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IO-540 EFI

Ralph believes the ADI system and most other gremlins have been locked away and they are hoping to show similar speed to their great qualifying run. :)

Nobody ever said this was easy...

Kudos to Bill and Ralph for the hard work and never giving up.
 
Saturday Silver Race

A short update on Bill Beaton's HRII performance at the races today.
He finished today's race at 280 mph, solidly in Silver, the planes all around him were all Lancairs & Glassairs. So our strategy to "Harrass the Glass" is in full swing!
So to make the race fair, shouldn't those other guys (& gals) have to fly with their gear down?

Cheers
 
New Fuel Block

Just received these back from the anodizer:

540fuelblock2_zpsogxergew.jpg


1/4 NPT in and out on ends, another 1/4 NPT on top for outlet or can be capped. 1/8 NPT on sides and 1/8 NPT for fuel pressure takeoff on top rear.

These bolt to the crankcase spine about halfway down.
 
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Wow, great looking part, maximum functionality and minimum weight/mass.

Thanks. Took some feedback from customers who wanted some options for the return fitting positioning. On 4 cylinders, at this time, we'll use the same part and just plug 2 of the side ports. Later we may develop a shorter block for fours.

540fuelblock7_zpsmuprox3c.jpg


Here's another photo of the block mounted up on a 540 case with the braided -3 lines.
 
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Kitplanes

Check out the article in the May '17 issue of Kitplanes on Bill's Supercharged Rocket with SDS EFI.
 
6 Cyl. Trim

We've had some questions recently about the trim function on the 6 cylinder SDS setups.

To clarify, you need the dual board ECU to have this capability on 6 cylinder engines. You don't need dual boards on 4 cylinder engines.

Some people appear to be under the impression that losing one ECU on the dual board setup means the engine will stop. This is not correct. Either board will continue to run the engine but you will lose the individual cylinder trim function when operating on only one.

There's a 3 position selector switch on 6 cylinder, dual ECU systems with Normal, Primary and Backup positions. This document may clear up some confusion: http://www.sdsefi.com/dual6ecurev2.pdf

BTW, I will be at Reno this September 16/17 assisting some of our customers running SDS in the Sport Class. Time permitting, I'd be happy to meet anyone who has questions about SDS or just meeting any RV or race folks.
 
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Post Oshkosh Q&A

After Oshkosh, we received a number of quote requests for 540 EFI and ignition systems. Most of these were from RV10 and Rocket builders. Thanks to SDS customers Rusty Crawford (RV7A), Dave Anders (RV4), Jim Kidd (Silver Lindy winner Skybolt) and Andrew Findlay (Lancair) for chatting to people about SDS.

A common question on the 540 setups from people is the coil mounting options. Perhaps this post will save a few emails back and forth.





2 top photos. Many people fit this dedicated mount on RV10s, designed by Ashley Miller.



This is the coil mount to go in place of the magnetos



This is the top case mount for one coil pack which will fit Rockets. This saves penetrating the baffling with the top plug wires from the rear mounting location.

Another common question is about the programmer for dual ECU systems. A single SDS programmer can access either ECU by flipping a toggle switch so there's no unplugging cables. The Dual Access Programmer is standard with all dual ECU kits and is required when you order the individual cylinder fuel trim option on the 6 cylinder systems.

Options: The 3 main options outside the coil mounting are:

1. Fuel trim mentioned above and most people are familiar with what that does given the many posts about it here.

2. Fuel flow output. This eliminates the Red Cubes and simply sends a similar signal out to your engine monitor directly from the ECU- no other external boxes required. The demonstrated accuracy is better than 1%.

3. PC data logging. This allows connection of the primary ECU to a Windows device and gives you a digital dash capability in real-time plus text and graphical logging formats. It's a great tuning and diagnostic aid as it captures all sensor data along with AFR, injector duty cycle, injector pulse width, battery voltage, mixture knob position etc. You'll see some additional enhancements to this feature sometime in 2018.
 
