Original Posted By: Jeff Boatright
I have collected almost as many articles on mechanical fuel gauges as I haveon wiring diagrams!! One of the common topics was what kind of float to use.Most have probable seen the one that went from Axe deodorant cans to WD40cans. No doubt, all the ideas work, but I have been stuck on good, old-fashionedcork.This was an easy internet search, and the cork is very cheap (unfortunately,the shipping is not!). http://www.corkstore.com/compass/servle ... icksearch= Gary Boothe Cool, Ca. Pietenpol WW Corvair Conversion, mounted Tail done, Fuselage on gear (20 ribs down.) ________________________________________________________________________________Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2010 14:58:14 -0400
Pietenpol-List: Cork Floats
Re: Pietenpol-List: Cork Floats
Original Posted By: Rick Holland
Here is my panel but it has not been flown. The CHT had to be moved to the leftside because it gave the vertical compass a fit.--------Jerry Dotson59 Daniel Johnson RdBaker, FL 32531Started building NX510JD July, 2009Ribs and tailfeathers doneusing Lycoming O-235Read this topic online here:http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... ttachments: http://forums.matronics.com//files/a26_ ... ______Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 17:23:18 -0600Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Cork Floats
Here is my panel but it has not been flown. The CHT had to be moved to the leftside because it gave the vertical compass a fit.--------Jerry Dotson59 Daniel Johnson RdBaker, FL 32531Started building NX510JD July, 2009Ribs and tailfeathers doneusing Lycoming O-235Read this topic online here:http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... ttachments: http://forums.matronics.com//files/a26_ ... ______Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 17:23:18 -0600Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Cork Floats
Re: Pietenpol-List: Re: New cylinder - low oil pressure?
Original Posted By: H RULE
Another possible cause of oil pressure loss is a piece of rag partially, or totally, blocking off the lower end of the pickup tube in the tank. A friend told me he bought a used Continental A65 for his new Pietenpol and, after installing it, ran it. Initially he had oil pressure, but then the pressure dropped to zero. After checking everything they could think of they eventually removed the oil sump/tank and found a cleaning cloth had been sucked up against the pickup tube, thereby blocking it.While a cylinder is off an engine the crankcase opening is sometimes closed using rags. Possibly a piece of this material could remain inside the engine and drop into the oil sump/tank.Just a possibility that bears checking out. I do hope that something simple like this is the cause of your problem and that nothing serious is wrong with your engine. Good luck on this.Cheers,Graham Hansen Pietenpol CF-AUN in Alberta, Canada________________________________________________________________________________Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 18:12:08 -0700 (PDT)
Another possible cause of oil pressure loss is a piece of rag partially, or totally, blocking off the lower end of the pickup tube in the tank. A friend told me he bought a used Continental A65 for his new Pietenpol and, after installing it, ran it. Initially he had oil pressure, but then the pressure dropped to zero. After checking everything they could think of they eventually removed the oil sump/tank and found a cleaning cloth had been sucked up against the pickup tube, thereby blocking it.While a cylinder is off an engine the crankcase opening is sometimes closed using rags. Possibly a piece of this material could remain inside the engine and drop into the oil sump/tank.Just a possibility that bears checking out. I do hope that something simple like this is the cause of your problem and that nothing serious is wrong with your engine. Good luck on this.Cheers,Graham Hansen Pietenpol CF-AUN in Alberta, Canada________________________________________________________________________________Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 18:12:08 -0700 (PDT)
Re: Pietenpol-List: Cork Floats
Original Posted By: H RULE
I did the same thing with 2 corks and thin stainless steel welding rod. I bent the top over after going thru a brazed in tube in the cap. The bend was located so that when it bottoms on the cap I still have ~1 hour of flying left @ 4 gallons /hr with my 65 Continental. Works fine. I epoxied the cork to seal it. Now on its 3rd year with no apparent deterioration. Gets checked every time I add fuel.--Jim lagowski ----- Original Message -----
I did the same thing with 2 corks and thin stainless steel welding rod. I bent the top over after going thru a brazed in tube in the cap. The bend was located so that when it bottoms on the cap I still have ~1 hour of flying left @ 4 gallons /hr with my 65 Continental. Works fine. I epoxied the cork to seal it. Now on its 3rd year with no apparent deterioration. Gets checked every time I add fuel.--Jim lagowski ----- Original Message -----
Pietenpol-List: Cork Floats
Original Posted By: Steve Ruse
41CC has the twin cork float setup too. However,it seems like the corks don't always provide enoughflotation to keep the indicator rod reading correctly.I may just try the Ford Mustang/Cougar brass floatto see if it's any better.FWIW, I believe Corky said he dipped the corks inshellac to seal them, but I don't remember exactly.Oscar ZunigaAir Camper NX41CCSan Antonio, TXmailto: taildrags(at)hotmail.comwebsite at http://www.flysquirrel.net ________________________________________________________________________________Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:22:12 -0400
41CC has the twin cork float setup too. However,it seems like the corks don't always provide enoughflotation to keep the indicator rod reading correctly.I may just try the Ford Mustang/Cougar brass floatto see if it's any better.FWIW, I believe Corky said he dipped the corks inshellac to seal them, but I don't remember exactly.Oscar ZunigaAir Camper NX41CCSan Antonio, TXmailto: taildrags(at)hotmail.comwebsite at http://www.flysquirrel.net ________________________________________________________________________________Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:22:12 -0400
Re: Pietenpol-List: Cork Floats
Original Posted By: H RULE
Pietenpol-List: Re: New cylinder - low oil pressure?
