no oil cooler

[burgundyja]

has anyone thought of just routing the oil line threw one or both of the fuel tanks. i know that you would have to put them on the bottom of the tank. you would also never want to run the tank empty. but i think this would have suficent cooling with all of that surface area. i also think that you would have less drag with no oil cooler fins slowing down the air flow.

[robjohnson]

Why would you want to do this? Sounds like A LOT of work for something that isn't a problem....oil coolers work great and have limited plumbing. I like the keep it simple mantra.

[Geico266]

You want to heat up your fuel? I don't think that is a good idea at all. The extra weight and complexity plus the heat being transferred into the fuel just dosn't make sense to me.

JMHO.

[Ironflight]

Well, it's an interesting question.....and if I remember way back to my school days, there are advantages to pre-heated fuels (hey, that's how we do it in the rocket business!), but the weight of the extra oil lines would probably well exceed any theoretical efficiencies, plus I don't know the long-term affect of submerging oil lines in Avgas. (I am sure the interior of the line is fuel proof, but I don't know about the outside.)

I am of the "the less oil line length, the fewer chances for leaks" school of thought BTW....

Paul

[frankh]

Hot fuel on a warm day....Your asking for vapour lock...Don't do it.

Frank

[burgundyja]

I think that the heat will disapate from the fuel to the skin into the air. I dont think that the temp of the fuel would rise that much. I think that the wieght of the extra oil lines would be the same as the oil cooler. I do agree that there is more of a chance of a leak. I am just thinking about this and I just was wondering if anyone thought about this.

[Tom Hunter]

The fact that this is not a common practice...i.e. running oil lines thru the fuel tank....should be indicative of something.

Also, as to the point about by doing this, one would achieve less drag:

You have to have air flowing thru the engine compartment. So it also flows thru the oil cooler which incidently has a whole lot more surface area than a single metal tube routed thru a fuel cell. "If" the amount of HP absorbed by the oil cooler were, say 5 hp then what would be the penalty in cruise speed you would see? It wouldn't be much!

Also, I wonder what the long term effect on Pro Seal would be to add extra heat to it? The last thing you would want is for your fuel tank to start leaking.

A oil cooler mounted on the rear baffle requires short hose runs. If one were to try to use the fuel tank(s) as a heat sink, the weight of the additional hoses would be significant.

Also, what would happen to the efficiency of your fuel tank heat sink when you landed in Phoeinix with your tank nearly empty after a long cross country and you are taxing to the ramp and you're told by Ground to hold at Taxi Way Alpha?

I am not a fan of trying to re-invent the wheel. This is an interesting idea to think about however.

Tom Hunter

[N941WR]

The one thing that got me, that no one has mentioned, is that you are going to run HOT oil lines through the cabin to get to the wings.

No thanks for a couple of reasons.

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by N941WR

The one thing that got me, that no one has mentioned, is that you are going to run HOT oil lines through the cabin to get to the wings.

Of course Bill, you have to realize he's in Minnesota, so maybe that doesn't seem like a problem. Minnesotans have been known to set THEMSELVES on fire to keep warm....

Paul

[N208ET]

You wouldn't be able to drain this oil during a oil change. You would have to run oil lines through the cockpit, not just lines with a restrictor fitting, were talking about lines with some flow to them. There is a possiblity of the line coming leaking in the tank, mixing fuel with oil. Great for a 2 stroke.

Randy