The Eagle (EMS) Flys

[pmccoy]

Dane

I have been flying an Eagle EMS for three years and just over 330 hours in my RV 9A. It has been perfect on every flight since day one. I am very happy with the system and my average fuel burn of 7gph at wide open throttle. I am running a Lycoming IO-320 D2EMS, built by areosport power.

[tailcreek_flyer]

I've got about 50 hours on my Eagle ECU now and I have had a couple of scares in the last few that I'd like to share with you. I made my usual preflight radio calls and after take off and climb hard to downwind, I made a radio call and my left ECU faulted. I cycled power on the ECU and it returned to service. Once I determined I was running solid on both Left and Right, I made a test radio call and the same thing happened. Time to land and stop talking. Once on the ramp I could repeat this problem.
I contacted Precision and was advised to tie the ECU off switches to the positive terminal of the Eagle Battery when in the run position. This would eliminate the "antenna effect" which was causing an ECU reset (voltage spike??). This fix worked for a couple of hours of flight but on my last flight it returned with the same abrupt power loss.
I'm talking to Precision now about what to do next but thought other users of this system should be aware of a potential power loss that could suddenly hit you.
I'm using a PAR100EX radio which appears to transmit and receive normally.
Regards
Cam Andres
C-FTLL RV9A with Aerosport IO360

[DanNiendorff]

Hi all,

I realize that this is an old thread, but as the question remains unanswered I will share my experience on this. I am running an IO-375 with the Eagle EMS and have about 140 hrs on it. It has been excellent. I have run one tank all the way dry and then switched over to a new tank. There is loss of power (as one would expect) as the tank is exhausted. Once switching over to the new tank there is no delay in the return of power. It is pretty much instantaneous and it is really a non-event.

-Dan

[rv7charlie]

Another data point, from the alternative engine community: Some of those flying automotive style injection with 'deadend' fuel systems (where the regulator is on the cold side of the firewall) have dealt with the tank-dry concern by creating an intentional bleed in the regulator. The regulator's seal plunger is modified to always 'leak' a bit into the bypass port even if pressure is below setpoint. Idea is to let any air clear the pump quickly as it tries to re-prime. Extra fuel being bypassed is insignificant relative to the normal volume of bypassed fuel.

One personal friend did have an 'airlock' experience after a tank-dry (on the ground), and modifying his regulator cured his problem.

[Ted RV8]

Contacted Precision about one of these systems earlier this year and was told they are no longer available.
Seems the designer/engineer/tech retired and the product could no longer be supported.

[DanNiendorff]

I can confirm that. I heard from them today. No longer in production. Very unfortunate, as it is an excellent system.