How hot should my pitot tube get on a 182 with the heat turned on. My tube will get hot, but not uncomfortably so, after about 30-45 seconds of heat employed. What would be a reasonable temperature after a certain time?
On the ground, you should not be able to touch it nor want to. In the air I believe the spec is around 80 deg. Check the wiring for loose/dirty connections and see what the pitot heating element resistance is. For a 12v tube I think it should be around 2-4 ohms. Not a cheap thing to replace so best to make this one work if you actually need it.What would be a reasonable temperature after a certain time?
Check the wires. They're known to corrode especially at the tube end but be careful with connector at the tube.I can easily hold it
Just the flow of below-freezing air will cool it. Like you say, that heater has to be aggressive.Remember, it needs to be warm enough to keep it above freezing when being hit by water below freezing. It should be HOT. If you can grab it, it is not hot enough.
FYI: the only ops check I'm aware of for these type heat system is to turn system on and it should get warm to touch within X seconds which is usually 30-90 seconds. So yours passes the test.Crap...just back from annual in December