What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

ISO Engine Preheat Product Recommendations

mikelupo

Active Member
Patron
I live in New England.
My newly acquired RV-10 engine does not have any preheat installed.
I can go to ACS and pay 1200.00-ish for an entire STC Tanis preheat kit.
Are there any preheat kits for Experimentals that people here on VAF prefer?
I did a minor search and didn't come up with any product recommendations.

Thanks in advance
 
The reiff unit is not as expensive ($665) and works great. I have a remote cell phone switch that i turn on 4 hours before (or the night before), and oil temps are in the 90s by the time I’m ready to fly.

Another option is something like this:
https://aerothermheaters.com/store
 
Last edited:
I have the EZ-Heat sump heating pad available from Spruce ($165). I have been using these on my RV-7 & J3 for a while now and they work great here in the Northeast, even in sub zero temperatures.
 
I put two 250 Watt oil pan heaters on my 540 ($30 each from amazon) and it heats the oil nicely. If you put a blanket over the cowl and plug the cowl inlets, will easily warm the whole engine as well, even in the midwest winters.

My cheap heaters don't have thermostats, so you need to have an external timer. For around $70, you can get the heaters with thermostats built in. Thiey wlll maintain around 180*

Larry
 
on a jabiru 3300 i had 350 watts of stick on heaters. it's true they have no thermostat but at some point on every installation heat in equals heat lost. on the jabiru 350 watts will raise the temp 70 degrees from outside air.
 
I have a Reiff Turbo XP...cylinders and sump. It's outstanding, engine is nice and toasty after about 4 hours. This is Minnesota and we take airplane pre-heating seriously, I'm told. The heater is on a Switcheon, so readily available via the cellphone/iPad app. Compared to the others on the market, the Switcheon is very cost effective at $199 which includes the first years cell service ($50/year). I also run a dehydrator and a float charger. And a blanket.
 

Attachments

  • plugged in.jpg
    plugged in.jpg
    464.7 KB · Views: 87
Last edited:
Thanks everyone. I just ordered a Turbo-XP Reiff preheat system. Way cheaper than Tanis and I like the way they run their business. Aviators serving aviators.
I also like they way they attach to the cylinders rather than the cylinder head.
 
Another Reiff fan

I've used the Reiff system with cylinder bands and oil sump pad in Alaska and Northern Alberta. They've worked great for many years. As mentioned earlier plug the cowling inlets and throw a moving blanket over the cowl if you don't have an insulated cowling cover for quick results.
 
I have the Reiff on both the IO-540 and IO-390. It works great, and is a simple install. I had Tanis on a certified plane before, but that fit into the CHT probe holes, which forced me to use spark plug gasket CHT probes. I much prefer the Reiff's cylinder bands.
 
Ditto on Reiff. Turbo XP on our O-360, plus a good custom-fit Thinsulate engine blanket from Aero-Covers. Power is controlled by a simple wifi-enabled switch connecting through a cellular data modem. Fantastic setup.

I limit my dispatch temperatures to -20C but prefer not to fly below -15C simply to increase survivability margins should we be forced down. I turn the preheat on before going to bed and the oil temp is above 100F in the morning. The Reiff system is thermostatically controlled so it won't over-temp.

BUT, and this is a big BUT... There is one poster here who has posted having had poor customer service from Reiff on a heater that was installed on an aircraft he purchased. The heater elements essentially fried because the heat they were producing was not being conducted to the oil sump. It takes only the most amateur eye to see the heat pads were not correctly bonded to the engine oil sump. Reiff chose not to replace them under warranty since they were so clearly not installed in accordance with their (simple) installation instructions. Like any bonded-in-place heater pad, one has to follow the instructions and get the pads properly bonded so the thermally-conductive adhesive allows all the heat to move from the heater element to the oil sump.

It's really not that difficult to do - use acetone or similar strong degreaser to get the sump clean, then abrade with aggressive sandpaper (I used 60 grit) to remove the paint in exactly the areas to which the elements will be bonded. Clean again with an aggressive degreaser and bond the elements in place. Follow manufacturer's instructions for curing the bonding agent. It really, really is not rocket science.

While the one poster on this forum is unhappy with Reiff's service it's clear he inherited a terrible installation when he purchased the aircraft. It's hard to understand how it's Reiff's fault that the pads were so poorly installed. In a similar situation, if I were the manufacturer I'd be strongly inclined not to provide warranty service for a clearly out-of-warranty condition. They're a small family-owned business and I've found them a real pleasure to do business with.
 
I'd second that on good service. When I installed my system a month ago on the new IO-540, it was easy to do, but while routing wires I pulled too hard on the thermostat wire and broke the pin off. They offered to send me a brand new thermostat even though I could get by with just pins. After asking WHY about the thermostat, I decided to just not use it.

The deal on the thermostat is it's designed to cut out at 190F. The thing is, even with 2 pads on the sump and high powered cylinder bands, you won't hit 190F in the winter. You'll never get over maybe the 140's even with a blanket on the engine. The only reason they sell and include the thermostat is that some customers balked and demanded it, so they throw one in. My other plane had the same system but with hotter bands and didn't have a thermostat and has been fine, so I decided just to peel it off and leave it.

Anyway, they would have gladly sent anything I needed. Good folks.
 
Back
Top