RV10 in Texas



This is Gaylon Koenning's awesome RV10 fresh out of the paint shop. Gaylon and Rusty Crawford in Friendswood were instrumental in testing our dual ECU setup with trim control for the 540 and offering valuable feedback to get it all right last year. Thanks for finding our initial oversights and being patient for the fixes.

Gaylon has been flying for quite some time now with SDS EFI. Looking forward to some more photos.

Love that prop!
 
Another RV-10 SDS EFI Installation

I was just over to Les Kearney's hangar today and shot some photos of his new Aero Sport IO-540 which he just got hung 2 days ago. Aero Sport did their usual excellent job in detailing the parts and Les got to do a lot of the assembly work work himself at his build school.



Les has the full dual SDS EM-5 6F EFI system installed with all options- fuel trim, digital fuel flow and PC data logging.



Les also has the SDS Aero billet valve covers and lightweight billet flywheel.



SDS 80mm billet throttle body on Barrett cold air intake.



One coil pack mounts on top of the case to fire the top plugs, the other mounts in the mag hole to fire the bottom plugs.



Crank sensor mount detail
 
Ross;
Very nice pics.
What are the hard lines on the lower part of the cylinder heads for? Primers?
 
Ross, hopefully this question is a bit more knowledgeable than my last.

I read that due to fuel heating, the minimum size header tank (if you use one) is 3 gallons. But I have seen a few install pics where the fuel divider is aft of the engine shroud. If one were to mount the fuel divider with SS or TI to limit heat transfer, in a cooler place in the engine compartment, could the fuel heating be mitigated to a large extent, and the size of the header tank be reduced? I think I want to use a header tank to return fuel, but size is an issue. A small fuel manifold would be much easier than a 3 gallon tank.

Specifically I saw a pic of an RV4 install, with the individual fuel lines penetrating the rear shrouding with bulkhead fittings. Obviously if you mounted the divider with an aluminum mount it would transfer lots of heat. A SS mount would transfer much less. Thoughts?
 
I read that due to fuel heating, the minimum size header tank (if you use one) is 3 gallons...

.... Specifically I saw a pic of an RV4 install, with the individual fuel lines penetrating the rear shrouding with bulkhead fittings. Obviously if you mounted the divider with an aluminum mount it would transfer lots of heat. A SS mount would transfer much less. Thoughts?

The typical EFI installation will use a duplex fuel valve to return fuel back to the feeding tank or a dedicated return line back to a single tank. In this case, any heat picked up in the distribution block is carried all the way back to the fuel tank, and the block is subsequently cooled by fresh fuel from the tank. Since the Walbro pumps put out about 40 GPH at all times (even with the engine at idle), there is significant cooling of the system due to the flushing effect of fuel flow. Unless you clamp the distribution block to an exhaust pipe, there is not much worry of picking up enough heat to change performance.
 
Ross, hopefully this question is a bit more knowledgeable than my last.

I read that due to fuel heating, the minimum size header tank (if you use one) is 3 gallons. But I have seen a few install pics where the fuel divider is aft of the engine shroud. If one were to mount the fuel divider with SS or TI to limit heat transfer, in a cooler place in the engine compartment, could the fuel heating be mitigated to a large extent, and the size of the header tank be reduced? I think I want to use a header tank to return fuel, but size is an issue. A small fuel manifold would be much easier than a 3 gallon tank.

Specifically I saw a pic of an RV4 install, with the individual fuel lines penetrating the rear shrouding with bulkhead fittings. Obviously if you mounted the divider with an aluminum mount it would transfer lots of heat. A SS mount would transfer much less. Thoughts?

As TooBuilder said, on the recommended system using return lines back to the tanks, there is little in the way of heat concerns due to the massive volumes being pumped and the heat sink of many gallons of fuel in the tanks which are constantly exposed to cooling airflow.

