NOTE! This is old article
You can get all of these features on the new Plug-and-Go iSocket with even better controls!
Since 2021 we offer new Plug-and-Go hassle-free iSocket with integrated connectivity - it works out of the box and can solve all the problems that we have been helping clients solve for the last 10+ years: remote power outage alarm monitoring, vaccine storages temperatures monitoring, remote reboot for equipment, break-in, flood, fire, gas leak and other notifications, and more. Just one new amazing iSocket! With new energy metering capabilities. You can order it from www.isocket.us/order/.
Why preheat?
According to AeroTherm, who design and manufacturing efficient aircraft engine preheaters, “proper pre-heating reduces wear and tear and substantially extends the life of an engine”. You can read more about why idling is not a good way to preheat the engine on their blog [link removed, old article, link doesn't work].
Aircraft owners all over the world have used our smart plugs to start aircraft preheaters remotely for many years, but up until now, nobody has shared their story with us. I asked one of our customers from Germany to send pictures and tell us more about how he uses iSocket to work with a preheater. Thank you, Thomas, we really love your story! Let’s take a look.
Do you want to share your story? Please, contact me personally.
“I am using iSocket to control a pre-heater for an aircraft engine. I love the possibility to connect a temperature sensor to send an alarm SMS. Additionally, I would like to use the thermostat function to limit the engine temperature to a certain value.” – Thomas started his story.
An industrial air heater is used to heat the engine with reverse airflow (as opposed to cooling during flight).
“I have mounted the temperature sensor to a solid copper block, which has a magnet (removed from an old HDD) glued to its back.” – says Thomas.
Just look at this! Isn’t it smart? When I first saw this I thought it was wood and was very surprised “why?”
“Thus I am able to attach the temperature sensor temporarily to the engine.”
“ As I found the temperature plug a bit too loose for this type of environment, I fixed the plug with an additional hook and loop strips.”
“Additionally, I wanted to combine a timer with the thermostat function enabling a thermostat mode for a predefined period of time. This would be useful to switch off the heater in case of any contingencies that prevented me from sending the “THERMOSTATOFF” and “OFF” commands.” – says Thomas.
Thank you Thomas for the feature request. Unfortunately, in our previous products this was not supported, but our new iSocket 3G has a scheduler that will support activation and deactivation of the thermostat in a predefined time – see more in this post.
Do you want to share your story or do you have a feature request? Please, contact me personally.