G
Geoff
Phase 1 is finished. During phase 1 I had oil temperatures that were higher than I wanted. I replaced the Niagra oil cooler with the SW 8406R and got some relief. I also opened the cowling exit area slightly. Other than that, I decided to let the engine get more time on it and not make any more changes until next summer -- if I need to. OATs during phase 1 were 55-80F.
So imagine my surprise when I went flying the other day with an OAT of 35-40F. I found that I couldn't operate LOP very long because it made the engine too cold! With CHTs all in the 280-290F range, the oil temperature stabilized at 165F. Yeah, I know that's in the green, but it's lower than "optimum". I now have visions of having to install a cockpit-controllable oil cooler air-flow blocker -- even though there should be very little oil flowing through the cooler below 180F.
I'm beginning to think our modern engine instrumentation might be a tad bit excessive in some instances. The old "lean until rough, then enrichen slightly" and "as long as the oil temp is in the green band it's okay - if the gauge is even accurate" methods sure seemed to work fine for a lot of years on a lot of engines...
-Geoff
RV-8, 44 hours
P.S. 35F OAT in a plane with no insulation is a little chilly, even with the heater running full blast. I don't know how you people who live in cold, snowy places do it!
So imagine my surprise when I went flying the other day with an OAT of 35-40F. I found that I couldn't operate LOP very long because it made the engine too cold! With CHTs all in the 280-290F range, the oil temperature stabilized at 165F. Yeah, I know that's in the green, but it's lower than "optimum". I now have visions of having to install a cockpit-controllable oil cooler air-flow blocker -- even though there should be very little oil flowing through the cooler below 180F.
I'm beginning to think our modern engine instrumentation might be a tad bit excessive in some instances. The old "lean until rough, then enrichen slightly" and "as long as the oil temp is in the green band it's okay - if the gauge is even accurate" methods sure seemed to work fine for a lot of years on a lot of engines...
-Geoff
RV-8, 44 hours
P.S. 35F OAT in a plane with no insulation is a little chilly, even with the heater running full blast. I don't know how you people who live in cold, snowy places do it!