Oil Savings! ? !
.... The engines that benefit the most from an oil separator, as far as oil savings
are not the engines that burn a tremendous amount of oil via the piston rings, or
valve guides. The ones that gain the most from this system are the typical Lycoming,
as they actually have a built in design flaw. Due to the age of the design, and the lack
of a willingness to change anything in the aviation world once approved. The design
of the gear case, and accompanying gears are such that they have a tendency for oil
to climb up the gear chain to the top of the gear case where the pilot side magneto
drive gear throws this nice clean oil directly to the breather vent hole in the top of the
case. It is then carried out with any airflow that is present. This is the primary reason
that most people run their Lycoming engines 2 or 3 quarts low on oil as this has a
major effect on how much gets thrown out. We have seen this as well as tested oil
quantity effect many times on our dyno. When running a Lycoming on our dyno with
even moderate HP output and RPM this issue is very obvious and you can see the oil
droplets flying out on the breather hole. This in absolutely clean oil and re-introducing
it back into the engine is no different than it never having left. We have a 12" piece
of 1.25" Id clear vinyl hose we install vertically on the breather outlet when on the
dyno. This catches these large droplets of oil and allows them to just run back into the
engine. The moisture vents off, and blows away just as it does with the oil separators.
Moisture is not collected in our oil separators or re-introduced back to the oil reservoir,
it simply vents off overboard, or to the vacuum evacuator to be consumed in the
exhaust. The other main advantage of the system, and the main reason most are
installed is simply, most people hate to see oil on the belly of their pride and joy.
I am getting to old to crawl around on my back cleaning up all the mess, nor do I
have any desire to. With a properly installed system (baring any oil leaks) the belly
of your aircraft will and should be oil free. If I can help anyone with a question or
concern, just give me a call so we can address them. Thanks, Allan..
.
........P.S. Please keep an eye on our website from time to time, as we are soon to
be releasing some very nice new and exciting products!