Congrat's Bob - you're so close!

Since you mentioned cranking speed I thought I'd relay a story that you and
others can file away for future reference.

Richard Martin - who used to be on this list but I haven't heard from for a
while - is working with a helicopter company to install a rotary in a new
prototype.  He had the rotary running and then, for no apparent reason,
couldn't get it to start. This went on for a couple of months! Not a couple
of days!  He tried everything, switched out EM-2's with another builder,
traced all the wires for the zillionth time but still no luck. The end of
the story (as I understand it) is that a local rotary mechanic went up and
looked it over and suggested trying to crank it faster. Sure enough, a new
starter did the trick. It just wasn't turning fast enough.

File that one away when you have exhausted all the other obvious problems!

Joe Hull
Cozy Mk-IV #991 (preping for DAR inspection - details, details)
Redmond (Seattle), Washington

-----Original Message-----
From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On
Behalf Of Bob White
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 6:32 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Progress Report


I got to the point today where I could test the starter.  Not trying to
start it yet, I just wanted to turn the engine over.  Cranking with one
of my two batteries, I saw a "voltage too low" warning on the EM2.  I
flipped on the second battery and cranking speed increased and the
warning went away.  With the warning The EM2 was telling me the voltage
was over 10V.  I thought that was enough and I don't think the EM2
display showed the voltage to be much higher with the second battery.

I cranked it for 15-20 seconds and saw the oil pressure start to come
up.  I saw a pressure reading of 88 psi at one point, but the sensor
hasn't been calibrated.  I put 4 quarts of oil in the engine, and
pre-filled the oil filter and oil cooler with another quart.  Now the
oil level on the dipstick is about half way between L and F.  It was
about 7/8ths before cranking.

It looks like I will be trying to actually start the engine tomorrow or
Friday.  All I can think of that needs to be done is install the
exhaust system and test the fuel system for leaks.  I haven't powered
up the EC2 yet.  Hopefully it will work OK.

I'm really happy to be at the point where I'm fixing stuff that doesn't
work instead of installing new stuff.  I was ecstatic to see the prop
turn. :)

Bob W.

--
http://www.bob-white.com
N93BD - Rotary Powered BD-4 (Projected engine start - maybe next week)
Custom Cables for your rotary installation -
http://www.roblinphoto.com/shop/