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Anti-Splat "NEWS"! Engine Pre-Heater

PerfTech

Well Known Member
----We now have our latest new quality product "No Hassle Engine Pre-Heater" up on our website and available to ship now before the really cold weather hits. This is introductory priced for Christmas, along with a XMAS 10% coupon on it, and your entire order of A.S.A. parts and accessories until January second of next year! Please have a look at this product and its installation on our website. Should you have questions or concerns on this or any of our products, and services please give us a call so we can address them. We at A.S.A. would like to say, Thank You! and wish all of our friends and fabulous customers here at the V.A.f. a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you and yours.-:D
 
Is it your suggestion to run this heater 24/7? During field testing what engine temp was observed after the heater was able to stabilize temps?

The price and ease of installation is certainly attractive.
 
Is it your suggestion to run this heater 24/7? During field testing what engine temp was observed after the heater was able to stabilize temps?

The price and ease of installation is certainly attractive.

--- Hello Sam
--The average temperature rise reported back to us, was in very cold areas they saw an average of 75f degrees of rise. This heater is very efficient, and some let it run all the time in their hangar, and others used timers, cycling every day.
It appears the cycling had no effect on reliability over the course of the testing. Thanks for your question. Happy Holidays, Allan:D
 
Does that take the place of the oil drain plug?

---- No! Most Lycoming oil sumps have two or three oil drain plugs, depending on the aircraft they are used in. You just remove one not being used, replace it with the new unit, and route the wire & plug up to the cowl inlet or oil filler door for access. Thanks for the question, Happy holidays, Allan-:D
 
--- Hello Sam
--The average temperature rise reported back to us, was in very cold areas they saw an average of 75f degrees of rise. This heater is very efficient, and some let it run all the time in their hangar, and others used timers, cycling every day.
It appears the cycling had no effect on reliability over the course of the testing. Thanks for your question. Happy Holidays, Allan:D

Do you have any estimate on the average rate of temperature increase? If I plug it in and then go get some pizza, will it raise it 20F in a hour? 40F?
 
Do you have any estimate on the average rate of temperature increase? If I plug it in and then go get some pizza, will it raise it 20F in a hour? 40F?

It says it's about 250 watts, so making some assumptions you can use this calculator to see it will probably take about 1 hour to get it from 0c to 20c, if I assumed right. :D

https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/water-heating

My assumptions were that you have about 5 liters of oil, oil has a heat capacity of about 1/2 that of water, 50% efficiency of the unit, since some of the heat will go to the engine.

In most of the US this will cost about $40/month to keep running 24x7. About 2x that where I live, assuming about $0.20 USD/KWH and $0.40 USD/KWH respectively.

Apologies if my calcs are bad - still on the first cup of java!
 
I was one of the test dudes

Last winter I was one of the guys who tested the oil plug heater. It did a great job heating the oil from outside temp around 10 degrees F to if I remember 85 or 90 leaving it on overnight. If I put a sleeping bag over the cowl it would heat it up to 60-70 on about 2 hours. I have been too lazy to take my cowl off yet this winter to put it back in but next oil change in about 2 weeks, I will reinstall it.

I just got the Switcheon and think it is perfect to turn the oil heater on about 3 hours before I want to fly. I am not comfortable leaving any heater on all the time so the switch works perfect.

I also use a small box heater blowing into the intake to heat the top of the engine. I have no factual reason to do this but my thought was heating the top and bottom would reduce condensation at the top. It is probably poor logic but it works for me.

As cheap as Allan is selling these it is hard to see a reason to not get one if you live where it gets real cold. I’m going to check my truck and tractor to see if they fit. I had 2 of those rubber pad heaters fall off even after I went to crazy lengths to stick and silicone them on. I can’t imaging a pad heater falling off and landing on the cowl. With this, that is not an issue.
 
A great idea and so simple, just one problem for us in the UK, it runs on 120 Volts AC we run 240 Volts AC so it wont work, are there any plans to release a 240 Volt variant?
 
