One thing, I would like to add to Joe’s excellent
description of the troubleshooting it took to get things fixed up on his 20B.
Joe mentioned that the initial starting problem was
attributed to a problem with the CAS wiring. Well, I though some might be
interested in how that was diagnosed.
Joe had used the simulator modes (both injector and coils)
and they all worked fine. You could hear the injectors chatting and could see
the steady stream of sparks on the sparkplug. So we knew he had the right
connections to both injectors and the coils – the EC2 simulation mode
told us that.
But, it still wouldn’t start – wouldn’t even
give a hint of rotor firing. We could smell fuel, particularly after priming a
few times, but there was no indication of combustion smells.
So Joe took a spare plug and hooked it up to one of the
coils and proceeded to crank (injectors off) while I stood and watched. It
was clear the spark plug was NOT firing during normal mode. But, it did fire
during simulation mode.
That was the clue that the EC2 was hooked up to the injector
and coils correctly – as attested to by the simulation of both
subsystems. But, the fact that I could not hear injectors clicking and more
certain the lack of any spark during normal mode made it fairly clear that the
EC2 was not getting a good trigger signal from the CAS during normal start mode.
That led to the finding of a wiring error which rectification led to the successful
starts. So if your injectors are a clicking and spark plugs firing in
simulation mode, but you still get no evidence of the engine firing –
pull a plug wire or listen to the injectors while trying a normal start.
Needless to say BE VERY CAREFUL – if checking
injectors during a normal start mode make certain the ignition is OFF. Like
wise if checking the ignition make certain the injectors are off – you would
not want that thing to roar to life while you head is a foot or so from the
prop!!!
Also be aware IF you have fuel in your intake or the
combustion chamber and your turn on the ignition simulator it may well cause
the engine to fire and prop to rotate. I’ve had that happen to me, the
blade only move approx 30 -45 deg, but it still could have whacked you on the
head hard enough to send you to medical. So again be careful!!!
7 starts? Really Joe? Must’ a been nice.
I’d also like to mention that Joe has a tangential
muffler out of fairly heavy gauge metal approx 6-8 “ diameter (as best I
recall). While the engine probably didn’t get above 1000 rpm or so while
I was there, the tone was a deep throated muffled roar. Sounded really nice,
more like a deep throated V8 than a rotary – higher rpm will certainly
make it louder, but it sure has a mellow sound at this stage.
Well that’s about all I wanted to add.
Ed
Ed Anderson
Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered
Matthews, NC
eanderson@carolina.rr.com
http://www.andersonee.com
http://www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html
http://www.flyrotary.com/
http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494BW
http://www.rotaryaviation.com/Rotorhead%20Truth.htm