Preheating w a Reiff

[Natedawg]

My new tie down doesn't have access to commercial power I have a Reiff preheater installed. Is my only option to buy a generator? Thanks for the help everyone!

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

To use your Reiff ELECTRIC heating pads, I'd say you need a source of electricity of some sort. I've seen a generator used by a very dedicated pilot who would show up 3-6 hours early, start his generator and come back. His tie down was remote to any people who would be annoyed of a generator starting and running at 4am.

[DaveF]

A battery power station would do it. Unlike a generator, you could leave it in the airplane. For three hours at 150W you'd need at least a 500Wh unit? Lots of units can do that.

I don't know if any power stations have remote control, but you could turn it on and put the heater on a timer. There are the old-fashioned 24 hour light timers, and some with 7 day programming.

Not that I've actually done this, but seems like it would work.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

A battery power station would do it. Unlike a generator, you could leave it in the airplane. For three hours at 150W you'd need at least a 500Wh unit? Lots of units can do that.

I don't know if any power stations have remote control, but you could turn it on and put the heater on a timer. There are the old-fashioned 24 hour light timers, and some with 7 day programming.

Not that I've actually done this, but seems like it would work.

Dave I was going to get into a battery powered solution but decided there were to many variables and I didn't have the time to address them.

Let's start. A Reiff, Tanis or EX heat system can consist of many elements of various wattages. You would need to know the total wattage of your particular system. How long does it take to preheat depends on your system. Reiff has lots of information on their site.

For this discussion we will say the Reiff system installed on our C-145/0-300 is two 120v 100w pads on the oil sump. Our airplane is also in a hangar and we have an insulated cowl blanket, intake plugs and 8 qts of oil. This is pretty much Reiff's test conditions. Their table starts at 20°F and in 2 hours cylinder temp was 33°F and oil temp 80°F and that is warm enough to start. You can look at their chart to see the whole thing.

So 2 hrs minimum heat time 400 watts of power for a hangared airplane. I'm sure it will be longer not hangared. Lets consider two readily available options for power.

Harbor Freight Predator 350 says it can deliver 700wh if you believe their literature. Should be able to do at least the 2 hrs in our discussion system and a maybe a bit more. This power station will likely not be able to handle more that the 200w minimum preheat system. $200 https://www.harborfreight.com/350-power ... rYEALw_wcB.

At the other end of the spectrum is a Generac GB1000. 1086wh if you believe their literature. Should be able to do at least the 4 hrs with our discussion system and a maybe a bit more. This power station could be used with a preheat system of more than 200x but the total time heating would be reduced. $900 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Generac-160 ... =1#overlay.

You still have to figure out if you are going to turn it on yourself in person and wait or come up with a method to turn in on remotely. There are ways with various price tags. You could also use a simple timer if you knew when you were going to fly. You also have to figure out how to charge the power station after nearly ever use and then return it to the plane before its next use unless you are just going to plug it all in and wait before you fly.

I think it would be interesting to hear from folks that have actually used a battery power station to preheat and what preheat system wattage they have.

[DaveF]

Bruce, you're right. I was just suggesting Nate look at the battery option, I wasn't trying to design a solution. My Reiff is just the sump heat pad that draws 150W, and it only draws that when it's on (it cycles on-off to limit the pad temperature). For such a low power draw I think a power station could work.