I won't need one where I am but have a question.

During any of the testing and/or validation, was an "coke" observed in the oil or on the unit?

The heat xfer drops off quickly if that happens but is actually good because it limits the amount of byproduct that could get loose in the system. Going off of the pictures and having to make some assumptions but the watt density is pretty close to the limit; which is good if you stay below it.

If the above is validated, this appears to be a very elegant product. My compliments to the originators.
 
A great idea and so simple, just one problem for us in the UK, it runs on 120 Volts AC we run 240 Volts AC so it wont work, are there any plans to release a 240 Volt variant?

They make travel voltage convertors that you could use. I bought this one for a trip last summer.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R2JMHQR/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AWZ3LXPHZK09&psc=1

It says it's about 250 watts, so making some assumptions you can use this calculator to see it will probably take about 1 hour to get it from 0c to 20c, if I assumed right. :D

https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/water-heating

My assumptions were that you have about 5 liters of oil, oil has a heat capacity of about 1/2 that of water, 50% efficiency of the unit, since some of the heat will go to the engine.

In most of the US this will cost about $40/month to keep running 24x7. About 2x that where I live, assuming about $0.20 USD/KWH and $0.40 USD/KWH respectively.

Apologies if my calcs are bad - still on the first cup of java!

Thanks for this. That is a good enough SWAG for me. Average highs in Denver are about 40F in December and January, although oil temps lag that after sitting in a metal box all night. Plugging it in and heading to lunch are perfect for my needs. I don't pay directly for electricity at the hangar, but I don't want to waste any energy if I can avoid it.
 
I don’t have factual data but I have one I installed and having it on for an hour when temps in the hangar were 55 the oil temp at start up was 78. I had hotter oil temps before but don’t recall how long I had it on. But it’s easy to install and it works great.
 
Looks like a nice product for pre-heat.

I would not leave it on all the time. Corrosion rate rises with temperature.
 
If I understand correctly, the major issue with a cold start is piston/cylinder scuffing due to the different expansion rates of aluminum and steel as the engine warms up.
Does this heater manage to warm the cylinders and pistons via the oil?
 
If I understand correctly, the major issue with a cold start is piston/cylinder scuffing due to the different expansion rates of aluminum and steel as the engine warms up.
Does this heater manage to warm the cylinders and pistons via the oil?

---Yes! It will warm the base of the cylinders some from transfer
of heat from the case. Thanks, Allan:D
 
If I understand correctly, the major issue with a cold start is piston/cylinder scuffing due to the different expansion rates of aluminum and steel as the engine warms up.
Does this heater manage to warm the cylinders and pistons via the oil?

blanket and cowl plugs, inside hangar and everything firewall forward will be 70F at OAT of 30F.
 
I installed one!

Allan sent me one a couple of months ago after I called, having seen him talk about it in this forum. I put it in the other day. It is a beautiful, simple piece. I had to remove the #2 and #4 exhaust headers to get the clearance to install it, and I extended the cord because i positioned it in the front left of the sump, and wanted the plug to be accessible next to the oil filler.
It works great. https://photos.app.goo.gl/RvdNf4tPvSBdaNfCA
RvdNf4tPvSBdaNfCA


I should mention that the OAT was about 35F at the time of the video
 

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----We now have our latest new quality product "No Hassle Engine Pre-Heater" up on our website and available to ship now before the really cold weather hits. This is introductory priced for Christmas, along with a XMAS 10% coupon on it, and your entire order of A.S.A. parts and accessories until January second of next year! Please have a look at this product and its installation on our website. Should you have questions or concerns on this or any of our products, and services please give us a call so we can address them. We at A.S.A. would like to say, Thank You! and wish all of our friends and fabulous customers here at the V.A.f. a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you and yours.-:D

How do we apply the 10% coupon? I tried entering “Xmas 10%”, “XMAS” ect.. and couldn’t get it to recognize it.
 
