From: "Charlie England" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
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Date: Sat, 24 May 2014 10:39:26 -0500
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To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] start
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On 5/23/2014 6:57 PM, steve Izett wrote:
> Hi guys
>
> We are just finishing our Glasair SIIRG with a Renesis 4 port.
> Started her up after finishing main wiring and she burst into life. (without prop at the moment).
> ~70psi oil pressure oil and water temps building. Ran it for 5 mins or so before shutdown not wanting temps above 200.
> We worked out that if we lifted the tail up we could get some more air out and water in.
> I have some questions/concerns:
>
> 1. Gurgling sound emanating from oil filler/breather with white substance on the oil dip stick. Concerned water may be getting into sump. What are the symptoms of o-ring failure? So much to learn re rotaries.
>
> 2. If we do need to tear it down, any great sources of how to go about it. Remembering years ago seeing Bruce T had a video?
>
> 3. We are working on an expansion tank design and wondered if someone could share the important elements of a good cooling system design. Looking at photos of other aircraft I’ve seen lines to expansion tanks from A. Rear iron port. B. Radiator tank top. etc. A. Is height of tank significant? B. Volume required? C. How much air should be left in the tank? D. Cap style?.
>
> So much appreciate having this list.
>
>
> Steve Izett
> Perth Western Australia
I failed to answer several questions.
1. 'Chocolate milk' looking oil does sound like coolant contamination 
(my experience was with a piston engine 40 yrs ago). You can add a 
schrader valve (tire valve) and pressure gauge to the coolant system, 
pressurize with air on top of your coolant up to your cap limit, and 
wait a day to see if it's losing pressure. (It will fluctuate slightly 
with ambient temperature, if there's much air in the system.)

2. There was a video, but I don't have one.

3B: Most automotive swirl pots I've looked at are between 1 & 2 quarts 
(sorry for the archaic measure; I live in the USA...). I've got several 
from different salvage yard cars (all with ~20 lb caps) that I collected 
to see if any would work on my installation. Upside is, most are 
translucent, making coolant level checks a lot more convenient. :-)

3D: See previous emails. A lot of guys use ~20 pound caps. This is 
higher than older automotive systems (most were ~14 lbs), but fairly 
common on newer cars with pressurized swirl pot style systems. Higher 
cap pressures are supposed to help prevent unneeded venting of coolant 
at altitude, where ambient pressure is lower & will effectively lower 
the pressure point (cap pressure is the difference between system and 
ambient).

Charlie