Engine heater

[thebeerdedpilot]

I use this also along with a heavy blanket on the cowling and cowl plugs, seems to get the needle to start moving in about an hour or so. Easy enough to plug in the night before or in the morning, then go grab some breakfast before flying. I used to use a space heater with ducting going up into the cowling. That worked as well, but it took a bit longer and I didn't feel comfortable leaving it on while I was gone.

On the airplane I had, I applied an EZ Heat pad on the oil tank. Plug it in the night before you fly and good to go, assuming you have access to electric where the airplane is parked. The light bulbs work too, but not the new LED type bulbs, they don't produce enough heat.

E-Z HEAT AIRCRAFT ENGINE PREHEATER | Aircraft Spruce

[andya]

Is the heating pad applied and used on the oil tank/oil pan a log book entry?

[thebeerdedpilot]

Per the manufacturer, does not require a logbook entry.

Is the heating pad applied and used on the oil tank/oil pan a log book entry?

[dgapilot]

it is applied externally with adhesive. Not sure what the current instructions say, but i made a log book entry when i installed mine.

[JPerkins]

I have an engine blanket that lives on the plane starting now. When I pull it out to preflight I have an MSR camp stove I light up. Then I have an 8”-4” chimney reducer with 4’ of aluminum drier duct I set on top and stick the end of the duct hose in the cowl outlet beside exhaust stack.
You have to babysit it, but an hour of preflighting and answering questions as to where your going, how’s the flying etc. and the oil temps are up in the 60’s.
I saw the lightbulb trick all the time in Alaska. Don Lee at Alaska Floats and Skis uses a plain old hair drier. Turns it on, tucks it in the cowl, fastens the cover and goes in and sips a coffee for an hour.


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[Tnathan]

I have an engine blanket that lives on the plane starting now. When I pull it out to preflight I have an MSR camp stove I light up. Then I have an 8”-4” chimney reducer with 4’ of aluminum drier duct I set on top and stick the end of the duct hose in the cowl outlet beside exhaust stack.
You have to babysit it, but an hour of preflighting and answering questions as to where your going, how’s the flying etc. and the oil temps are up in the 60’s.
I saw the lightbulb trick all the time in Alaska. Don Lee at Alaska Floats and Skis uses a plain old hair drier. Turns it on, tucks it in the cowl, fastens the cover and goes in and sips a coffee for an hour.


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You post makes me feel better. Rather than a hair dryer I have been using a heat gun. And, down here in Maryland I can get 60 or so when it’s below freezing. I wasn’t comfortable potting somethig that purportedly can get to 1100F in the cowl and walk away. I am sure I would come back and see the thing in flames. I just stick it up the tail pipe and get some surprisingly good results on the gauges.

I just wanted to see what you all think since some of you are up in Alaska. Some pretty respectable guys like you up in harsh conditions are using light bulb for $5 and I got guys down here squawking they need a $1000 Wi-Fi enabled cowl heater.


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[Gilbert Pierce]

As DGAPILOT said, LED & CFL bulbs won’t work. They have to be incandescent.

[Tnathan]

As DGAPILOT said, LED & CFL bulbs won’t work. They have to be incandescent.

Of course, zero heat emitting lighting while efficient won’t serve this purpose.


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[akflyer]

I use these for preheating and they work awesome. Clean dry heat thats much better than the propane heaters. You can run a splitter on them and put some heat in the cabin to thaw it out and preheat it as well. I have them in the boat and enclosed trailer too.https://www.ebay.com/itm/32487422889...3ABFBMxNiegKZf

[smcnutt]

Lots of posts if you search for 'heater'.

For those of you using a plug-in sump heater, here's how we handle the cord when it's not in use.

Here's the homemade heater we made. We use that if we need to get the temperature up quicker because we didn't have the sump heater plugged in overnight.

The only reason I'm considering one of the cellular controlled on/off switches is we don't like the idea of leaving the sump heater on all winter. Therefore, we would need to go out to the airport the night before (or at least hours before) and turn it on. Then if plans change you still need to go out to turn it off. Seeing that the airport is 30 minutes (one way) that can scrub a lot of flights before they even start. Being able to switch it on/off from home has a value. Maybe not $1000 but you can make some of the homemade units for a couple of hundred.