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SDS EFI in 2021

rv6ejguy

Well Known Member
Update for the middle of Jan. 2021.

We were inundated with orders in late 2020 and that continued in early January. I've hired another part time worker to try to keep to reasonable delivery schedules. We've also had some delays on getting parts from some suppliers which impacted some deliveries. Those should be going out this week hopefully.

Thanks to all those on VAF for the support. :)
 
Email Migration, Odd TB Pattern

We'll be migrating our email to a new server with more capacity on Thursday morning. The email address will remain the same and it's supposed to be seamless- that's what they tell me anyway. The old server company hasn't impressed me with their technical ability in the past so I'm a bit skeptical.

If it doesn't go smoothly, I'll post some new contact info here and on our Home Page. Otherwise you can just phone until it's sorted.

On a second subject, we now have a CAD model for throttle bodies to fit LO-360-A1G6D engines, likely off Twin Commanches. Interestingly, these use a slightly larger bolt pattern than the typical RSA-5. Not sure why Lycoming would do that but they did. If anyone is using one of these engines, we can produce the TB to fit our EFI on it.

Thirdly, Trevor has the 5th axis operational now on his newest Hass mill. This should help speed up production on some of our CNC'd bits by reducing multiple setups. Hopefully have some videos of this in operation sometime soon.
 
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New FAB Mount Bits

Howard turned these out last week. These will allow the FAB to be mounted solidly on vertical induction SDS EFI setups. Also has provision to mount a throttle cable bracket. Will come as a kit with silicone hose, standoff studs and hardware.
 

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SDS to the rescue

This guy Ross is one of the good ones. I was trying to figure out how to do this exact thing on my RV-6A injection install just the other day. Then I sees Ross's post about this very cool adaptor. Got an email off to him immediately and my problems are solved.
This is top shelf guy and a top shelf company. Now I better get back to work skinning up my knuckles.
Thanks Ross
Art
 
Update

We are machining more FAB mounts now and have added 2 recesses for the vacuum fittings to clear on the newer gold 60mm throttle bodies.

Note that the standard FAB upper plates won't fit with the earlier silver throttle bodies and must have a recess milled in the front face to clear the cover plate and upper screws. We'll have some extra ones here we can machine to provide this clearance if you have a silver TB. Thanks to Art for his feedback. The FAB kits were designed for the gold TBs but looks like we can make them work with the silver ones too.

On the SDS EFI kit supply front, we just continue to get busier every month and time to build is now approaching 3 weeks from order. Some of our suppliers and contractors are tapped out trying to keep up with demand and same goes in the shop here on labor to assemble and ship components. I'm back to working 6 day weeks again now...

This is a consequence of the order (and email) volume. We thank everyone for their orders and are doing our best to supply in a timely fashion while retaining quality control levels.

Barry is making good progress on EM-6 software and you'll see some of that code migrate into V32 EM-5 systems maybe next week after further testing. Still lots to do on that front but it's getting there.:)
 
This guy Ross is one of the good ones. I was trying to figure out how to do this exact thing on my RV-6A injection install just the other day. Then I sees Ross's post about this very cool adaptor. Got an email off to him immediately and my problems are solved.
This is top shelf guy and a top shelf company. Now I better get back to work skinning up my knuckles.
Thanks Ross
Art

That’s been my experience too.
 
Updates

More FAB mounting plates with new milled reliefs for the aft facing vacuum fittings should be out of anodizing early this week so we can fill waiting orders soon.

I uploaded some new photos supplied by Tom at Flightlines showing their beautiful hose kits for SDS EFI equipped RV-14s. Look about halfway down this page: http://www.sdsefi.com/lycoming.htm for the NEW! graphic.

Thanks Tom :)

I've updated info for the IO-390 EXP119 engine throttle body size. Please let us know if you have one of these so we can supply the larger throttle body required.

We can now also supply 2.5 inch bolt spacing 60mm TBs used on some aft facing horizontal induction engines. Please measure your bolt spacing if you have an aft facing TB.
 
