Engine preservation during storage

[pinerunner]

I contacted Mike Busch prior to having an operation and my plane was inactive for a while, I used Camguard and purchased an engine dehumiidfier air preservation system,it keeps the moisture out of the engine thereby keeping if from corrosion..

I use the storage/pickling oil and desicator plugs which you can purchase fairly inexpensively. They turn color blue to pink when they have absorbed all the moisture they can hold and therefore stop working. I have to take them out every 2-3 weeks and bake them (the silica beads inside, not the plastic) to get rid of the adsorbed moisture and rejuvenate them. So they wouldn't do the job just sitting and left for a year. An engine dehumidifier would be a great thing to have. Its pretty humid where I live and stuff left just sitting outside tends to rust.

[orionflt]

I made my own engine dryer for under $20 (pics in the gallery) but as stated you have to change out the desiccant every few weeks to keep it effective. Following the lycoming Sl (Service Letter No. L180B) for preservation will help extend the desiccant life but completely sealing the engine is the best way to preserve it. one of my friends sons is stationed down there with you and is getting ready to deploy, he is training to be a ranger. 

 

Brian

[isaacpr7]

I made my own engine dryer for under $20 (pics in the gallery) but as stated you have to change out the desiccant every few weeks to keep it effective. Following the lycoming Sl (Service Letter No. L180B) for preservation will help extend the desiccant life but completely sealing the engine is the best way to preserve it. one of my friends sons is stationed down there with you and is getting ready to deploy, he is training to be a ranger.

Brian

Orion,

I will take a look at your pics to see what I can make from the example. I did something like that with an engine preheater. They were selling them for about 600 but I built one for under 30 and it works great. It kept my engine compartment at 120 for the entire winter. As far as your friend's son, I will most likely be deploying at the same time he is. Maybe I'll have the privilege of carrying him in the back of my bird Infantry soldiers are some tough cookies. It is an honor to support them in combat.

[isaacpr7]

What was it? "The only helicopter that can have a midair with itself!"

Scouts Out!

LMAO! That one still does not get old; however, it has been more than a decade since they fixed that issue. We used to have the ability to disconnect both rotor heads independently of each other for maintenance purposes. If the maintenance crew did not install the pin properly it would come out in flight and both rotors would have a midair. After a few episodes of this nature it was modified so that you cannot disconnect the rotors independently anymore.

 

PS: I noticed your "Scouts Out" blurb at the bottom. Welcome to the Chinook community since most 58 pilots are transitioning to the 47 soon

[pinerunner]

I've got my preheater (Reiff) set up to to come on for a couple hours in the morning, when the dew is forming (we're near a river). I heard from our A&P/Inspector that during an overhaul of an engine where they had left the preheater on he had seen more corrosion than normal. That bothered me and one thing occurred to me; that aluminum propeller out front is like a big radiator. So while the crankcase and cylinders are warming up anything attached directly to the propeller (ie. the crankshaft) would lag behind at a lower temperature. Water vapor will tend to condense on the the coolest thing available. My mechanic friend answered that in fact he had seen the most corrosion on and around the front of the crankshaft.

 

So now I'm thinking of putting a blanket over the whole front including the prop and maybe giving the prop just a few watts with heating tape during dew time. I'm buying more desicant and rigging a bag up the exhaust and at the end of the crankcase vent. I think I'll also remove the intake filter and replace it with plastic and a mesh bag of desicant. Guess I'll need to seal the intake manifold vent too.

 

I can't wait to catch up on a couple debts and get my daughter to pay her own college loans so I can get out of "preservation mode" and start flying again.

 

I'm really appreciating this thread. 

[orionflt]

Instead of using an engine preheater I have been using a 100W light bulb in my engine cowl. since I started doing that I have never needed to preheat and my temps have stayed in the 50's even when it has been well below freezing outside. obviously this doesn't work if your parked outside or on the road, but that is rare for me. the nice thing about the light bulb is it keeps the temp consistent and lower the chance of condensation forming in the engine. hopefully my engine drier will handle the rest  

 

Brian 

[aaronk25]

I think your right and if you through a couple work our bed comforters on top of the cowl and insulate the prop so the crank isn't below the dew point you will be fine and probably in a more preferable situation vs no heat.......

[pinerunner]

One more note on what i've observed with my desicator plugs (in spark plug holes). They don't go from blue to pink in the same amount of time. The difference must be due to two of the cylinders having either an exhaust valve or an intake valve open giving a direct line to the outside. I've got to plug those holes. Unfortunately I work two states away from home and return to a list of chores made up by my wife and the result is small quick jobs on the plane tend to get left. Duct tape works but is a pain to take off.

 

I work with all kinds of tubing, plumbing, and fittings in the laboratory (analytical chemist LC/MS) so I pretty much know what I'd like to create but I don't know where to get the materials to make it.