C

chris mitchell

Well Known Member
Patron
Yesterday my Sky-tec LS starter destroyed itself - the nose section including the front mounting broke away, and there is also a crack in the motor case, presumably from the spindle/armature flailing inside the case. Seemed like a normal cold start to me but an observer saw the broken part fall out onto the ground. At least I was still at my home airfield. Only done 96 hours but the time since I bought it means that it will be out of warranty regardless of of kickback or not. It looks exactly like this: http://img23.imageshack.us/i/starterl.jpg/

Since I will have to buy a new one I was thinking of upgrading to the NL model. I can accept I think the increase in weight for the kickback protection. But will the NL model fit on a Superior IO-360 with the snorkel fitted (RV-8)? I can see from the pictures on the Sky-tec site that the HT and PM models wouldn't fit. The Sky-tec fit guide mentions that if the snorkel is fitted it may be necessary to use the LS.

Time difference means I can't phone Sky-tec until late this afternoon.

Thanks

Chris
 
I can't answer your specific question although I thought the NL would work in place of the LS. I swapped them out on my RV-6.

The LS starters are pure junk and should all be melted down to form fence posts or something useful. Why buy another Skytec when one of them has already broke? While the NL is a much better starter you might want to consider the B&C starter.
 
Huh?

f1rocket said:
The LS starters are pure junk and should all be melted down to form fence posts or something useful. Why buy another Skytec when one of them has already broke?
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That sounds just a little harsh, doesn't it Randy?

I've been using them in various airplanes for years and thousands of hours - haven't had a failure yet. I'm not saying they don't fail - you've obviously had problems with them - but for every report of a failure on the Internet, there are probably thousands that are working fine.

At least my experience has been good - maybe I am completely unique.;)
 
Yes it fits

G'day Chris, yes, the NL will fit on the 200hp/snorkel RV8.
I've fitted one to a customer's aircraft when the LS gear stripped.
We also have a number of the NL's fitted on flying school aircraft - I'm the Chief Engineer for a maint. hangar, (and an ex-pom btw) - and our only problem with the NL is when the duty cycle has been ignored and the starter was "cooked".
I have an NL on my own Rocket, and had no problems.

Ron Graham
F1 #105 (flying) Sydney, Oz.
 
Contact em and let em know yours broke....They may fix it for free since they have admitted that they know there was a problem with these units and that they have changed the material they make the nose out of ...

Not sure if yours was one of em or not but they may work with you on it...

Give em a call.
 
Spoke to Rich - very helpful. Unfortunately they are out of the mount castings at present - a couple of weeks delay. What I thought is a crack in the motor case is normal. Sounds like they can repair the old one - but it means at least a couple of weeks of no flying. Guess I'll spring for a new one and have a spare!

Can't fault the Company for customer care. We don't get that too often here in jolly olde England!

Cheers

Chris
 
Ironflight said:
That sounds just a little harsh, doesn't it Randy?
Click to expand...

Nope not really. I actually held back.

I've been through two of them, both because they came on my engine from Bart. Take one apart and look at it. Maybe they've improved them since I had my problems, but I stand by my comments. I have A LOT of RV friends who have also had problems with the LS model particularly if you have EI and/or FI.

Now the NL is a nice starter and has a better gear ratio than the B&C, which is important if you are turning over a 540 Lyc, but the LS? Fence post is too nice, maybe cat boxes.
 
Skytec NL with Snorkel

Hi Chris, FYI

Re: NL with Snorkel, my Mattituck TMX-IO-360-M1B came with a Sky-Tec NL starter. The only interference with the snorkel on my RV-7 was with a couple of unused mounting lugs on the starter, which I cut off.

Sky-Tec install manual says this is fine so long as you leave a stub of atleast 1/8th of an inch.
 
f1rocket said:
I've been through two of them, both because they came on my engine from Bart. Take one apart and look at it. Maybe they've improved them since I had my problems, but I stand by my comments. I have A LOT of RV friends who have also had problems with the LS model particularly if you have EI and/or FI.
.
Click to expand...

Hey, if you've had bad experiences, you've had bad experiences. I do know that there are a lot more instances of kickback with the EI's, and I'd look closely at the starter I used for that application as well. Choosing the right starter for the right application is obviously key.

Paul
 
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My experience

I just had this very problem happen to me two weeks ago. In fact it was on the first day of running my engine. I had started the engine two times prior without incident. I then attempted to start it a third time. On this occasion the engine would not fire. after about 10 seconds of running the starter I stopped for a second, then cranked it again. The prop lurched violently and one of my buddies watching on the side waved at me to stop.