Has this been evaluated/passed by UL/ETL or an equivalent?

A quick call or email to Anti-Splat would answer that question.

It appears that this is aimed at the USA Experimental market where no such certification is required.
 
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A quick call or email to Anti-Splat would answer that question.
Or a quick question on a thread they posted and are likely following.

It appears that this is aimed at the USA Experimental market where no such certification is required.
No, not on the aircraft side. But this does plug into the electrical grid. If it fails and burns your hangar down, your insurance company might not look favorably on the use of an unsupervised improvised electronic device.
 
No, not on the aircraft side. But this does plug into the electrical grid. If it fails and burns your hangar down, your insurance company might not look favorably on the use of an unsupervised improvised electronic device.

Of the things I worry about on a days-to-day basis, I’d be inclined to put that one pretty low on the list ;) .
 
Has this been evaluated/passed by UL/ETL or an equivalent?

Yes, I admit my blood is on low boil.

This is a forum to exchange ideas and seek information. I'm sure you don't need me to defend you..but...Mr. Snowflake, I think you have a legitimate right to ask this question if it is something that is of concern to you. If someone doesn't have an answer, doesn't particularly care for the question, or thinks its a waste of their time, they are free to move on without responding.
 
No certifications

Hi Rob,

I can confirm that there are no certification marks on the unit I received ergo no certifications. Proceed as you may.

Cheers, Sean
 
A.S.A. Goofed!!!!!

----We need to apologize to you guys, for underestimating the RV community as we never imagined selling out
several hundred of this new product in only one and a half days. We are in process of replenishing our stock and
will notify everyone when we have them available. Again, we are sorry for this inconvenience and promise it will
be worth the slight wait. Happy Holidays to all! Thanks, Allan & Staff @ A.S.A.:D:D
 
A great idea and so simple, just one problem for us in the UK, it runs on 120 Volts AC we run 240 Volts AC so it wont work, are there any plans to release a 240 Volt variant?

Can you use a 120v -> 240 volt converter? The difference in frequency shouldn't matter in a purely resistive circuit but not sure if the decrease in power would affect efficiency. IIRC, even with a converter, my wife's 120-volt hair dryer didn't work in London.
 
240-volt operations ???

---- I will look into this and post what I learn! I intend to offer a 240-volt version
soon as well and will post it here on the forums as soon as they are available.
Thanks, Allan:D
 
Yes, I admit my blood is on low boil.

This is a forum to exchange ideas and seek information. I'm sure you don't need me to defend you..but...Mr. Snowflake, I think you have a legitimate right to ask this question if it is something that is of concern to you. If someone doesn't have an answer, doesn't particularly care for the question, or thinks its a waste of their time, they are free to move on without responding.

This looks like a cool product, but I would also be interested in seeing what testing they did on it. Their page says they sent it out and let people field test it for a year, which is a great start. With that amount of limited information though, and no certification of the product, I would be inclined to only use it with an inline surge protector on a GFCI outlet with a grounding cable attached. There is a small, but non-zero chance that one of the failure modes of this product is a short to ground, and if your aircraft isn't grounded to the grid, that's going to be a surprise when you touch the plane, not to mention what it might do by holding the ground side of your avionics at grid voltage.
 
Anti-Splat "NEWS"! Act Now

Looking at the video in one of the links showing 70 degrees on one side of the oil pan and 198 near the heater. 250W in such a small piece...does anyone worry about that gradient and local heat concentration? Pan stress, oil local damage? Just wondering.......
 
This looks like a cool product, but I would also be interested in seeing what testing they did on it. Their page says they sent it out and let people field test it for a year, which is a great start. With that amount of limited information though, and no certification of the product, I would be inclined to only use it with an inline surge protector on a GFCI outlet with a grounding cable attached. There is a small, but non-zero chance that one of the failure modes of this product is a short to ground, and if your aircraft isn't grounded to the grid, that's going to be a surprise when you touch the plane, not to mention what it might do by holding the ground side of your avionics at grid voltage.