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Update

I just wanted to let people know that our order backlog continues to increase, putting back system deliveries to 3-4 weeks now. If you'll be needing your system within the next month, best to get in the queue so your project isn't held up.

We try our best to send out CNC'd bits and small orders (like fuel pumps and filters) within a week. The anodizer is pretty backed up these days which is creating extra delays sometimes..

If you haven't received any correspondence in the last couple weeks from us, rattle my cage with an email, I frankly may have missed some folks owing to the deluge of orders since Jan.

There must be a lot of -10s being built because that's our #1 selling EFI kit as of late.

Barry is getting some good hours in on the EM-6 software and that's progressing reasonably well now.

As always, thank you for your support. :)
 
Update

Barry has devoted a lot of time lately to new software destined for the EM-6. He knocked down one of the major projects on that front yesterday and will start on the last major software project next week. That could take 2-4 months depending on our workload here.

After that, it's on to an improved variation of closed loop control we flight tested in an RV-10 back in 2008 so we're hoping that project won't take too long. This will apply mainly to operation on unleaded fuels- Mogas, Swift or the 100LL replacement in the future.

Our present order backlog has now stretched out to around 6 weeks for full systems. Most smaller and parts orders can go out within 1-2 weeks. This is the busiest we've ever been in 27 years. As a result, I'll be taking the occasional Wednesday off starting in May to avoid burnout. I still usually work one of the weekend days but the phone is off that day to maximize productivity.

Thanks to all the folks choosing SDS and thanks for your patience with these longer lead times.

There must be a lot of people building RV-10s as those now represent about 75% of our RV system orders!
 
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Back orders

Yo Ross
about your 3-4 week situation. DO not sweat it. sounds about normal.
I want to buy another John Deere tractor. 40 horse power or so.
Oh guess what? If I pay for it now (firm order) I will get it in about 3-4 months.
WHAT???? Yup that's right. Maybe 5.
Oh wait there is one in South Dakota, But, they won't let us have it. I'm in Washington.
Enjoy life while you are lookin at the daffodils from the top side. Art
 
I can't sweat it any more, it's just a fact of life now. When orders triple over a period of 6 months or so, it becomes impossible to produce that many kits on the same timeline while retaining QC and customer service levels as before.

Lycoming is at 6 months for an engine, Van's maybe over a year for some kits, Stein, 6+ months from what people tell me.

I don't think anyone can doubt how successful Van's is and their success drives the success of many other businesses like us who supply other bits down the line. I have to thank Van's for creating such demand for our products. :)
 
Thanks to all the folks choosing SDS and thanks for your patience with these longer lead times.

There must be a lot of people building RV-10s as those now represent about 75% of our RV system orders!


Well............

We are trying our best in Old Blighty to actually be the first on an RV10.

Thanks for the info and all the feedback from Les.

By 2025, we should be good to go ;)
 
We're having some difficulties getting some parts from Superior which will delay flywheel shipments.

Also, just received word that our main anodizer will do a shop move and be closed from May 6 to May 16. That may impact some deliveries as well.
 
Update

So far, most of our vendors have been able to keep supplying us with minimal delays or we've found alternate ones.

As of today, our order backlog sits at 6-8 weeks on EM-5 and CPI-2 kits.

CPIs can usually ship in 2-4 weeks.

CNC parts can usually ship in 1-2 weeks, depending on how busy the anodizer is. In stock things like flange kits usually ship in less than a week.

Our production workers are putting in many more hours now and we have new UV curing equipment to speed up that process on conformal coatings which are hand applied to some PCBs.

As always, we continue to refine and improve parts and software based on customer feedback and we'll be making some more information available soon to help customers understand the systems better and make installations faster.

Work continues on the EM-6 as Barry is dedicating more time to it since May. This is a main reason why the backlogs have increased unfortunately. He has knocked down most of the big software projects and is working on the last big one now. Hope to start testing proto boards in the late Fall if all going smoothly (and sometimes it doesn't).

