PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Carb heat - can it cause ice?
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Old 18th Dec 2002, 12:34
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Kegbuster
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: In the wilds of the midlands
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excrab i agree with you that carb heat should be kept on till landing. In the event of a go-around it is very easy to go to cold at the same time opening the throttle. Twice in my early years i applied carb heat down wind as i had been taught & put it away on the approach & to my horror when i closed the throttle the engine stopped!! fortunatly i was in gliding range of the field.

The best way to tell if you have carb ice is with the manifold pressure gauge. If you find that you have been slowly been adjusting the power to keep the same pressure you have got carb ice.

A warning when using carb heat at full power & the carb temp goes above 38 degrees you will get dettination & damage the engine.

Going back to the original question yes you can give yourself carb icing when applied in very cold air. The colder the air the less moisture it can hold. Therefore appling carb heat in tempetures below - 10 no visable moisture you are increasing the temp where it can hold more moisture compounded with the venturie effect you now have carb ice with the heater on!
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