It’s colder than it’s been here forever, so is there any fire danger in using a 60 watt bulb to pre-heat? Don
I’ve wondered about using a simple light bulb to keep the engine warm too, but since my hangar has no power it’s purely an academic question for me.
But if I did have power, I wouldn’t hesitate to try it. I don’t think too much heat would be an issue, and using a “trouble light” (with a cage around the bulb and a hook on top) would give you a way to hang it under the engine and reduce the probability of a broken bulb or short.
Don,
I imagine the fire danger is low, but the utility is probably equally low. When you first fire up a cold engine, the aluminum pistons warm and expand more rapidly than the steel cylinders, which raises the ugly specter of cylinder scuffing. This can be avoided by preheating the cylinders, which will heat the pistons by conduction. My concern is that it would be difficult to place a 60-W light bulb so that its radiant heat would be adequately distributed to all of the cylinders.
The other concern is that of getting the crankcase/crankshaft bearings up to a reasonable temperature. Warming the cylinders alone with a light bulb may not help very much.
If it were me, I’d probably blow $25 or so to get the FBO to pre-heat the engine for me. À chaque son propre goût!
Cheers,
Roger
We have used two trouble lights with 100W bulbs to offer a little heat under our SR22. It definately seems to IMPROVE starting. I said improve - it is still VERY difficult to start when it gets much below 40F.
It is also interesting to see the thin spots in the gelcoat / fiberglass at night. The light inside the cowl makes it obvious where there are differences in the lay-up.
Joe: I am out here in California so my only experience with preheat is on occasional trips to the land of snow and ice!
I think if I lived where you do I would look seriously at the band heaters for the cylinders and a sump heater for the oil sump. For power I would look at the 1000 watt Honda generator. I think there is one that weighs about 29 pounds with a 1000 watt rating. I am not sure exactly what the combined draw for 6 band heaters and one sump heater would be but I think it may be under 1000 watts.
You would then have the advantage of removing the fuel from the generator and taking it with you for preheat elsewhere. I am reasonably sure the generator will run just fine on 100LL.
You could make a modification to a fuel tester to draw enough 100LL to fill the generator at your destination. If you run the generator exclusively on
100LL you should be able to put the clean dry fuel back in the aircraft tank once the engine is preheated.
You might find some other uses for the generator as well.
In reply to:
If it were me, I’d probably blow $25 or so to get the FBO to pre-heat the engine for me.
Hmm…this doesn’t sound like the cheap b**tard we all know. [;)] Could there be yet another identity change in the offing?
Hmm…this doesn’t sound like the cheap b**tard we all know. Could there be yet another identity change in the offing?
Michael,
You’re right — it was a momentary lapse. I’m now back to my usual http://www.toonopedia.com/scrooge.htmScrooge McDuck-type personality.
Cheers,
Roger
That’s more like it…Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose!
In reply to:
It is also interesting to see the thin spots in the gelcoat / fiberglass at night. The light inside the cowl makes it obvious where there are differences in the lay-up.
Yikes! This sounds like something maybe I DON’T want to see. It reminds me of the advice about doing emergency engine-failure landings at night. As you approach the ground, turn on the landing light. If you don’t like what you see, turn it off!
Tim
Does anyone know what the temperature must be before the manufacturer recommends pre-heat? I know pre-heat makes for nice easy starts, but I seem to recall a Lycoming article once that said pre-heating above 20-25 degrees F was not necessary…ie, no meaningful engine wear occurs above that temp. with cold starts. Is my memory correct on that? What does Continental say?
I think if I lived where you do I would look seriously at the band heaters for the cylinders and a sump heater for the oil sump. For power I would look at the 1000 watt Honda generator. I think there is one that weighs about 43 pounds with a 1000 watt rating. I am not sure exactly what the combined draw for 6 band heaters and one sump heater would be but I think it may be under 1000 watts.
TCM cautions against preheating for too short a period says the engine mounted heaters require a minimum of 5 hours (maximum of 24 hours). I certainly wouldn’t want to get to the airport 5 hours early so I could start my generator and then wait with it. I suspect running the generator unattended is a bad idea (I think that is what happened when a row of hangars at GAI burned down).
What does Continental say?
20 degrees F and below requires preheat.
I live in cold country and even before I bought my plane I decided to put on cylinder band like heaters(Reiff) and their accompanying sump heater combo. They work great with a cowling blanket. At O’ F, heaters on for four hours, all the cylinder temps(edm 700) read 65-70. Oil temp same.
It is easy enough to have the local FBO plug it in for you prior to your flying, but can be cumbersome if you fly early or at odd hours. Alternatively, one can buy a “beeper box” (Mountain High Technologies) that turns on remotely via a pager in the “box”. The latter is what I did and it works well and gives me more control of engine heating on and off. Cost isn’t bad considering the mental grinding one does worrying about starting cold soaked engines.
I would like to know more about this “beeper box” methoed , including cost. You can post it here or email me at sekharan@netexpress.net
Thank you in advance.
Raj
Raj,
http://www.reiffpreheat.com/Beeper%20Box%20pg%201.htmClick here for information on the “RS Beeper Box” from Judith Mountain Technologies.
Here’s a proposal: Whenever anyone discusses a non-standard product (one that doesn’t come with your Cirrus), how about including a web link to that product? This will save lots of back-and-forth requests for information.
Cheers
Roger
What is the advantage of these cylinder band type heaters, which seem to take hours, over the propane blower type, which takes 15 minutes and requires no power plug? Is it concern about the hot air on composites, etc?
What is the advantage of these cylinder band type heaters, which seem to take hours, over the propane blower type, which takes 15 minutes and requires no power plug?
The propane heaters (which do require a plug) need a minimum of 30 minutes (according to TCM). The Northern Companion which runs on 100LL does not require a plug, but probably requires an hour or more.
A review in the March 2001 Aviation Consumer (subscribers click http://www.aviation-consumer.com/archives/31_3/misc/5044-1.htmlhere) compared various methods of pre-heating, including propane heaters. They concluded that the Red Dragon propane heater gets the cylinders plenty warm, but doesn’t do much to raise the temperature of the oil.
One advantage of the cylinder band heaters is that you can plug them in and walk away. If I am going to fly in the morning and I expect the temperature to be below 40 degree F (4 degrees C), I plug in the heater the night before. The heater is thermostatically controlled, so it will not overheat.
The next morning, the engine and engine compartment are toasty warm.
-Mike