pitot and static testing with digital manometer?

[rv8ch]

Does anyone have any experience using a digital manometer to test the static and pitot?

I see a bunch of devices on Amazon, but not clear to me what pressure ranges I should select, if they are accurate enough, can they measure a vacuum, etc.

I did some testing using the water tube method, which worked ok, but quite a hassle to set up.

Thanks for any tips!

[Carl Froehlich]

Here is a simple rig to check for static leaks. Harbor Freight parts and some assembly. I just used this on the new RV-8 project to verify the system tight - and sure enough found a fitting not well seated. A few minutes later it was fixed and saved me the pain of paying to get a failed pitot/static check.

Credit goes to Tom Doran (N716RV)

For pitot I use a $4 manometer to verify airspeed accuracy and pitot line tight. This setup is amazingly accurate. Use google to find the PDF file for the airspeed grid.

Carl

[rv8ch]

Thanks Carl. I was hoping to find a digital manometer that I could use to test the static and pitot over a range of known pressures which should line up with altitude and airspeed values.

This is required for my aircraft certification here in Switzerland. I've done several tests using water in tubes, but wanted to take this into the digital age.

Also, the water head required to test the static to an altimeter reading of 20'000 ft is about 21 ft if my math is right.

[Carl Froehlich]

Or - use my static test rig and add a vacuum gauge, like this: https://www.amazon.com/HFS-Utility-V...3964448&sr=8-3

Carl

[barryrv10]

Hey Carl, where did you find the suction cup to go over the static port? Thanks much

[rocketbob]

I had a vacuum line leak in one of my cars after doing an engine swap. For the life of me I couldn't find the leak until I came up with the idea of throwing a lit cigar into a coffee can. The lid had two hoses attached, one ran into the intake taped off with a judicious amount of duct tape. The other was ran into to a pressure regulator turned all the way down and connected to shop air. The very slight pressure pushed the smoky air into the intake which revealed the leak in short order.

[RVDan]

Originally Posted by rv8ch

Thanks Carl. I was hoping to find a digital manometer that I could use to test the static and pitot over a range of known pressures which should line up with altitude and airspeed values.

This is required for my aircraft certification here in Switzerland. I've done several tests using water in tubes, but wanted to take this into the digital age.

Also, the water head required to test the static to an altimeter reading of 20'000 ft is about 21 ft if my math is right.

If you are trying to calibrate the altimeter, none of these devices will be accurate enough. If you are doing a sanity check, you need to look at the specs on the test instrument to determine what accuracy you can expect. Mechanical gages that are cheap are 2% or more of error.
I don?t think you will find a commercial digital manometer will indicate directly to altitude though, you will need to correlate pressure to altitude using FAA 14CFR Part 43 appendix E.

[cdeerinck]

Here is a cheap digital manometer: https://www.amazon.com/Manometer-RIS...6ER1KJ6DBNGRHY

[rv8ch]

Originally Posted by cdeerinck

Here is a cheap digital manometer: https://www.amazon.com/Manometer-RIS...6ER1KJ6DBNGRHY

That's a nice one, and just what I'm looking for but need a larger range. That one and most on Amazon/Ebay only go to 2 or 3 psi. To test the altimeter to 20'000 ft, it would need to go closer to 8 or 10 psi.

Looks like I'll use the local maintenance shop for this pitot/static test.

[Thermos]

Originally Posted by barryrv10

Hey Carl, where did you find the suction cup to go over the static port? Thanks much

Was just looking for that myself, it's at Harbor Freight -

https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-c..._q=suction+cup

HTH

ds