Oil Cooler Structural Failure

[lutorm]

Nice forensic work there!

The oil system thread at thesamba that I posted earlier measured an oil flow of ~1gpm at idle with the stock 26mm oil pump. That's 0.6l over 10s. If you really blew a quart of oil out (and it didn't just look like it), either basically the entire flow from the oil pump must have gone out that hole, or your pump flows a lot more oil. Did you notice what the oil pressure gauge read with the leak in progress?

You don't happen to have a larger oil pump, do you? Edit: I missed you saying the Turbo has a different, dual oil pump earlier. I guess it's worth checking if the sections are larger than 26mm, since it appears (again from that oil pressure discussion) that for pumps larger than 26mm, the relief passage is too small and you really end up spiking pressure with the oil cold, even with the relief plunger wide open.

[Area 51%]

Actually, Sonex does source and stock coolers these days. We got one off their shelf when we were there in Oct.

[lutorm]

I'm curious if you ever got around to trying the 15w-40 oil and if you saw any differences in oil pressure.

[NWade]

I'm curious if you ever got around to trying the 15w-40 oil and if you saw any differences in oil pressure.

I've been caught up in a job-search lately (anybody here need an IT Director?) - but I should be giving the engine a run this weekend and will report my results!

--Noel

[lutorm]

Cool, let me know. I'm getting close to starting my rebuilt engine and I'm thinking of trying 15w-40 or even 10w-30 to see what happens.

Not sure what you do. We apparently need an Information Security Operations Manager...

[NWade]

Cool, let me know. I'm getting close to starting my rebuilt engine and I'm thinking of trying 15w-40 or even 10w-30 to see what happens.

PM Sent! And I'll post here publicly with data as soon as my engine runs this weekend.

--Noel

[NWade]

Brief update: Tried to run the engine this weekend, but my EarthX battery failed before the engine could turn over. The Fault Indicator LED is flashing in a pattern not described in any of their manuals, and the voltage across the terminals is fluctuating between 12.9 and 13.7 volts in sync with the LED flashing... its very odd! Tests on the aircraft with an AC-DC power supply show the avionics and panel functioning fine, with no blown fuses or other obvious faults. Attempts to reset the EarthX fault detection system with chargers and other batteries wired in parallel haven't worked. I'm waiting to hear back from EarthX tech support, and don't have a secondary battery I can use for starting the engine.

If anyone has recommendations on a secondary battery I could buy that won't cost another $400, I'm all ears! The big catch is that my firewall & battery box are laid out for a small form factor battery (the current battery box is sized for an ETX680C).

--Noel

[SonexN76ET]

Noel,

If you want to try an alternate or temporary battery until you get the issues with your EarthX battery worked out, I have had good service from my Odyssey 625 battery. It is $117 and weighs a little over 13 lbs. Many Motorsports suppliers sell them. I have heard good things about the EarthX and I hope you are able to get it straightened out with the help of EarthX technical support. Please let me know how it goes. I may go with the EarthX for my next battery.

Jake

[floridasonex]

I experienced an oil cooler failure in the air shortly after takeoff. Fortunately I was close enough to the airport I could reduce power
and return immediately. Waiting until you have 100 deg oil temp isn't enough. That's what I did.
My solution was a bypass valve that doesn't let the oil go thru the cooler until it hits 185 degrees.

RT

[SNX1508]

I am also using an Odyssey 625 battery. I had an ETX900 installed for a short time for the weight savings, but the ETX failed for unknown reasons with 0 volts out. I could reset the fault and it would be ok for awhile, but it would then fault again within a weeks time with 0 volts out. All of this during extended downtime while working on the AeroVee cylinder heads, so fortunately no in flight failure. EarthX replaced the battery & paid shipping both ways, but everyone be aware that the EarthX warranty policy is to provide only a single replacement for each battery purchased. So if mine fails again, no free replacement will be possible. That's OK, the replacement has been sitting on a shelf since I received it, but its an expensive paper weight because I am afraid it will fail in flight.

Terry
Sonex #1508
N296SX
AeroVee #0736
Tail Dragger
http://www.mykitlog.com/SNX1508