Just as Chris described happened to his, the nose of my starter had sheared off and because I did not have the cowl on was spit out in front of the prop. Luckily the prop was not spinning at that particular time so it did not hit the prop.

That was on Saturday. On Monday I called SkyTec and told them the situation. They said ship it back to them and they would get the housing replaced and back to me. They did just that. I shipped the starter to them on Tuesday morning. They received it on Wednesday, made the repair and shipped it out that day. I had it back at my house on Thursday. No charge.

I don't know about the problems Randy had with his starters but I have to say SkyTec's customer support was very good for me. We will see over time if my LS starter will last.
 
So I have to ask the obvious question. If it broke on your very first try, why would you re-install this product back on your airplane???

I've never had a problem with their support, they seem like great people. I just hate getting stuck somewhere with parts on my airplane that are not dependable.

As Paul suggested, getting the right starter for the right application is exactly correct. The LS starter should not be used on any 6 cylinder engine and probably not on any 4 cylinder engine that is using electronic ignition. All it takes is one kick-back to break the magnets in this inferior product.

Like I said, I didn't buy these starters, they were supplied with the engine. On the third engine I ordered from Bart, I got smart enough to ask him to drop the LS and install the NL in it's place. I liked the NL starter and thought is was a quality product.

BTW, if you have a Van's ND alternator on your airplane, you might want to throw it in the same junk pile as the LS, but that's another thread altogether. ;>)
 
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f1rocket said:
So I have to ask the obvious question. If it broke on your very first try, why would you re-install this product back on your airplane???
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Well, that is a fair question. The fair answer is; I am willing to give the company a chance. I have money that I cannot get back tied up in this starter already so I am not going to throw away $400-500 just because I, or others, may be opinionated concerning the starter. SkyTec deserves a chance to prove they are able to rectify a problem with their product. If it fails again you can be sure I will be dealing with the company differently.
f1rocket said:
. . .The LS starter should not be used on any 6 cylinder engine and probably not on any 4 cylinder engine that is using electronic ignition. All it takes is one kick-back to break the magnets in this inferior product.
Click to expand...
I am starting the engine with a Slick Mag.

f1rocket said:
BTW, if you have a Van's ND alternator on your airplane, you might want to throw it in the same junk pile as the LS, but that's another thread altogether. ;>)
Click to expand...
I am using the Plane Power alternator.
 
chris mitchell said:
Yesterday my Sky-tec LS starter destroyed itself - the nose section including the front mounting broke away, and there is also a crack in the motor case, presumably from the spindle/armature flailing inside the case. Seemed like a normal cold start to me but an observer saw the broken part fall out onto the ground. At least I was still at my home airfield. Only done 96 hours but the time since I bought it means that it will be out of warranty regardless of of kickback or not. It looks exactly like this: http://img23.imageshack.us/i/starterl.jpg/

Since I will have to buy a new one I was thinking of upgrading to the NL model. I can accept I think the increase in weight for the kickback protection. But will the NL model fit on a Superior IO-360 with the snorkel fitted (RV-8)? I can see from the pictures on the Sky-tec site that the HT and PM models wouldn't fit. The Sky-tec fit guide mentions that if the snorkel is fitted it may be necessary to use the LS.

Time difference means I can't phone Sky-tec until late this afternoon.

Thanks

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

Same happens to me two week ago, Skytec change my starter at no charge no questions. I think lycoming is selling their engines with an old skytec starter case/mount, the new case/mount don´t have the front logo "Skytec". All the starter broke exactly like mine that I saw here has the skytec logo.

Just contact skytec they are very good or best with warranty replace
 
Just another data point: My experience has been the same as Randy's for my IO-360 with EI - the LS didnt last long at all. Replaced with NL and no problems since. Another selling point for the NL is that if you do have a kickback associated problem, you have a good chance of being able to repair the NL in the field yourself. Not the case with the LS - you must replace or send in for repairs. Check with Skytec for the details, but I think its because of the use of a shear pin that provides a built-in (but serviceable) weak link on the NL.

erich
 
I've had the LS starters on my 6, 10, and 7A, all with Lightspeed igntion and one mag. No problems with any of them. My new 10 with the Mattituck IO-540 came with the NL starter. It certainly turns it over much faster, such that you can almost taxi on it. :)
I've used the Odysey batteries on all of them, and silver soldered all of the large wire connections to insure good starting current, and have not had any problems with kickbacks.

Vic
 
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