Reiff Preheat System for ROTAX 912/914 Engines

The Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) industry has been gathering momentum, and most of the LSA models use the Rotax 912. Although it is a good engine, it has 3 issues you should be aware of:

1. It does not start well in cold weather because the electronic ignition system will not fire the spark plugs unless the starter cranks the engine at a crankshaft speed of 220 rpm or more (90 rpm propeller speed). A cold engine is stiff and a cold battery is weak, so the starter may not be able to crank the engine fast enough to start it.

2. A slow cranking speed can cause kickback, which damages the sprag clutch.

3. If the engine does start, you cannot do the run-up or take off until the oil reaches 120oF (50oC). This may require a lengthy warm-up period.
See pages 10-17 to 10-19 in the Rotax 912 Operating Manual for more information. The above 3 problems are solved by preheating the engine. The Reiff system has proven to be a convenient and inexpensive means to do this, and we have been selling a lot of them.
The system is installed on your engine so all you need to do is plug it in to a wall outlet with an extension cord for a few hours. Overnight is best. Throw a blanket over the cowling to seal and insulate the engine compartment. The engine will think it's summer time and will start easily, and because the oil is preheated you will not need a long warm up period before you can do your run-up and takeoff.
The standard system is 150 watts and includes a 100W HotStrip heater epoxied to the bottom of the crankcase, and a 50W HotBand clamped around the oil tank. A thermostat bonded to the oil tank limits the oil temp to about 190°oF. This system is sufficient for most conditions, but if necessary one or two extra 100W HotStrips can be added to the crankcase at additional cost.

PERFORMANCE (standard 150 watt system): • RV-12 aircraft in a hangar with two tennis balls plugging the air inlets, towel stuffed in oil cooler inlet, and blanket over the cowl
• Ambient temp 20-23F
• After 12 hours of heating time oil temp was 96F (temp rise of about 75F above ambient)
• Temp measured by Dynon engine monitor. Note the oil temp sensor is on the oil pump housing at lower front of engine (see Rotax 912 Operating Manual page 9-3, Figure 6, oil temp sensor is labeled #8)

A big advantage of our system is that it is non-invasive. All our parts are installed "on" the engine. Nothing is installed inside the engine, and you do not need to remove any Rotax parts or replace any Rotax parts with our parts. For example, one competitor's system replaces the Rotax intake manifold bolts and a crankcase bolt with their own heated bolts. These are simply hollowed out bolts with heating elements epoxied into the hollowed out shank. As a general design philosophy we feel it is safer not to replace parts that were installed by the engine manufacturer, especially critical structural parts like bolts.