Pre heater question

airslo

I have the heater pad on my oil tank. I normally plug it in the night before, wrap the cowling with sleeping backs and in the morning my oil, crank and even cylinders are worm to the touch,not hot, but definitely warmer.

I see there is a debate on leaving it plugged in all the time. That doesn't seem right to me though I wish it was ok, it would prevent the trip to the airport the night before...

Any thoughts?

Kentwkalb

There are remote options..ie..via cell phone app, to turn on the warmer. I have seen such a set up on the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association forums...

Scott Sherer

Don't leave it in all of the time as water vapor can condense and cause rust and corrosion. While you can get all kinds of timers and remote switches, I just come two hours early, plug it in and go to McDonalds for hotcakes and sausage. I'm back and I have no issues starting the engine. Let your engine idle for ten minutes or so until the oil is warm and flowing easily around the engine. If you throttle up while the oil is too cold, you'll wind up making metal. Not a good thing.

MTjb82

I put a WiOn remote outlet in my hangar that I can turn on from my phone anywhere. Works great so far! The only downside is you have to have Wifi in your hangar for the outlet to connect to.

Scott Sherer

Hi Jeff, you're lucky that you have it, nice job!