Aerotherm RC Pre-Heat

[mulro767]

Anybody have any testimonials or feedback on this little gem?  It's expensive but sounds like a great product. I'm moving from Atlanta to Minneapolis and a remote control pre-heat system sounds very useful.  

Also, it looks fairly easy to make and I just saw someone post about a cellular relay switch.  Just hook that up to a hair dryer, some plastic flex hose and some sponge?  Feedback is greatly appreciated. 

Im already cold and I haven't even left GA yet.

[Hank]

You're a brave soul! Good luck!!

My Georgia soul is cold and I'm only in WV, but the plane has one of those glue-on preheaters on the oil pan, with a 3-prong plug by the dipstick. I just run an extension cord to it. It really only takes an hour, but with the weather we're having now [22º now, single-digit windchills] I like to plug it in the night before. I would not recommend, and do not, leave it plugged in all the time.

Best of luck to you and your plane!

[Cris]

You might want to copy this over to the original thread on pre heater switch but it appears to do exactly the same thing at three times the cost. BTW the Reiff or similar oil pan heaters are relatively inexpensive at $150 or so (more with the cylinder heaters) but you could throw your hair dryer into the mix on the occasion that you need to heat the cylinders. The Red Dragon propane heaters also work quite well if you do not have electric. IMHO in the end it has to be easy or you will not fly both literally & figuratively.

[Vref]

Just tested my DIY pre-heater today works great! Two 15$ heardryers mounted on a wooden board, connected with two 70mm flexible hoses with a length of one meter each. I run the hoses in the cowl flaps and in twenty minutes my engine and oil feels fine...;-)))

 

rgds

Luc