---Over the development course of this product, when choosing the materials, suppliers, and sub-contractors we gathered considerable amounts of information, and posed many questions and concerns as well. One was the possible failure modes of the heater cartridges. The manufacturer tests and builds these to very high safety standards and assures that all failures other than crushing cannot result in a short, but rather an open circuit failure only. The internal element is incapsulated in ceramic and surrounded by a stainless-steel shell, then pressed into our thick billet aluminum housing. With this amount of protection, crushing is not a possibility. Them being one of the world's largest manufacturers of heating elements, I think I will listen to their opinion. As for our testing, involving well over seventeen months, our engineering, and product support of this, and all of our aviation products, I can say with much confidence and pride, few can match Anti-Splat-Aero!

Happy Holidays to all our "Great RV Community" Thanks, Allan-:D
 
Looking at the video in one of the links showing 70 degrees on one side of the oil pan and 198 near the heater. 250W in such a small piece...does anyone worry about that gradient and local heat concentration? Pan stress, oil local damage? Just wondering.......

---That video you are referencing was a test of one of the 650-watt prototypes, whilst trying to determine the size and necessary wattage to accomplish the desired result. This was not a test of the finished product we are currently offering. Thank you for pointing this out. Allan-:D
 
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Reference post 11. Wow. 650 watts would have most surely exceeded the allowable watt density of the medium (making surface area assumptions from the previously supplied pix, etc). As mentioned, the oil will form an “insulating” solid layer around the the element and the heat xfer drops significantly. Not only does the oil not heat up as before, the lack of xfer will take the element temp above its design point. The resulting failure is typically a matter of time.

I’ll say again, looks like a very elegant solution.
 
I won't need one where I am but have a question. During any of the testing and/or validation, was an "coke" observed in the oil or on the unit?
(
Wow. 650 watts...... oil will form an “insulating” solid layer around the the element and the heat xfer drops significantly..... the lack of xfer will take the element temp above its design point. The resulting failure is typically a matter of time
I did something like this below and did get coke, burned oil residue, but it still heated the oil, reduction of heat transfer aside. You can clean off the coke. I never had failure of my oil heater dip sticks discussed below. It will be interesting to see what they look like after a season of use, and longevity. Looking at the pictures, with the fins and my experience using submerged oil heaters, it will work, heat oil above ambient. Side by side test of glue or stick on oil pan heat pads ($20 to $40 if you don't get certified aircraft ones) vs. this product would be interesting. I like the submerged idea since I have fond memories. (Memory lane below.)
i
Yeas ago I few my Piper Apache, twin engine, daily, even in winter. I got to run up and oil temp garage needles had not moved. Then I started pre heating the oil. I used two AUTOMOTIVE dip stick heaters. Using PVC fitting to hold the rods in place and at proper depth into the oil, through dipstick tube, ONLY last few inches of rod heated up, which was in the oil. I put them in cold unplugged, then plugged them in. Removing, unplugged them before removing them. By the time I got done with my walk around, they were cool enough to remove. I had no issue with hot metal hitting the plastic dip tubes. The big issue was having oily dip sticks to store while heaters were in over night. Using PVC tubes with end caps, I made a container to hold dip sticks or heater sticks when not in use. This kept the oil mess down and dirt off the dip sticks or heater sticks. The heaters just popped in so there was no screwing and unscrewing. It was efficient.

IT WORKED. It kept the oil warm enough so by the time I started, taxied, in runup area I had warm oil temp for runup. After runup I was warm enough to fly. With out these heaters I had to wait a few minutes for OT to warm up on cold mornings. With heaters I did not have to delay to get OT into green. This was Pacific North West fairly mild winters, low 30's high 20's in the morning, not Alaska. I remember taking some temp data but so long ago forgot. I can say oil was at least x3 or x4 of ambient. Every little bit helps. Also it warmed the metal oil pan, crank case a little as well. (NOTE, in Alaska they sometimes drain the oil and take battery inside to keep in warm place over night if they don't have other means to pre heat engine.)
 
