Engine Icing Up

[Skywatcher]

OK, Here's the scoop

Talked to Mike at Powersource Canada, and yes there is a bulletin about a cold weather kit available for this engine. Mike was saying this is the same engine as is used on the home standby generator, which also have icing problems. The instructions in kit # 6174 describe installing a different heat shield over the muffler, removing the rain cap off the Donaldson air cleaner, attaching a hose to the raw air inlet, securing with clamp and rotating the end of the air cleaner housing so the raw air is pulled from around the muffler through the hole in the new muffler heat shield.

Seek and ye shall find, thanks Roy for your help on this one. I'll check with my customer on the weekend and probably order the parts right after Christmas, then hopefully report back to the forum with the results once we've had another cold snap. All the best,

Sky

[RoyM]

Good to hear that Briggs finally stepped up to the plate.

[KE4AVB]

Sky when you get the paperwork on this bulletin and/or kit instruction if you please scan to PDF and send it to me I will post them to the Briggs service info directory here.

[38racing]

Interesting info. I'm using an mtd mower with briggs vtwin with attached blower and an old sears with blade using kohler cv15. Better watch for this icing issue.

[KE4AVB]

I personally have experienced carburetor several times in my lifetime. A couple times during 80F weather but of I was flying at 4000 ft which can be very unnerving over a large city with no place to land. The plane spit and sputtered all the way to the landing strip even the carb heater turned on. At least the plane had a 16:1 guide slope. But the last time was at 35F mowing leaves with a 310000 series Briggs. I kinda blame this last time on ethanol fuel.

Anyway carburetor icing can occur at any temperature just depends on the available moisture and the amount pressure drop at the carburetor throat.

[BLES]

Sky:
Did you ever find a reasonable solution to this?
We deal with this CONSTANTLY. We just came through a week of sub -40 temperatures. The normal cold weather solutions don't address these situations and I feel your pain. Almost every auger I know has the crankcase breather vented direct and the carb/intake holes plugged. A heat shield on the exhaust and a cover over the air intake on the flywheel is about the best we can do realistically. (This must be removed in warmer weather to allow cooling.... remind your customers ) An enclosure over the engine would help, but isn't really possible on most auger situations.
A few months in the south would be the ideal fix, but folks seem to want to continue to eat!

BLES (in northern SK)

[KE4AVB]

Bles, Look under the Briggs Advance Service Info for the Vanguard Twin Cold Weather Package info in the Downloads section. This where I uploaded the info Sky sent me.

[BLES]

Bles, Look under the Briggs Advance Service Info for the Vanguard Twin Cold Weather Package info in the Downloads section. This where I uploaded the info Sky sent me.

Yes, this is a very typical setup here. Some are factory, some are home-built by users, but all using the same basic idea. It definitely helps pulling warmer air through the carb. Another, more common thing I see, is the crankcase breather hose freezing. These exit the engine in various places depending on model. The air is warm (moist) and as soon as it exits the engine and hits EXTREME cold air, they form ice and freeze, plugging up. All kinds of things are tried for this. The only real good solution is the arrival of summer!

Thanks for your thoughts. Always interesting to see how others deal with things.

BLES

[RoyM]

A blocked breather hose creates all kinds of nasty problems. Easiest solution is to remove it from the air cleaner base and let it hang, won't hurt a thing. Cover the hole in the base with tape to keep from sucking snow in. Reconnect the hose in the spring.

[BLES]

A blocked breather hose creates all kinds of nasty problems. Easiest solution is to remove it from the air cleaner base and let it hang, won't hurt a thing. Cover the hole in the base with tape to keep from sucking snow in. Reconnect the hose in the spring.

You're right! In extreme cold they even like to freeze up hanging there, but the only other thing is an enclosure where the hose drains into a warmer area so it doesn't just freeze over where it hits the cold.

BLES