Mark,
Where are you reading oil pressure? Can you rig some way to read
it between the pump and the cooler? Look that replacement cooler over
carefully and check it for changes as you run the engine or fly for a
while. It doesn’t seem reasonable to me that the cooler would blow
up on only 90 psi. Could you have a restriction in the line somewhere?
Bill B
From: Rotary motors in aircraft
[mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On
Behalf Of Mark Steitle
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009
8:35 PM
To: Rotary
motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Oil
cooler
There's a third possibility that I hadn't considered until I looked at
the cooler again tonight after work. It is evident that the cooler was
pressurized to the point that the tank warped causing the divider to pull away
from the core (not welded where it meets the core). This allowed the
oil to go in and right back out again. The tubes look fine, but the
center of both tanks where there is no support, is ballooned
outward.
I'm debating on whether to send it back to Fluidyne for inspection
& repair, or to bite the bullet and order a new one
(assuming that this size is still available). This one is definitely
repairable, but not sure I'd feel comfortable flying behind it
afterwards.
I also need to ask Gary
what the working pressure is for the Fluidyne coolers. I'm wondering if I
may have damaged this cooler with 90 psi oil pressure without realizing
it?
On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 6:58 PM, Lynn Hanover <lehanover@gmail.com> wrote:
I called Fluidyne today and spoke with Gary, the owner. While the cooler is
not under warranty, they are willing to look at it and determine if it can be
repaired. I'll send it off and see what they say.
There should be evidence of a TIG bead half way around the end tank
near the center. Either its there or it isn't. If not and both fittings are in
the same end, it is the problem.......