|
Message
Hi Rusty,
There have been two cases I am aware of where the coolant
system was impaired. One was Ron Gowans Long EZ when he lost coolant (heard
second hand) and Jim Mosur when he had both belts pop off the water pump
pulley. In both cases, the engine temps went off the scale, there was the
odor of overheated metal and oil and a bit of smoke/steam. However, in
both cases the engines continued to run and got pilot and aircraft safely to an
airport.
Jim flew his for approx 10 minutes to an airport and then
had to make a go-a-round when a non-radio equipped aircraft took off as he was
preparing to land. Landed successfully. Next morning when He
discovered that when he went to replenish the lost coolant that the engine
leaked like a sieve. All the coolant "O" rings (and anything else rubber)
was shot.
He ended up rebuilding the engine - don't know what he had
to replace - seems like it was the housings - perhaps due to warping, but
I think the rotors were reused.
With the rotors being of an iron alloy spinning in an
aluminum housing, its unlikely the engine would seize (unlike aluminum pistons
in an iron sleeve) and it been reported that you loose a bit of compression and
power (presumably because the aluminum housing expands).
I can provide you Jim's e mail address if you want to get
the story straight from him.
Ed A
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2005 5:56
PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] complete loss of
coolant?
Greetings,
We've established what
happens if the engine runs out of oil. What about coolant? If the system sprang a leak,
and you continued to run at cruise power, will it eventually seize,
similar to the oil out? I can't say I've heard of that happening, but
most people probably quit before they get to that point. I'm thinking it
would seize though.
The reason I'm wondering
has to do with thoughts of a backup water pump. I'll almost certainly
use only the DC EWP on the single
rotor, but I'm wondering if a second one is needed. I could live
with the loss of the engine due to
warping, if it didn't cause it to seize in short order.
Cheers,
Rusty (ports, and more
ports)
|