Hi Graham,
Yes the oil cooler is rigidly mounted to the engine. But I did
it by providing a heavy angle bracket bolted to the crankcase and
extending the brackets forward to hold the bottom of the oil cooler in
place. I then made vertical arms that go upward to the gearbox to give
it vertical support. Then the oil cooler is placed on that and piped in
with the required flex able hose's. The cowl only touches the cooler
with the black baffling material to keep it relatively leak free with the
air. I haven't done any long climb testing as it is summer here in
Florida and the clouds keep getting in the way. By November it will get
better and I will be able to do long climb testing.
As a second topic, has anyone monitored the fuel pressure during
a climb after takeoff? If I keep it in a 80 to 90K attitude, my fuel
pressure drops significantly (1000 to 1200 fpm rate). I've been as low
as 1.2 psi. Of corse this is using max. fuel consumption but it is a bit
disconcerting. This is with the boost pump on. On the ground, I get 2.7
to 2.8 psi with the boost pump only (before engine start). Then it is
turned off and the engine started. The mechanical pump will put out
~3.6 psi by itself but it is at 2000 to 2300 rpm. With both pumps
running, it is about 3.9 psi. In the pattern at about 3500 rpm it shows
about 2.2 to 2.5 psi. I've changed filters but with no change. The
engine runs fine even with low pressure but I'm questioning the low
readings. I have not calibrated the electric sensor with a mechanical
one. I may need to do that to verify readings. Any one help me on
this???
Jim Nelson
N15JN
<grasingleton@avnet.co.uk> writes:
> > I am now flying my mono-wheel with the cooling mod's. I
> mounted the
> > oil cooler in front just below the spinner. I used the old
> classic oil
> > cooler and bolted it to the engine. Then made an opening and made
> smooth
> > transitions from the outside. However, I could not provide much
> of an
> > expansion duct to slow the air down but I can say that my oil
> cooler is
> > working very good. Here in Florida it gets a bit warm but my oil
> temps
> > are running a bit cool. In fact I may have to close up the
> opening a bit
> > to raise the temps. I'm running 190F to 195F in that region. On
> the
> > ground, in taxing mode I have seen it 205 to 210F. So that mod
> > definitely works.
> >
> > Jim Nelson
> > N15JN
>
> Jim,
> Glad to hear it, nice when a bit of logical thinking shows a
> positive result.
> One thing bothers me slightly, the oil cooler will see all the
> vibration of
> the engine,gearbox,prop etc. I think I would want to mount it on the
>
> cowling, awkward I know but less risky.
>
> We recently had a very close look at the radiator of G-KWIP. Would
> you
> believe it had a small crack in one of the welds. Under pressure it
> leaked
> at a surpising rate in view of the fact that it was almost
> invisible. I
> suspect it was a fatigue crack caused by thermal cycling. That
> particular
> weld was close to a second weld in one of the mounting points which
> was a
> bit heavy compared to the rest of the rad.
>
> Graham
>
>
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>
>
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