Red Cube Installation a la Tom Swearengen
 

Tom at TS Flightlines made us up a neat little adapter for connecting the Red Cube at the flow divider as seen in the photos below. We've been hearing good things about mounting the Red Cube here so we thought we'd give it a try. Looks like a good solution. Reports indicate less vaporization for hot starts with this location, smoother running engine after a hot start. We'll see.

We mounted the Red Cube on a small piece of .090 between two Adel clamps, one was already there for the s.s. fuel line. Worked out well, good support for the Red Cube and the adapter to the flow divider. Tom made up all of our hoses and did a great job as usual! We had to get a longer than normal #4 hose between the servo and FT-60 as you can see below.





This is Bob Lund's airplane, and as can be seen from the photo below, it's almost ready for first engine start. About all that's left is to hang the 3-bladed MT and finish up some firewall forward details. We used our clear acrylic disk bolted to the crank with spacers to mount the cowl which allows for the correct spacing behind the spinner bulkhead.

Bob wanted to paint the airplane before first flight, which is a first for me, but it has worked out okay so far. Bob built a temporary paint booth in the hangar. First flight will happen by the end of the month.

Flex hose?
 

Are you sure you wouldn't feel better about a flex hose between the cube and the divider? That cube will actually bounce around and vibrate a little since it is attached attached to the cylinder.
Tom is certainly the expert here in this, and I would certainly defer to him.

Vic

I know the cylinder should move with the rest of the engine, but having a rigid hose in this environment scares me too, especially since the cube is attached by Adel clamps, which will allow a small amount of motion.

Flex hose
 

My red cube is mounted above the servo on a aluminum flat bar on the crankcase. To compensate for the vibration, I have flex hose on both sides of the red cube as a safety precaution.

FWIW, my red cubes in that location seem to last about 400 hours or so on average. Mounted roughly the same as your except no rigid lines.

Yep a flex hose would be better, BUT, short hoses of 2-2.5 inches flare to flare are not cost effective, and there is very little space between the 2 stems.
STILL working on a better solution, but Pats adapter is stainless, and I think everything will move together. I'll eventually come up with the combination.
Tom

Yes, I agree. Flex hose would be better. I think over time the stainless piece would work harden and possibly crack. So Tom is going to make us up a short piece of hose to go here. Great service from Tom, by the way. I can't say enough good things about his customer care and response. The best.

That seems kind of short lived. Is any one else having red cube failures at that rate? What do think is the reason?

Thanks
Brian

Brian----I'll check with Kahuna---I want aware that he, or anyone else was having failure issues with the cube. The old Flo Scan yes, but not the cube.

If anyone else out there has had recurring flow transducer failures, please post it here, and let us know!
Tom

I believe the red cube will have a shorter lifespan when mounted under the cowling/engine bay due to heat. And I believe the installation instructions I received with mine mentioned something to that effect.