Thank you to all our fantastic customers for your support and ideas. We're trying our best to keep up with the demand. :)
 
Closing Early These Days

With the heat up here now, it's become pretty unpleasant in the hangar upstairs after about 1300 or so we're outta there around this time.

I'm starting a little earlier now, around 0600 to make up some of the hours.

I saw 39C today at one point today which I believe is a new record here. I know you southern folks will laugh at that but hey, we laugh at you when you think -25C is cold too.:D

We'll try our best to keep orders going out the door this week, supposed to cool a bit by the weekend.
 
I completely agree. -39°c is easier to accomodate than +39°c. Just put on a warmer coat, plug in the engines and keep working. Not sure what to do when it's too hot....
 
Heat?

I have the solution for the heat. Seems the guy who had my hangar before I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Installed a 5 ton heat pump system.
Yes I have an airconditioned hangar.
I insulated the living bejeebers out of it, sheet rocked, sealed every air leak I could find, and painted and never looked back.
Outside 105 degrees and a nice comfy 75 degrees inside where I'm working.
Reverse in winter. Slab almost guarantees 52 degrees unless I turn on heat.
Suffering for sure??? Ha Ha Ha
Art
How's that for off thread??
 
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What are the min and max operating and storage temperatures for the SDS systems? I often see +60°c to -40°c on other electronics.
 
What are the min and max operating and storage temperatures for the SDS systems? I often see +60°c to -40°c on other electronics.

Operating temps for the latest displays is -20C to +70C. The characters become slow to resolve below -20C however in our testing, still reasonably visible down to about -28C.

The ECUs have been run down to -44C and up to +52C ambient. Sun soaked electronics can reach 70C under the higher ambient conditions. We've bench run ECUs to this temperature after baking them for an hour in the toaster oven.

Most sensors and modules are rated to 125C.

Storage temps, well never really tested to extremes but I don't see why they would be damaged by any reasonable temps, say -50C to +80C.
 
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Closed Today for Canada Day

We're still in the record heat wave here and will be closed today for Canada day. Open again on Friday.
 
Deliveries

Our order backlog continues to grow despite our best efforts to keep up. We're now at 8-10 weeks on CPI-2 and EM-5 kits. 1-2 on most CNC'd parts and CPIs.

We'll put your order in sequence and give you a call or email when we are about ready to commence building your kit.

We've experienced a few shortages and backlogs from some suppliers. Have managed to find alternate sources so far and hoarded some of these even if the costs are higher. Unfortunately aluminum prices have climbed 10-25% in the last 6 months of so. That will eventually lead to some slight price increases for some of our bits.

A word of caution to customers: If you disassemble mechanical components for any reason, be sure to note any fasteners or parts which are Locktited and use it again on re-assembly. Some people didn't and have had stuff come loose. If you're not sure what to use, give us a call or email.

We're working on some new parts and improvements to be released soon.
 
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Oshkosh

We won't be at Oshkosh this year but will have some folks there with SDS products.

A just saw Les Kearney take off here with his RV-10 you've seen in several videos. He's happy to show you his EFI installation and talk about it. PM me if you want his number to meet up.

Ray Ward will be at the Team Rocket booth with his F4 and CPI-2. He has a limited supply of SDS swag.

Two time Reno Sport Class winner Andy Findlay may be there from Sunday to Tuesday with his SDS equipped Super Legacy.

Marvin McGraw should be there with his RV-14 as well.

I believe Dave Anders will be doing the Cup Race this year.

To all those going to Osh this year, have a great time! :)
 
Marvin's RV-14 is parked in HBC, row 314 for those interested. N829MS.

Les Kearney's RV-10 is in row 345. C-GROK. I have Les' number if you want to meet up.

Kyle Fowler will be performing in his Long-EZ with SDS EFI again. He's also happy to talk about our EFI with you.
 