Original Posted By: "taildrags"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Cork FloatsNo shellac Oscar. I had some Hirsch's Gasoline Tank Sealer left over from my old car restoration days and it seemed to work great. The corks are from any wine bottles.Corky________________________________________________________________________________Subject: Pietenpol-List: Re: New cylinder - low oil pressure?
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Cork FloatsNo shellac Oscar. I had some Hirsch's Gasoline Tank Sealer left over from my old car restoration days and it seemed to work great. The corks are from any wine bottles.Corky________________________________________________________________________________Subject: Pietenpol-List: Re: New cylinder - low oil pressure?
RE: Pietenpol-List: Re: New cylinder - low oil pressure?
Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
My experience with my old Chief was similar. I took to priming the oilpump before each start by unscrewing the pressure line and squirting oilin. Oil pressure came up every time. Eventually I got a NOS rear casefrom Reno and fixed the problem once and for all.No paperwork . . . -----Original Message-----
My experience with my old Chief was similar. I took to priming the oilpump before each start by unscrewing the pressure line and squirting oilin. Oil pressure came up every time. Eventually I got a NOS rear casefrom Reno and fixed the problem once and for all.No paperwork . . . -----Original Message-----
RE: Pietenpol-List: Re: New cylinder - low oil pressure?
Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Hi Dan,With my old oil pressure gage, after I started the engine I would wait fornearly 30 seconds (and begin wondering whether I should shut the enginedown) before the gage would begin to move. After about 30 seconds it wouldjump to about 10 psi, and after another 30 seconds it would jump again, toabout 25 psi and then the third jump would take it to 35.As I said, this gage got where it would still read 35 psi, even a week afterengine shutdown. If I tapped on the gage it would then drop to zero. Notmuch good as an indicator of impending engine problems...The new gage (of exactly the same type) now begins to climb off the pegalmost as soon as I start the engine and smoothly increases to 35 psi. Itis a Rochester gage that I bought from AS&S.Jack PhillipsNX899JPRaleigh, NC-----Original Message-----
Hi Dan,With my old oil pressure gage, after I started the engine I would wait fornearly 30 seconds (and begin wondering whether I should shut the enginedown) before the gage would begin to move. After about 30 seconds it wouldjump to about 10 psi, and after another 30 seconds it would jump again, toabout 25 psi and then the third jump would take it to 35.As I said, this gage got where it would still read 35 psi, even a week afterengine shutdown. If I tapped on the gage it would then drop to zero. Notmuch good as an indicator of impending engine problems...The new gage (of exactly the same type) now begins to climb off the pegalmost as soon as I start the engine and smoothly increases to 35 psi. Itis a Rochester gage that I bought from AS&S.Jack PhillipsNX899JPRaleigh, NC-----Original Message-----
Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
Pull the oil sump? That was the biggest pain in the rear that I can remember aboutworking on my 65. In the nose-over, the carb got shoved back into the oilsump and I was concerned about it being punctured (shouldn't have been, it turnsout). I bought another one on eBay and that one turned out to give me evenmore problems and it, too, had been cratered by a carb in an earlier life andthen blown back out. I think most of the oil sumps out there have dents ordings in them anyway.The problem with the oil sump on these small Continentals is that they were designedto be installed with glee by Satan's stepchildren, with about twenty smallcastellated nuts holding them onto the studs, NO way to get all of them properlyaligned with the drilled holes in the studs and still get the specifiedtorque on them, NO room to get a proper tool in there to tighten them, NO roomto safety them, and pretty much NO room to do anything but curse. But if youdon't get it all correct (and I never did, on the 65)- the sump gasket will seepand leak from day one. You'll have oil dripping from your cowling, mistingonto the firewall, and coating everything inside the cowling. You won't wantto take off the safety wire from all