Tracey,
You are
correct. Messing with mode 3 in
the air is not a good idea. Also
when it running good, not messing with it, is also a good idea.
I guess
that I just had too much time on my hands on the 190 NM trip, and had to see if
I could make it better. I’ve added
that to my list of things NOT to do.
As far as
working with a turbo, the last update that I got about 10 months ago works very
well, and factory default tuning isn’t too far off. I have to give it about 4 clicks on mode 3 toward lean to
get it in at 23 MAP and 12 o’clock mixture. Lean it a little at lower power levels, and go richer at
higher power levels.
The only
thing I haven’t figured out is how to get it to really idle well. I have to run it rich to run fairly
good, but it seems to run a little rough.
Leaning at idle makes it runs really well, just before it dies.
Steve
Brooks
-----Original
Message-----
From: Rotary motors in aircraft
[mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net]On Behalf
Of Tracy Crook
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006
6:35 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Great
Flight
Hi
Steve, as you noticed, fiddling with mode 3 while in-flight is risky
since it changes the mixture at all throttle settings, not just the one you are
currently using.
Mode
3 is only for initial ground tuning to get the injector flow rate in the ball
park. As noted in the instructions, Mode 3 should be set at high throttle
with the mixture control at 12:00. If you find that Mode 1 or 9
runs out of range and can't get the mixture correct at some setting,
re-evaluate the situation for a possible change to Mode 3 when safely on the
ground.
Also
note that it can take many pushes on the Store button in mode 9 to get
full range of adjustment. Just because the program knob is at max
rich setting does not mean that pushing the button sets it at full rich in this
mode. Instructions give full details on this.
BTW,
I appreciate all the feedback I can get on how the EC2 works on a turbo setup
since I have never tweaked on one myself.
Glad
you are enjoying the plane at last!
Tracy
-----
Original Message -----
From: Steve
Brooks
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Sent: Monday, December 11,
2006 9:24 AM
Subject:
[FlyRotary] Great Flight
Yesterday, the weather was
outstanding. A little cool at 56
degrees, but sunny and no wind. It
was very nice to drive only 15 minutes to the airport, to take the plane up for
a flight around the area.
On the flight bringing it
up to NC 2 weeks ago, I thought that the engine was running a little rich, and
after trying option 9 to lean it up, it really didn’t change too much. Then, in a moment of sheer brilliance,
I decided to lean it a little more using mode 3. Still didn’t change the mixture much, but I was happy with
it, so I left it alone. When I
throttled back upon arrival, the mixture bottomed out, and the engine stumbled
pretty bad. After a quick rotation
of the mixture control, and a couple clicks on option 9, it was running good
again, until I throttled back a little more, and started the cycle all over
again.
A couple of days later, I
went to the airport and decided at this point, my best option was to return to
factory default, and start over, which I did. After tuning it for 10 minutes or so, I figured it was good
enough for a flight.
After preflight and taxi,
my oil temperature was at 140 degrees, but my coolant was still laying on the
100 degree peg. That is quite different
than normal. I waited for a few
minutes until it started to move, just to make sure that it was working. When I took off, I pushed the throttle
forward, and the engine roared to life.
It really roared to life, because it was running at about 8 lbs of
boost. I backed it down a little
to 5 lbs, and it backfired once, but then ran smoothly. After climb out to about 2000
feet, the water and oil were only at 160 degrees, which was really a
surprise. It was a little cooler
than normal, but the temperatures were running about 20 degrees cooler.
I flew for about 20
minutes, surveying my new flying area, and just enjoying the view. I then decided to check out the tuning
and started lowering the power. I
found several points where the mixture was really lean, and I made adjustments
(option 9 only) to get it where it needed to be. I think that it probably tuned better now, than it ever has
been, so I’m not going to mess with it anymore.
Temperatures never did get
above 160 degrees, which makes me wonder if I had an air bubble in the cooling
system that worked out during, or after the long flight 2 weeks ago. Whatever it is, I like it. I slowed up to 100 kits approaching the
downwind, and made a perfect approach and landing. After the decent and landing, temperatures were at about 140
degrees, and the engine was running very good.
It’s very nice to can add
fuel and fly, but I think that before my next flight, I’ll pull the top
cowling, and just give everything a once over, to make sure that everything is
still good. I’ll also re-torque
the prop.
Steve Brooks
Cozy MKIV N75CZ
Turbo Rotary – 48 hours and
counting.