Question Using an engine pre-heater on a piston engine

[Neal]

I have the Reiff engine pre-heater for my Lycoming IO-360. I realize it's probably not the best solution as I hear Tanis is the better option but I don't have much experience with this to offer an opinion, just what I heard, and Reiff is the only option offered by CubCrafters at my build time.

Knowing I had a cold morning launch last week, under 30F, I plugged in early in the week as I hoped to fly earlier but had to reschedule. I heard some time back that with Reiff, don't unplug it until ready to fly as there is the possibility of condensation if the engine is not run post heating. I'm curious what temps people use for when to pre-heat, can the Reiff be on too long or can it run continuous until the next flight opportunity? I have to say it worked well, when I got to the runup area there was no waiting for oil temps to rise, it was around 130 when I arrived at the runup. Otherwise it probably would have been 80-90 and had to wait 5-10 minutes for temps to go green for power over 1000 rpm.

I'd love to learn from others on what you use, when to use, how long to use, etc. regards to piston engine pre-heating.

 

[ve6yeq]

I too have the factory-installed Reiff system installed on my EX-3. In my research, this system appeared to be the best plug in system as it gave a more even complete heat to the engine and it has a separate pre-heat for the oil cooler. The only thing lacking appears to be a pre-heat for the constant speed prop as the oil pressure does not settle until I have completed a very slow cycling of the prop during the run-up. (Maybe I just need an insulated cover for the spinner / prop blades?)

Even with the cold weather, I am still running W100 + camguard so I have to make sure to pre-heat everything to the minimum oil temperature for W100 before starting. As the plane is parked on the ramp outside with thinner covers, it seems to need 6+ hours to warm up so I just call the FBO to plug in the extension cord either the night before if I plan to fly early, or when I wake up if I am flying later. If the weather forecast does not work out, I just call the FBO to unplug it. I will add a WiFi switch one of these days as there is WiFi coverage on the ramp.