flyrotary@lancaironline.net Mailing List Archive

Kelly,

NOW you tell me. :-)

Unfortunately, I have not had time to even get to the bearings of the old drive, let alone take apart the new one (which I don't really plan to do.

That theory does make sense. There was clear evidence that the upper planets had overheated while the lower ones did not show heat damage. That still does not really explain why the bearings seized as well. They still wont let the prop shaft turn in the housing, so I cant turn the access holes in the prop flange to access the Allen screws to release the retainer plate. I'll let Tracy deal with that one.

Unfortunately, I have opposite engine offset and vert-stab offset that really would not like it if I reversed the prop direction. Hmmm. That is an interesting problem.. how to cool those upper planets.

--
David Leonard

Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net
http://RotaryRoster.net

On Sun, Oct 23, 2011 at 5:11 PM, Kelly Troyer <keltro@att.net> wrote:

Dave,

Any firm conclusions for the apparent lack of lubrication getting to the upper planets of your

RD1B re-drive during your Reno race heats ?...............I fully realize you were putting a lot of

turbo boosted power (probably 250+ hp) through the drive.............Have you had a chance to

inspect the re-drive that you borrowed for signs of overheat of the upper planets ?..........

Several years ago when the "Ross" re-drives were the only ones available for the Rotary I

remember reading of a similar problem with the 2.17 ratio..........The theory was that because

the 2.17 planet is fixed with the ring gear rotating around it that centrifugal force at high rpm

forced the lube from the ring gear and starved the upper planets.............Theory at that time

was the 2.85 and 3.17 re-drives were largely immune to this problem because the ring gear

of these drives is fixed and the planet rotates in an oil bath with this same centrifugal force

slinging lube directly to the ring gear teeth more or less equally.............FWIW

Kelly Troyer
"DYKE DELTA JD2" (Eventually)

"13B ROTARY"_ Engine
"RWS"_RD1C/EC2/EM2
"MISTRAL"_Backplate/Oil Manifold

"TURBONETICS"_TO4E50 Turbo