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Prototype 650 watts?

---That video you are referencing was a test of one of the 650-watt prototypes, whilst trying to determine the size and necessary wattage to accomplish the desired result. This was not a test of the finished product we are currently offering. Thank you for pointing this out. Allan-:D

Hi Allan,
That was actually my video, and I was unaware that it was an overboosted prototype. I thought it was a final product. I am the guy who you called, in October, I think, after I emailed you about getting one of these that were not on your website yet. Are you sure this is 650 Watts?
Should I remove it? Will it (or has it?) caused any damage because of an extreme heat differential?
Slightly nervous now...
Tom
 
welp, I hadn't planned to remove it! But if it turns out to be a 650 watt, then I guess I will have to, but hopefully not. It is very hard to find that kind of a window these days with work and family...
If I do, I will post pics
 
Cold Air Induction

Allan,

My IO-540 has a Barrett cold air induction manifold so the intake tubes are not in the oil sump. Since this most likely lowers the fill line in the sump I’m wondering if this would cause your heater to be exposed. Do you happen to know if this is a possibility?
 
Hi Allan,
That was actually my video, and I was unaware that it was an overboosted prototype. I thought it was a final product. I am the guy who you called, in October, I think, after I emailed you about getting one of these that were not on your website yet. Are you sure this is 650 Watts?
Should I remove it? Will it (or has it?) caused any damage because of an extreme heat differential?
Slightly nervous now...
Tom

---I got confused, and thought the guy was referring to one of the videos I posted back when we were test the different heaters in my shop on that sump full of oil. The heater you have is not the 650-watt unit as that was three times what was ideal. You have the correct one! Sorry for the confusion. Thanks, Allan-:eek:
 
After a couple of days left on, before I had my Switcheon. It gets up to around 235 degrees around the heater. Is this ok?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hNDvFz9g5Ms8qRY56

---The 235 degrees by the heater is fine, as this is heat transferred from the aluminum threaded portion of the unit to the aluminum sump. if you move over a couple of inches that will drop off rapidly. There is no coking issue with this product, as the temperature will never reach that range. Yours is working perfectly, and I want to say thank you for your help Tom. Allan-:D
 
Thanks Allan!

Thanks Allan! I appreciate you being in this thread. The product is great. Simple, inexpensive, and effective
I have my Switcheon now, working well.
Can you tell us how much current it draws and if a portable battery and inverter combination might be a viable portable solution for a preheat or two, for overnight tie downs on trips away?
 
After a couple of days left on, before I had my Switcheon. It gets up to around 235 degrees around the heater. Is this ok?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hNDvFz9g5Ms8qRY56
The temp of 235F is fine for engine parts. The temp of oil right near the heater is higher. Oil starts to cook at 275F. By cook I mean break down. Is that an issue. I don't think so. As I posted I used di[p stick heaters on my Piper Apache. Loved having warm oil.

Thanks for posting this. Very helpful. Yep your engine will enjoy the warmth on start up.
 
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The temp of 235F is fine for engine parts. The temp of oil right near the heater is higher. Oil starts to cook at 275F. By cook I mean break down. Is that an issue. I don't think so. As I posted I used di[p stick heaters on my Piper Apache. Loved having warm oil.

Thanks for posting this. Very helpful. Yep your engine will enjoy the warmth on start up.

...The oil sump sitting in my shop with seven qts. of oil has been plugged in for
over six months with zero coking and all is perfect. Oil looks as new, heater is fine,
but you need to be very careful if you have any pet bugs! If they land in it,
they won't fair well. Does that require labeling? This is California!-:confused:-:rolleyes:
 
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