Cold Weather (Winter) Kits

[Frank Brunot]

Does anyone know if there is a cold weather kit for the PA24-180? I have a FULL plate covering the oil cooler, but at 5000' and -20C, the oil temp is BARELY in the green. My A&P showed me some Cessna-180 baffles (plates) that screw on to the front of the cowling and cover about 1/2 of the cowling openings each side of the prop. Does Piper have such an animal?

[Zach Grant L1011jock]

[Frank Brunot]

Thanks, Zach. The water condensation in the oil is exactly what I was worried about. Maybe I'll try some longer ground run-ups to raise the temp enough to boil it out.

[Zach Grant L1011jock]

Frank,
Ground runs don't help, in fact they do more damage than good. If the aircraft sits, there will be some condensation due to the natural heating and cooling, but not that much. If you warm the engine in a ground run, and then put it away, the moisture is still there as it has not had time to evaporate, you have circulated it throughout the engine, and when the engine cools it attracts more moisture through internal condesation as it cools. Given an avenue, the moisture will evaporate. I suggest opening the oil fill/dipstic after flight to let the steam out vertically (don't forget to close prior to flight). The breather by design returns some condensate back to the crank case. Flying the aircraft allows a greater time, greater oil circulation and greater air circulation, thus getting the maximum moisture extraction for a given temp.
-Zach

[Frank Brunot]

Again, thank you Zach. I had in mind a longer ground run BEFORE flight. From reading articles AGAINST leaving the engine block heater plugged in all winter, I'm aware of the damage that partial heating and condensation can do.

But removing (loosening) the oil filler cap after flight is a great idea! I'll remember to do that after each flight.

Thanks again.

[MULEFLY]

Frank

I probably can't find the EAA article... but there was one in the last couple of years about how to treat your engine nice ... Some vendors have picked up on this and now offer engine "dehumidifiers" that cost $400 to $600 to do that.

The EAA article proposes a device made from a 2 liter pop bottle, a 1# bag of stuff that is used to dry out flowers (from Michaels) a aquarium pump and some tubing, a couple of humidity sensors

You can assemble such an item for less than $20.00 and still drink the soft drink that came in the 2 liter pop bottle.

I have purchased the kit for two of these... when I land and put the airplane in the hanger... the dehumidifiers are plugged in and inserted in the oil filler tubes.

It is easy, it is "cheap" (hate that term as I am not cheap) and I believe that it puts very "dry air" into your engine...

All the best!
Jim

[Frank Brunot]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the input. I vaguely remember that article. I'll try to see if EAA has an Index of past issues and find it.