Commander 112 (hard to stay warm)

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clafrenz

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clafrenz
recently started flying a Commander 112. Great airplane, however I am noticing significant cold air draft (flying in Michigan) coming from under the rear seats. There is such a draft that the aircraft heat system seems ineffective, and there is no hope for back seat passengers.

When I remove the backseat, there is an air vent to the exterior on the acft belly. I would assume that this is to allow for fresh air circulation and "pull" air out of the cockpit vs force air into the cock pit. Looks like previous owners had taped off the vent (on the exterior)...

Anyone have ideas? Thanks
 
Paging Bill Suffa... Please pick up the white courtesy phone.
 
Stuff a piece of foam under the rear seat. Or tape it off from the inside.


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tried taping it off from the inside (under the seat) however that did not work. I think the previous owners had the right idea by taping off the vent on the exterior bottom of the airplane. Will trying blocking it off with some foam fro teh inside... Just hoping someone else had a better idea... Any feedback on if other folks flying the 112 have similair issue?
 
A vent in the aft area will typically push air into the cabin - the skin gets close to the static pressure as you go aft, but the cabin is typically below static pressure (because it's the fat part of the airplane).

Consider the use of the handyman's secret weapon.
 
If you have that much of a draft, it's also adding drag. Where is it coming from? Can you seal it at the source?
 
The plan is to seal the vent at the source from inside the acft (this would be a temporary fix as it will need to be removed when the warm weather returns)

the vent is a metal mesh about 6-8" in diameter on the belly of the acft (in line with trailing edge of wing)

there is so much cold air coming in that the acft interior heater is not effective - especially for the back seat passneger
 
So on mine a wad of soft foam works well under the O2 tank. There is plastic under the seats themselves, so the air comes under the O2 tank.

YMMV

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I cut a piece of soft foam into a 6.25" cube a placed it into the vent under the rear divan(plastic piece under the seat) then reinstalled divan and rear seat. Some air still enters the vent at times, but not enough to matter and it doesn't have to be removed in the summer. I also reattached the mesh on top of the divan instead of beneath it as it was originally so that I only have to lift the rear seat to access the vent and change or remove the foam if needed.

As Bill said YMMV. My bird is a 112TCA so the divan has the vent cut into the plastic, some early 112s I've seen have the vent, but no access cut into the divan so air just flows under the divan and escapes where it can.

Steve
 
So I was able to limit the amount of cold air coming in through vent under the back seat, but it is still pretty cold in this airplane. It is like the cabin heat is ineffective. I heard that this May be a common problem with the 112. Any other thoughts would be great,
 
clafrenz said:
So I was able to limit the amount of cold air coming in through vent under the back seat, but it is still pretty cold in this airplane. It is like the cabin heat is ineffective. I heard that this May be a common problem with the 112. Any other thoughts would be great,
Click to expand...

Is this your plane or a rental?
 
In a partnership with 3 others (not a rental)
 
If you still feel like you are not getting enough heat then it is def possible that there is a issue with it . You could start by looking over the heat system and make sure all your hoses have no holes etc...

Hopefully it doesn't look as bad as this one...
 

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If the muffler's internal baffles are gone it will produce less heat. Just something to consider.
 
Thanks everyone. Hoses look good... Heat exchanger does not look bad.. Investigation continues. Will let you know what I find. May be a combination of poor design and a very drafty cockpit
 
Are you and your partners members at the Commander Owners Group?

http://www.commander.org/

Best source of Commander single info there is, and the people there are among the friendliest and most helpful I had ever met.

$75/year. A no-brainer.
 
You can insulate the hose with some fire blanket material, that will help some.
 
flyingmoose said:
If you still feel like you are not getting enough heat then it is def possible that there is a issue with it . You could start by looking over the heat system and make sure all your hoses have no holes etc...

Hopefully it doesn't look as bad as this one...
Click to expand...

That will buff right out!
 
clafrenz said:
Thanks everyone. Hoses look good... Heat exchanger does not look bad.. Investigation continues. Will let you know what I find. May be a combination of poor design and a very drafty cockpit
Click to expand...

Could be lots of things. What's your serial number? Hotshot?

Steve
 
Yes it has Hot Shot. Will have to get SN#
 
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