pre-heat

[Dan L]

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I used this Coleman propane SportCat catalytic heater as an engine heater with my previous PA-18. With the Super Cub and the easy-to-access engine cowl doors I would slip it in next to the oil dipstick, close the cowl up and slide on the engine cover. But with the cowl on the Carbon Cub it isn't that easy. The solution in the images seems to work. This is the same SportCat heater that I adapted to a 6" to 4" duct reducer. And the actual duct is an aluminum clothes dryer vent.

I also installed an electric heating pad on the engine but electricity isn't always available, like when I'm here at the cabins:

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I'm looking forward to winter and putting the skis on the Carbon Cub for the first time.

[Centmont]

Dan: I'll be ready for a PIREP when you have used this. Ralph

[RanRan]

Really cool idea. Say it's 15 degrees out - how long would it take to pre-heat the engine?

[Dan L]

Really cool idea. Say it's 15 degrees out - how long would it take to pre-heat the engine?

I'm not sure you could bring a cold-soaked engine up in temperature enough to call it pre-heated with this little heater. I don't think it has enough BTU output to do it. I've used it in the past to maintain engine warmth after shutting down and putting on the cowl blanket. Using it like that with the Super Cub I've seen oil temps the next morning in the 60's - 70's with outside temps at or below zero. When I took the picture of the Cub in the first post it was around zero and colder yet the next morning. As I remember, a full bottle of propane lasts about 10 hours.

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Here's the Cub the next morning on the same trip. It looks cold and it was. This is about 4000' elevation and right on the border.

And using it like shown with the Carbon Cub there is going to be some additional heat loss through the aluminum dryer vent leading up to the cowl.

Once it gets cold and I try it out I'll post a report.

[Clay Hammond]

Can you wrap the dryer vent with some sort of thermal insulator? Exhaust header wrap maybe? I bet someone crafty enough could fabricate a cowl blanket that fully wrapped around that thing too and snapped or velcro'd together.

[Ndill]

That looks like the perfect setup for someone who lives south of I-40 who needs a way to pre-heat their motor during the cold snaps in the winter but doesn't need a full engine heater.