Greetings all,
First off, I must say I have no personal experience with the 914. However, I
do own and operate a couple of powered planes, a 1965 Citabria and a 1969
Piper Pawnee. Both have Lycoming engines and I've had some troubles keeping the
batteries at peak charge when the sit for a while, particularly in cold weather,
leading to starting problems.
At the advice of the previous owner of my Pawnee, as he did with the Pawnee,
I installed an EZ Heat oil heater on my Citabria and use it even in the summer
months to get the oil up to about 140 F before starting. The heater is
usually set on a timer, so it's ready when I decide to fly. This definitely
makes
a
difference! EZ Heat makes one that will fit the 912/914. They run about $125
and are very easy to install. It's just a heating pad that bonds to the bottom
of the engine and plugs into any 110v outlet. The Pawnee also has a Tanis
block heater installed. I don't think they make one for Rotax, though.
I use battery maintainers on both airplanes to keep the battery charged
without causing sulfate problems within the battery from constant charging that
a
"normal" battery charger would do. These maintainers are available in the US at
Batteries Plus for about $50. They keep the battery "peaked", but once the
peak voltage threshold is reached the charging stops. If the battery voltage
drops below a predetermined level, the charger kicks on until the battery is
peaked again. This way you have a hot battery even if the airplane has been
sitting for a while. My experience has been they've worth every penny.
Works fine, lasts a long time. Guaranteed to not rust, dust, bust or roll up
the hill backwards when provoked.
Regards,
John Lawton
Dunlap, TN
A-245
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