SDS EFI in 2020

[rv6ejguy]

Our YouTube channel passed 150,000 collective views yesterday.

Thanks to all those here who subscribe and watch.

I've been shooting some more flying content recently before winter closes in and will work on editing that over the coming weeks into a couple more vids.

I also branched off from the EFI side for a bit to do some vids on general engine topics, which I've wanted to do for a while.

On the EFI side, we are still wading through orders placed 2-3 weeks ago and doing our best to get them built and shipped out. Always some new/ improved bits in the works which are being introduced as they become available. Thanks to all our customers for their feedback to help us make SDS even better for the future.

[agent4573]

Do you guys recommend a sniffle valve for installations running the full SDS system? I know mechanical fuel injection systems need it, but since post shut down leakage should be zero with electronic injectors I'm just curious if I need one.

[rv6ejguy]

No sniffle valve required. When the ECU or injector power is shut off, the injectors snap closed, so zero leakage.

[agent4573]

That's what I assumed with the electronic injection, just wanted to make sure. Thanks for the reply.

[rv6ejguy]

November has been another busy month for us. We sold out of EM-5 ECU PCBs last week but more are to be shipped from the loading facility on Dec. 3.

This break has given us several days to get back in earnest onto EM-6 software development and Barry has made some good progress towards that end. He's slowly knocking "to do" items off the list but we're still many months away from production EM-6 ECUs.

CPI and CPI-2 sales have been steady as has our line of CNC'd parts which has been keeping machinists Trevor and Howard busy as usual. We have a few new and improved parts for the EFI kits which is always an ongoing process.

I've managed to arrange new sources for some of the common ignition components we use, as the original ones often have had very long lead times or spotty supply which is maddening when we are super busy like most of this year.

We don't have any plans to develop kits for any more aviation engines at this time as we have enough business to keep us hopping all year it seems with the present portfolio. This includes Lycoming 235 to 580, Conti O-200 and IO-550, Jabiru 2200/3300 and Rotax 912. We also cover VW, Subaru and GM LS aero conversions with some special parts.

Thanks again to all the fine folks who've supported us and given us valuable feedback to improve SDS products.

[rv6ejguy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1fCzLW9qgY

[David Carter]

Ross & Ralph -

Great video, thanks for putting it together.

I noticed in the video that you have the Ballenger unit set to the extreme range. I have mine set the same but had considered changing to the normal range for greater sensitivity. What are your thoughts on the pros & cons of these two settings?

What AFR do you target during high-power takeoff & climb?

I run mine in lambda mode rather than AFR, so I'll have to do some math to compare your values to what I'm seeing on my AFP-injected IO-360. I think my readings are not as steady as what you were seeing.

I also noticed that you are running 5 degrees of LOP advance, which is more than I've been running on my CPI-2. I'll have to do some testing to see if I would benefit from more.

Thanks again!
David

[Ralph Inkster]

To make the Ballinger display on the SDS control head, it had to be set to the 'Extreme range (gas)', the SDS O2 sensor input has to be set to 'AEM (new)' format. AFR display values on both units are not exactly same but within a couple tenths of each other, example 15.2 on Ballenger vs 15.3 showing on the SDS. Close enough for me.
Basically my ignition is set at 25btdc and varies with MAP and RPM ranges, it may retard up to 4 deg or advance up to 4 deg dependent on rpm & load.
Additionally, the Lean Of Peak switch on the SDS advances the timing 5 deg. more than the reactive time described above. The Lean Of Peak switch also leans out the basic fuel map by 26% to give me the 15 - 16 AFR for reduced fuel flow and maintaining reasonable temp changes and power loss. The AFR will still vary a bit as the fuel map is also influenced by the Air Temp, Engine Temp & MAP.
In general High load situations would drag the AFR to around 11.6 - 12 with timing at around 24btdc. In lean conditions I would see AFR about 15.5 - 16 and timing about 33btdc. These would be the intended program parameters I want in the SDS & I still have the lean mixture knob (which I rarely touch anymore) if I want to play with it.

Part of our Ballinger experiment, I power it through a delay relay to see how it affects the life span of the NTK sensor. Power is delayed 30 seconds after the starter switch is activated.

[airguy]

Originally Posted by Ralph Inkster

To make the Ballinger display on the SDS control head, it had to be set to the 'Extreme range (gas)', the SDS O2 sensor input has to be set to 'AEM (new)' format. AFR display values on both units are not exactly same but within a couple tenths of each other, example 15.2 on Ballenger vs 15.3 showing on the SDS. Close enough for me.
Basically my ignition is set at 25btdc and varies with MAP and RPM ranges, it may retard up to 4 deg or advance up to 4 deg dependent on rpm & load.
Additionally, the Lean Of Peak switch on the SDS advances the timing 5 deg. more than the reactive time described above. The Lean Of Peak switch also leans out the basic fuel map by 26% to give me the 15 - 16 AFR for reduced fuel flow and maintaining reasonable temp changes and power loss. The AFR will still vary a bit as the fuel map is also influenced by the Air Temp, Engine Temp & MAP.
In general High load situations would drag the AFR to around 11.6 - 12 with timing at around 24btdc. In lean conditions I would see AFR about 15.5 - 16 and timing about 33btdc. These would be the intended program parameters I want in the SDS & I still have the lean mixture knob (which I rarely touch anymore) if I want to play with it.

Part of our Ballinger experiment, I power it through a delay relay to see how it affects the life span of the NTK sensor. Power is delayed 30 seconds after the starter switch is activated.

I'm still using my mix knob to control my mix entirely manually and using LOP button just for +4 degrees timing - but after more than 100 hours on the system now I am comfortable with it and will soon program the fuel cut and leave the mix knob alone, and start fine-tuning the fuel map using the AFR.

[Ralph Inkster]

Greg,
I'm using the delay relay you suggested for the Bellenger power.

PM sent.