Suggestions for a Poor Man's Engine Pre-Heater

Bought this unit today and have a little more modification to do AND it is going to be 70 on Wednesday. Of course here in Central Texas I will use it about 3 times a year but for less than a 100 bucks I can have a happy engine.


JoseCuervo said:
Bought a "milk barn heater" from Lowes for $20.

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A couple of floor register ducts and some 4" x 8' flexible metal ducts.
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Sheet metal screwed the register ducts to the sheet metal on the heater.

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Then 3m metal foil taped the joints and gaps.


Did this on both sides of the heater for intake and output.

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Put both flex ducts into the front of the cowl.

Plugged in and heat started flowing. Now need to run for an hour and see how it works.

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This is one item for airplanes that I have seen most unusual ideas. The proper engine pre heating like a heating pad from EZ heat is not that expensive from aviation standards and it can be installed by most pilots under A&P supervision. Just get it installed and get done with it
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
We had 18°F on a flying day for me this week, I put my 10" box fan/heater under the cowl blowing onto the oil sump, and thick blankets on top of the cowl. ~90mins later the JPI said all temps 80-90°F!
Other tricks include an electric battery blanket, running the battery maintainer a few hours before dep time.

I do not miss keeping the battery and drained oil by the furnace at home before flights, the &@# frosted plugs, the homemade propane ignition-wire-melting undercowl heater, the tires buried in 3" of ice, the snow-encrusted top surfaces, the foam seats as hard & cold as ice blocks, the agonizing scream of gyros starting up, having to breathe into your jacket to keep the windows from frosting over; yay, Texas!
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Electric blankets are great in planes where where you can really open the cowl and expose the whole engine
 
Poor man's engine heater? Go to Walgreen's, Target, etc and buy a blow dryer. Ceramic heater, adjustable heat and fan, UL rated, all for about $15.00. No logbook entry required.

Re- whistle slots. Absolutely necessary in cold temps.
http://www6.landings.com/cgi-bin/get_file?pass=12345&ADS/1982/82-07-02.html

Here's the one I just did on my new project. Opposite how the FAA drew it. Drill a hole. Take a drift and insert into the hole and rotate the grip side up to collapse the upper part of the hole inward. That makes any drool drip into the tube instead of running down the outside. Keep the end of the breather above the cowl and out of the slipstream. That'll also reduce the oil haze on the belly. :)
 

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I built my own from a "milk barn" style heater listed earlier bought at Ace Hardware for $24, a horizontal dryer duct from Home Depot for $12, a 6' length of flexible dryer hose also from Home Depot ($9). Using some RTV and 4 rivets, I attached the duct to the heater and then slid the hose onto the duct and stuck the other end in the cowl. I also bought an indoor/outdoor timer (Walmart $17) that I can program to turn on the heater 4 or 5 hours before I show up to the hangar. So, around $60 into the whole thing and nothing is attached to the aircraft. A a "real" answer to the OP's "poor man" question.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I built my own from a "milk barn" style heater listed earlier bought at Ace Hardware for $24, a horizontal dryer duct from Home Depot for $12, a 6' length of flexible dryer hose also from Home Depot ($9). Using some RTV and 4 rivets, I attached the duct to the heater and then slid the hose onto the duct and stuck the other end in the cowl. I also bought an indoor/outdoor timer (Walmart $17) that I can program to turn on the heater 4 or 5 hours before I show up to the hangar. So, around $60 into the whole thing and nothing is attached to the aircraft. A a "real" answer to the OP's "poor man" question.
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Did you happen to see that the OP built a milk barn heater and posted pictures of it in the thread?
 
It was in response to all the suggestions of high dollar heaters more than answering the OP. After 10 or so replies I forget who the OP was however, I added the timer which makes mine mo bettah. Do you always speak of yourself in third person? You never answered someone's question if the return air tripped the thermostat in your set up.
 
Timbeck2 said:
It was in response to all the suggestions of high dollar heaters more than answering the OP. After 10 or so replies I forget who the OP was however, I added the timer which makes mine mo bettah. Do you always speak of yourself in third person? You never answered someone's question if the return air tripped the thermostat in your set up.
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Yes, frequently speak of myself in the third person. Shows objectivity.

No, the return air has never tripped the thermostat, and, I can't imagine it would be warm enough, efficient enough to do so.

You have a huge aluminum heat sink in there for the air to be cooled. My thoughts would be the return air, MIGHT be in teh 50-60degree range after much heating.
 
JoseCuervo said:
Any suggestions for cobbling together a redneck engine pre-heater for this week?

Expecting temps below 20 for daily highs.

Plane is stored in a large hangar with free electricity. The hangar has 6 planes, so don't want to heat the whole building, nor do I want to burn down the plane nor building.

Plane is a C182.
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Nothing to add other than... u must be in upped Midwest?

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I would recommend the EZ Heat thermostatically controlled oil sump heater - I've had it for 2 years, it will not overheat and it heats the whole engine compartment with cowl plugs and a blanket over the cowl even on the coldest days. Relatively inexpensive and easy to install. I use a cheap electric heater with a thermostat in the cabin to preheat the avionics.
 
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