those cussed nuts to retorque them, soyou live with it.Oh, and by the way- if you do pull the sump, don't use a cork gasket on it if youcan get one of those red-orange silicone ones. The new ones seal much betterand don't harden up over time.The sump on my A75 is installed to perfection (easy to do with the engine on anassembly stand). Not one single tiny drop of oil anywhere from the new engine.Last thing about oil pressure. My old 65 could get the pressure into the greenslowly but surely, but it was never any great shakes... maybe 20-25 psi. Yes,the older engines lose pressure when the face of the rear cover wears and oilbypasses. It also makes it more and more difficult for the pump gears to 'prime',and there are lots of little things that people have worked out over theyears to overcome this when you fire the engine up after it's been sitting fora couple of weeks and the pressure doesn't come up within about 10 seconds.They involve raising the tail, or lowering the tail, or removing the oil pressureline and squirting oil in to prime the pump gears, or shaking a bag of chickenbones while shouting incantations. Ultimately, besides replacing the gears,the rear case can be reworked to improve the clearance. The A75 developspressure in the 40 psi range. Continental specs call for 30-35 psi oil pressureat cruise.--------Oscar ZunigaSan Antonio, TXAir Camper NX41CCRead this topic online here:http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... __________
Pull the oil sump? That was the biggest pain in the rear that I can remember aboutworking on my 65. In the nose-over, the carb got shoved back into the oilsump and I was concerned about it being punctured (shouldn't have been, it turnsout). I bought another one on eBay and that one turned out to give me evenmore problems and it, too, had been cratered by a carb in an earlier life andthen blown back out. I think most of the oil sumps out there have dents ordings in them anyway.The problem with the oil sump on these small Continentals is that they were designedto be installed with glee by Satan's stepchildren, with about twenty smallcastellated nuts holding them onto the studs, NO way to get all of them properlyaligned with the drilled holes in the studs and still get the specifiedtorque on them, NO room to get a proper tool in there to tighten them, NO roomto safety them, and pretty much NO room to do anything but curse. But if youdon't get it all correct (and I never did, on the 65)- the sump gasket will seepand leak from day one. You'll have oil dripping from your cowling, mistingonto the firewall, and coating everything inside the cowling. You won't wantto take off the safety wire from all those cussed nuts to retorque them, soyou live with it.Oh, and by the way- if you do pull the sump, don't use a cork gasket on it if youcan get one of those red-orange silicone ones. The new ones seal much betterand don't harden up over time.The sump on my A75 is installed to perfection (easy to do with the engine on anassembly stand). Not one single tiny drop of oil anywhere from the new engine.Last thing about oil pressure. My old 65 could get the pressure into the greenslowly but surely, but it was never any great shakes... maybe 20-25 psi. Yes,the older engines lose pressure when the face of the rear cover wears and oilbypasses. It also makes it more and more difficult for the pump gears to 'prime',and there are lots of little things that people have worked out over theyears to overcome this when you fire the engine up after it's been sitting fora couple of weeks and the pressure doesn't come up within about 10 seconds.They involve raising the tail, or lowering the tail, or removing the oil pressureline and squirting oil in to prime the pump gears, or shaking a bag of chickenbones while shouting incantations. Ultimately, besides replacing the gears,the rear case can be reworked to improve the clearance. The A75 developspressure in the 40 psi range. Continental specs call for 30-35 psi oil pressureat cruise.--------Oscar ZunigaSan Antonio, TXAir Camper NX41CCRead this topic online here:http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... __________
Re: Pietenpol-List: Re: New cylinder - low oil pressure?
Original Posted By: H RULE
Re: Pietenpol-List: Harvey Rule's Ethanol Rant
Original Posted By: Rick Holland
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Harvey Rule's Ethanol Rant
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Harvey Rule's Ethanol Rant