Post-assembly: Leaving her dry vs. filling with oil

[NWade]

Hello All,

So I finished the major assembly of my Aerovee Turbo in early July, but I knew I wouldn't have the aircraft wired for engine-running for a little while. Rather than add oil and risk it either picking up dust (as I continue to work on the cowling and wiring and canopy fitment), or risk the oil dissolving the engine-assembly lubricants and cam-guard on the lifters as it just sits in my workshop, I left the engine "dry" (other than using some motor oil on the cylinder walls and lithium/engine-assembly grease where the instructions call for it).

But as our hot & relatively-dry summer in Seattle comes to a conclusion, I'm still about a month from engine start. The weather is turning cooler and we're starting to have rain-showers and more humid weather.

For those of you who have solid engine-building / Aerovee experience, what are your thoughts on whether I should dump in the Penn-Grade oil now vs. a day or two before the first engine run?

Thanks,

--Noel

[SonexN76ET]

Wade,

I immediately filled my engine with oil after building with no issue.

Jake

[kevinh]

Wade,

I immediately filled my engine with oil after building with no issue.

Jake

How full? i.e. did you try to pickle it all the way up to the top?

[SonexN76ET]

I put in 2.75 quarts of oil.

[Bryan Cotton]

I have not put oil in mine yet.

[jeff0196]

One other option may be to put an external drying system on the engine. You can do this by sealing all the ins and outs to your engine the best you can with masking tape or equivalent. Then get some tubing and run it from a vent on your engine, even just taped in, to a desiccant bottle. You can seal and vent the crankcase, intake system, and exhaust all to the same desiccant bottle if you want. Keep the bottle on the floor so you don't accidently pick it up and spill silica beads into your engine. The desiccant will pull the moisture out of the engine for months. You can buy large quantities of desiccant at your local arts and crafts store as floral dryer pretty cheep for example:

http://www.joann.com/panacea-products-floral-drying-crystals-15-lbs/3291747.html

Most desiccant is also reusable. Most will change colors once they are full of water. Place in oven as instructed and then re-use.

Then there is no need to put oil in the engine, which if you only put in the 2.75-3 qts, you will only really be protecting the oil sump. Even if you do put oil in your engine you can still use the dryer system.

[wlarson861]

As stated above, oil in the sump will only protect the sump. I would say oil the engine and perform the pre-start procedure of running the starter until you see oil pressure. That at least fills the oil galleys and puts oil on the oiled moving parts. The idea of a desiccant system is excellent. A friend who has an RV-10 uses a desiccant system that uses a pump to recycle dry air through his engine while it is in the hangar. I think the plans are on the RV builders forum.

[kevinh]

If it helps anyone here's a pict of my desiccant box. I just threw in an old aquarium air pump I had laying around into a bucket, two hoses, and some Shoe Goo to seal it:



I happened to drop in a hygrometer for a while and it stays at about 15-20% RH, where outside in the bay area it ranges from 35-50%.