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For those with a RV14 that want to see the cabin install parts, come to the AS Flightlines booth 948. Its in the ultralight area. We have our RV14 cabin mockup on display with the SDS pump, Andair Duplex valve, our wing root filters, and the cabin Beringer brake system. Alittle bit of a hike, or a tram ride, but you can get an up close and personal look at how it all installs.

Steve and I will be there all week.
Tom
 
Thanks

A belated thanks to all the customers, friends and business folks who promoted SDS products at Osh this year. We really appreciate it.

Next big event is Reno in Sept. which I unfortunately won't be able to attend this year due to the border still being closed for ground travel into the US and restrictions on re-entering Canada. Despite this, we'll have several racers in multiple classes running SDS and Andy Findlay will be going for his third straight Gold win in Sport Class with some new tech this year.

We're still working diligently on the next gen but it's a bit slow due to the still 10 week order backlog we have. Thanks for your patience if you are in the order queue.
 
I Messed Up

We came out with some lightweight billet rocker covers for angle valve Lycomings a few years back. Two IO-390 users have now seen cracking on the outside around the central rocker shaft capture, which results in an oil seep.

Seems I went a little too light on the design here, so lesson learned and my apologies.

We've designed a new 1 piece, Gen 2 part to replace the previous 2 part design.

Anyone who has the original covers should inspect them for oil leaks here and if detected, contact us for free replacements.

BTW I have a really good deal on some billet coasters or covers for a static engine display!
 

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Unfortunately my wife might not approve of the coasters in the house. There's a beer fridge in my airplane factory that doesn't have coasters though.

Would they make a good tray for holding nuts and bolts?
 
Order backlog update

We continue to have unprecedented demand for SDS components and systems. Thank you to all for your orders.

This has now put us in a similar situation as Van's and some of the panel vendors unfortunately for our customers. Wait times continue to increase every month.

We currently stand at about 3 months from order to building EM-5 and CPI-2 kits. We can usually ship CPI kits a bit sooner and CNC'd parts within 1-7 days, if in stock.

We're also dealing with shortages of certain components from our normal vendors and have had to spend more time finding new vendors to meet our needs and sometimes pay higher prices. We hope to hold kit prices stable through the end of this year at least.

Prices on some CNC'd parts may have to increase before then, subject to material pricing increases passed on to us from suppliers.
 
Reno

Andy Findlay (SDS equipped Lancair) won the Sport Class race today at 392 mph.

Lee Ulrich qualified his RV-7 at 245 mph but his race was canceled today unfortunately.
 
Price Increase for 2022

We've seen a number of electronic component price increases recently plus some on aluminum billet, wiring and sensors. Much as I hate to do it, we'll be increasing prices on many of our systems by 3% effective Jan. 1/22 to compensate.
 
We've seen a number of electronic component price increases recently plus some on aluminum billet, wiring and sensors. Much as I hate to do it, we'll be increasing prices on many of our systems by 3% effective Jan. 1/22 to compensate.

Thank you for the heads up Ross. I will keep that date in mind for when I order mine. Do you have and upgrades for the EM5 in the works?
 
Thank you for the heads up Ross. I will keep that date in mind for when I order mine. Do you have and upgrades for the EM5 in the works?

We have brought out software updates from the EM-6 development and incorporated these into the latest EM-5, if hardware permits. Same on the CNC'd bits. Always trying to make things better if we can on an ongoing basis.

We are presently booked into December on EM-5 orders.
 
I'm making super slow, but steady progress on my fuselage (family before hobby). Planning full EFI. I'll be at the stage of running fuel lines, installing pumps and such soon. Probably sometime shortly after New Years. How long will the fuel pump module happily sit in the plane before it needs to be used?

I'd like to get the pieces installed, but don't want it to go bad if it sits there for 5 years before flying.
 
I can't say I've stored pumps for 5 years so can't be sure. They usually have Stoddard Solvent from testing inside which might get gummy over that time period. I see shelf life listed as from 6-85 months.
 
