Not pessimistic, that is exactly what I want...what may I not be thinkin= g of.

Yes, I replaced some of the corner seals and one side seal that broke wh= en I removed it. I cleaned the side seal groves and endured the side = seals moved freely. I almost installed the side seal springs imp= roperly but, IIRC , just before I sealed it up I reviewed a Pineapple racing video that states specificall= y the positioning of the springs. I also replaced all the rubber inse= rts.

Yes, I do believe the centrifugal force does drive the apex = seals against the housings. If I understand what I read s= omewhere on this list it helps as the engine is running. However= , you are not getting enough force when cranking and if I am not getting the seals against the rear housings to give good compressio= n that may be causing the hard starts.

That being said, the apex seal springs seem to be doing their job in tha= t the seals are springy when I tap at them through the lower/leading spark = plug holes. I am curios if perhaps they are not in the exact proper p= osition and may not be sealing enough....yeah, grasping at straws.

Please, keep the ideas coming please. I am more concer= ned about getting it right, even with the added effort of tearing into it a= gain. I do not wish to spend countless hours trying to tune the = EC2 if the real problem is in the engine and as I have stated, it is getting easier each time <groan>. = Again, the problem seems to be isolated to the rear rotor based on compress= ion.

Last time I removed the rear rotor without removing the engine from the = plane. This time, should that be my mission, I will likely remove the= engine, even though I will attempt to not disturb the front housing or the= front cover etc. I just think it will be easier to have the stack vertical and the bit of extra effo= rt to actually remove the engine will only involve a few more steps.

Chris

From: Rotary motors in aircraft [flyrotary= @lancaironline.net] on behalf of bktrub@aol.com [bktrub@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2011 11:27 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Low Compression in rotor 2...still

This is a puzzler. How are you lubing the apex springs? Not that that = has anything to do with it, just wondering. Also wonder how funtional the a= pex springs are when the motor is spinning- shouldn't centrifugal force dri= ve the seals out against the rotor housing walls?

I hate to be a pessimist, but did you check the side seals and corner = seals also?

Brian Trubee

= -----Original Message-----
From: Chris Barber <cbarber@texasattorney.net>
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Sun, Feb 13, 2011 7:29 pm
Subject: [FlyRotary] Low Compression in rotor 2...still

To remind y'all, following very hard starting, I discovered bad apex seal springs in my rotor 2 most likely due to detonation.&n= bsp; I cracked the keg and replaced the rear apex springs and sealed it all= back up. While apart, I did not discover any damage other than the bad springs.

I have been trying to tune the engine, however, even using BOTH my EC2= 's , I am still having problems with very hard starting= . When I do get it to start it is at full lean and I believe on= ly if I switch over to B. Once started I can take the mixture from full lean to a more moderate setting (even if = the tuning is still lacking) and it will run on A or B about the same. = ; I have reset A to factory settings. I do have a bit larger injector= s, per Mistrals recommendation, but did crank her up to 22. MAP and adjust Mode 3 once started to just over the mid= point per the EC2 manual.

It takes an extended period of time of cranking (maybe 50 or 60 s= econds...betting my starter is hating me) before it starts and then&nb= sp;kinda just starts running as a continuation of the = starter being turned, instead of the engine actually "firing up".

I pulled the plugs to check inside and unlike before all the apex= seals are nice and springy, HOWEVER, when I do a compression check I = am only getting about 60 psi on the rear rotor. I am getting about 80= psi on the front rotor, which is what I expected.

Guys and Gals, I just rebuilt this rear rotor. I am confidant th= at I got it together properly...but, obviously, I shouldn't be so co= nfidant as the facts is the facts. The rear rotor is only 60 ps= i which IF I understand correctly would lead to hard starting (and perhaps some rough running as the engine does not se= em as smooth when running as it has in the past).

I have been getting it to run with much effort over the last few weeks= but kept it at lower power. Today, however I did run it up for sever= al seconds and was able to produce a steady 6300 RPM at 33.4 MAP.

I had it suggested that the new springs needed some time to "set&= quot;, but I am not really thinking this holds water...or compression for t= hat matter. I also tried squirting in some MM oil and compression did= come up a bit, but the REALLY hard start remains.

I am once again mostly resigned to tearing open the engine to see what= I must have missed. But since I am pretty sure I did it right before= WHAT, pray tell, may you fine gentlepersons suggest I look for when= /if I open her up again???? Or, even better, suggestions that would prevent a teardown. FYI, the plugs lo= oked like I would have expected....brownish ashy with no oil build up. Also= , I am not having any current indication of coolant in the chambers (d= on't ask me how I know how to look for that tell tale sign [-(

Please feel free to ask probing questions regarding my method and or a= ttempts.

I am betting ya'll are getting tired of hearing from me.....

Chris Barber

Houston

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