Cooling plenum and oil cooler location?

[N941WR]

For those of you with the Sam/Will James cowl and cooling plenum, where did you mount your oil cooler and what kind of oil temperatures do you see?

Please include your engine size with your reply.

And PLEASE only vote and reply if you have a James Aircraft cowling and plenum.

[frankh]

on the firewall, but it does not cool that great...My buddy has his on the firewall with a 3" hose and it seems to cool better.

Frank

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by frankh

on the firewall, but it does not cool that great...My buddy has his on the firewall with a 3" hose and it seems to cool better.

Frank

Frank,

What size hose do you have leading to your oil cooler?

[lostpilot28]

Hi Bill,
I've got mine mounted on the baffling behind cylinder #4. I'm seeing very cool temps. Ambient temps were mid 20's here a couple weeks ago and I was getting oil temps of around 125 F. I had the back of the oil cooler blocked with aluminum tape, so I removed that and installed the Van's oil cooler shutter. Fully closed and now I'm getting temps of around 145-150 F. Still not great, but better.

I may try lowering the oil pressure a bit with the oil pressure adjuster thingy. I'm not sure if that'll help or not, but I'm also seeing pretty high pressure (low 90's) so hopefully that will help.

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by lostpilot28

Hi Bill,
I've got mine mounted on the baffling behind cylinder #4. I'm seeing very cool temps. Ambient temps were mid 20's here a couple weeks ago and I was getting oil temps of around 125 F. I had the back of the oil cooler blocked with aluminum tape, so I removed that and installed the Van's oil cooler shutter. Fully closed and now I'm getting temps of around 145-150 F. Still not great, but better.

Did you install the shutter on the front or back of the cooler? I'm just finishing mine tomorrow. It's on the front with a control knob on the panel.

Just wondering since you mentioned the aluminum tape on the backside.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[nucleus]

I only saw 137F today in 40F air, ordered a shutter today. The highest I have seen was 240 in 100 degree heat overall it runs too low. My cooler is mounted on the back of #4.

Hans

[lostpilot28]

Originally Posted by L.Adamson

Did you install the shutter on the front or back of the cooler? I'm just finishing mine tomorrow. It's on the front with a control knob on the panel.

Just wondering since you mentioned the aluminum tape on the backside.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

I installed it on the front. The aluminum on the back didn't seem to help much, so I managed to fit it between the oil cooler and the plenum. I've got the control cable going to the oil door (for now).

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by lostpilot28

I installed it on the front. The aluminum on the back didn't seem to help much, so I managed to fit it between the oil cooler and the plenum. I've got the control cable going to the oil door (for now).

Scott froms Van's said that covering up the back wouldn't help much either.
Mine is between the rear baffle and oil cooler with a few washers in between, as the vanes on the cooler stick out a bit pass the flanges and stop the shutter from opening easy. It now works easy, but I should have picked up a heavier duty cable such as the Van's cable for carb heat. The light weight one I picked up from an auto parts store is becoming a headache.

So.......... in other words, I may not get the higher oil to the temps I prefer?

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[L.Adamson]

Tired of pulling the cowl to install metal tape on the front of the oil cooler, I installed the cable operated oil cooler air control from Van's ($85). It's about 1/4" thick, and should be installed ahead of the oil cooler. Not behind. In my case, it's between the #4 cylinder rear baffle and oil cooler.

I used the normal size washers for AN3 bolts on both sides of the shutter with weather stripping. If you don't use washers between the cooler and shutter, the cooler will press on the moveable section of the shutter which makes it in-operable. I also had to get AN3 bolts from Aircraft Spruce that were 1/4" longer.

I have a cheap and light Autozone cable that goes to the panel for in cockpit operation. With todays flights at the 8500 - 10500 msl. level, and outside temperatures between 25 & 31F -------- I was able to maintain oil temps between 185 & 195 in cruise, depending on power settings. In a sustained climb with shutter fullly closed, the temp went up to 220, but I had the option of dropping it from the cockpit.

For today's flight, with the exception of seeing what opening the shutter a bit would do, I kept the shutter fully closed. In the past, I've taped over the cooler & left a small opening. The temps would usually run around 165 with that setup.

I do like the option of setting the shutter from the cockpit. Climb is a good reason, as well as flying into much warmer temps as I do between Utah and Arizona.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[Bubblehead]

Why are shutters necessary? When the oil is too cold the Vernatherm is open and oil bypasses the oil cooler.

Apparently some oil still circulates through the cooler even with the Vernatherm wide open?