Does SDS offer a dyno or inflight engine tuning service? I've read the tuning manual a few times now, and I'm not super excited about having to buy and install everything for a wideband o2 sensor that won't be permanently installed. I've done a bit of automotive tuning with HPtuners and Nistune, and even with automotive work, I've come to the conclusion that its faster, cheaper and gives better results to take it to a professional tuner with the right equipment. I know it'll fly just fine with some basic adjustments on the stock engine/ignition map, but after its been flying for a bit, can I bring it up to Canada or one of your US distributors for a tuning session?
 
Does SDS offer a dyno or inflight engine tuning service? I've read the tuning manual a few times now, and I'm not super excited about having to buy and install everything for a wideband o2 sensor that won't be permanently installed. I've done a bit of automotive tuning with HPtuners and Nistune, and even with automotive work, I've come to the conclusion that its faster, cheaper and gives better results to take it to a professional tuner with the right equipment. I know it'll fly just fine with some basic adjustments on the stock engine/ignition map, but after its been flying for a bit, can I bring it up to Canada or one of your US distributors for a tuning session?

We've got maps for most popular engines but there are always subtle differences between each engine and exhaust system differences can change things a bit more beyond that. At the present time, with leaded avgas, there isn't a good way to implement reliable closed loop control which we'll be able to do in the future when unleaded avgas arrives.

If you send us a data log file by email, we can usually make some mapping suggestions or help diagnose an issue.

Lycomings are pretty tough beasts compared to automotive engines and tolerate a very wide range of AFRs with little complaint. The main issues we see are high CHTs in the climb and most of these are addressed with retarded timing and extra fuel in those areas

We don't do work on other people's planes for liability reasons and we wouldn't have time in any case due to the order backlog we currently have.

There may be some shops in the US which would take this on although the ones I am thinking of are mainly builder assist shops working on client aircraft with SDS installed.
 
Production Booked Through to Jan. 2022

As of today, we're booked with orders of EM-5 and CPI-2 systems through to approximately Jan. 15/22.

CPI and CNC'd billet parts can usually be sent out within 14-21 days, depending on stock or production run status if not in stock.

We have a few delays caused by suppliers so have had to massively stockpile numerous components which have unsteady/ uncertain supply now. We've had to switch vendors in some cases unfortunately.

Thank you to everyone for your orders. :)
 
Update

We've had an amazing sales year so far in 2021, so much so that unfortunately we'll run out of EM-5 ECU boards before the end of this month. PCBs were delivered late for the next production run and sales were much higher than projected leading to a gap in supply. The next board run is in process now and we expect to have the finished boards in hand in the latter half of Dec.

We've also experienced some delays in sourcing and receiving certain chips and other kit components though our early anticipation and overstocking of most of these items have mitigated a good portion of this.

In the meantime we'll continue to build the rest of the systems as usual, minus ECUs so delivery delays can be minimized.

CPI, CPI-2 and CNC'd parts orders are not impacted by this.

Kit deliveries are now booking out into Feb. 2022.

On the EM-6 ECU front, good progress is being made with the on board memory and reflash features. This part has been very time consuming. If things continue to progress smoothly, we anticipate PCB design to commence in Q1 2022 and testing in early Q2. Finally the end appears to be in sight (how many times have I said that now?). We have dedicated, on average, 2 days per week to this R&D process in 2021 and that has slowed deliveries somewhat but was the only way we'd ever get it done given the sales volume.

On the machining front, Trevor and Howard have added more 4 and 5 axis capability and higher spindle speed machines and new fixturing to increase production and try to keep costs down (outside of material price increases of course). These allow a single load and setup cycle to run more parts.

Thank you for your continued support and orders. We are looking forward to producing new and improved items for your RV projects.
 

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We were just informed that our run of ECU boards will be delayed until mid January at the chip loading facility unfortunately which will delay some system deliveries a bit more.

We'll keep building kit orders to minimize delays when the ECU boards arrive.
 
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