically, when it is 35 outside, my unheated insulated garage is in the low 50’s.
Recently had REIF preheat installed on my SR20. Went down to the airport this past Sunday and temps were around 35 degrees and windy. Plugged in the REIF and waited a couple of hours for the wind to subside. Pulled the plane out of the hanger, 15 seconds of prime, switched to boost, and she started as soon as I turned the key.
Can we assume your hangar is unheated?
What was the temp in your hangar?
Typically, when it is 35 outside, my unheated insulated garage is in the low 50’s.
It is a large common, unheated, uninsulated hangar, and the door was open. I do not know what the temp was inside the hangar.
Can we assume your hangar is unheated?
What was the temp in your hangar?
Typically, when it is 35 outside, my unheated insulated garage is in the low 50’s.
Tom,
Another data point for you: I have had pretty easy starts on some 20 degree mornings, after overnight temps in the 'teens, when my Reiff system (sump and cylinder bands) had been plugged in all night; the airplane was in a large, shared, unheated hangar. I don’t know what the temps were, but the engine was nice and toasty to the touch.
On the other hand, there have been a couple of occasions when the temp has been 30 in the morning after overnight temps in the 20’s, when I plugged the Reiff heater in only 2 hours before I tried to start. On those occasions, the engine still felt cold to the touch, and the start was tough. I suspect that another 1/2 hour of ‘Reiffing’ would have made a big difference.
Mike.
PS - Pretty soon, I’ll be in a hangar of my own. Then I’ll be able to use a device I designed in a former (pre-retirement) life, which will let me monitor the temp in my hangar, the temp of the engine block, etc., from home. If the temp falls below some level, I’ll get an email or a page asking if I want to switch on the Reiff, or a small heater in the cockpit, or a big heater for the hangar. It will page me if anyone moves near the airplane, and forward me a digital photo of the inside of the hangar. In case you can’t tell, I love technology… er, toys.
PS - Pretty soon, I’ll be in a hangar of my own. Then I’ll be able to use a device I designed in a former (pre-retirement) life, which will let me monitor the temp in my hangar, the temp of the engine block, etc., from home. If the temp falls below some level, I’ll get an email or a page asking if I want to switch on the Reiff, or a small heater in the cockpit, or a big heater for the hangar. It will page me if anyone moves near the airplane, and forward me a digital photo of the inside of the hangar. In case you can’t tell, I love technology… er, toys.
Have you thought about marketing this???
Have you thought about marketing this???
Tom,
The device I’ll use is probably too expensive for most; I use it because I have it. It’s actually designed for the remote monitoring and management of mission-critical network equipment (like PBXs, routers, servers, etc.) By time I’m done, it will be about $3,000 worth of hardware, plus the cost of a phone line (or cellular service & cellular modem). For me, it’s an opportunity to combine three things I love - electronics, software and my airplane. That’s reason enough to do it; the features and benefits of the project are really just the excuse.
There are cost-effective devices available to take care of remote power-management for e.g. sump heaters and so on - one I saw recently used a pager. I’ll have lots of extra capabilities, but I’m not sure I could honestly say that they satisfy an actual need.
That said, when it’s all working, I’ll post details with photos.
Mike.
Have you thought about marketing this???
PS - As for marketing anything - I retired so that I could stop doing that! 
- Mike.
Have you thought about marketing this???
Tom,
The device I’ll use is probably too expensive for most; I use it because I have it. It’s actually designed for the remote monitoring and management of mission-critical network equipment (like PBXs, routers, servers, etc.) By time I’m done, it will be about $3,000 worth of hardware, plus the cost of a phone line (or cellular service & cellular modem). For me, it’s an opportunity to combine three things I love - electronics, software and my airplane. That’s reason enough to do it; the features and benefits of the project are really just the excuse.
There are cost-effective devices available to take care of remote power-management for e.g. sump heaters and so on - one I saw recently used a pager. I’ll have lots of extra capabilities, but I’m not sure I could honestly say that they satisfy an actual need.
That said, when it’s all working, I’ll post details with photos.
Mike.
After all the talk I see on this board for adding this and that to the SR20 (personally, I’ll be happy just to be able to afford the plane as is), it seems as though $3000 would be a drop in the bucket for many people.