On low wing aircraft, we recommend that people install the pumps on the floor and return lines plus a Duplex type selector valve so return fuel goes back to the selected tank.

On mid and high wing designs, some people have successfully returned fuel to a low mounted header tank (still higher than the fuel pumps). You should use a minimum of 3/8 lines here and return fuel should go to the top of the tank, outlet fuel to the pumps from the bottom of the header tank. A tall tank is preferred to a flat one. We want to prevent vapor from being picked up at the pump inlets. People have used header tanks down to about a 3 quarts in volume which seems reasonable.

We specifically don't recommend this setup on low wing aircraft unless you have some other lift pumps to keep the header tank full.

People should not compare non-return type fuel systems on mechanically injected engines with EFI fuel systems. They are vastly different in several areas.
 
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More Ideas for RV-10 Builders

I took some more photos of Les Kearney's very clean EFI installation this morning. Very nice routing, protection and security of the injector and spark plug wires here.



Plug wires are routed along the pan rail instead of outside.



As this airplane comes together, we'll eventually be doing a series of videos on the SDS tuning aspects.
 
RV-10 Engine Mount Coil Pack

For RV-10 owners, we have some different choices for coil pack mounting. The bracket below mounts both coil packs on top of the engine mount tubes, aft of the engine baffling.



This assembly is off to an owner in Europe to replace some older re-branded components with updated features.
 
Better access from the sides to things at the back of the engine.

What kind of hardware is needed to mount the coils on top Ross? I?m thinking that there is only enough room for one of the to go up top. In that case I?m thinking likely the right one??
 
We can mount one coil on top of the case like Les Kearney did and one in a mag hole or on the firewall. Can mount both in the mag holes, both on top of the mount like this setup, both on the firewall. Quite a few combinations for RV-10s.
 
We can mount one coil on top of the case like Les Kearney did and one in a mag hole or on the firewall. Can mount both in the mag holes, both on top of the mount like this setup, both on the firewall. Quite a few combinations for RV-10s.

To mount on top does one just need longer AN4 bolts?
 
RV-10 Top Coil Mounts

Hi Randy,

It is hard to see in the photo but the coil mount that is secured to the top cross-bar with 4 x adel clamps and AN 3 bolts is also secured to the angled cross-brace at the rear to stop any for/aft movement.

A 30mm stand off through the rear mounting bolt attached to another adel clamp is needed to keep the coil mount bracket level. I am not sure if this comes with the bracket from Ross.

Svd2S6ACao1adirZM9_Q8c6RAD6iDH_2cbRsoWKXaCMnHKuDL_jvcWoU5xBI6umRMCXyYixdif34eC5F4jyPqTLRrhe3k_C1c8Bg1-EQiDL_xkohT-VIG3ig9ZW3AlHhlxEj9u7UpE_KgoMH4mYWfojDerpZesSXs9utesknsme6hR4rqxvCZhKZNbmSPFGj6psRm7BSrGihKpDrQsSeEenOFPbcm0fpxUcAUEFiXe-rQhMDFixpHlM2E-tAqw2bkqfspkSM-Z0NKha7Wu3PLXr-EQ_bRr_ZnLQ2EhvHr70-Wqm3Kp0OZCNj9t_GadQ9dK5Gqiw9susyDN8q0SJ4q7Mm7zY3m_U_5VdslYJ_eZUG9eN-tuTajMKKS1Ke836YxMSVr080a6BKzjdxp8YriqFX8eyWk6ve_5cbp9ta9Z6DbugMfiQhVX-MkF_ZK7-yRDghP-FgLFbvC3sxGKJt7bZkJoADd9WiuxmPmdHi4VW1zyBt2mf-mFwylXaCPQWUM1nYHWouok5Js7SJB_0ORv58oiEyZXJj9V1wb1Zrk-kGY6rmTjIsJQTWTXlABL79zn8umT0IjwA8PGb9g8PpKhGMR3xxVKiLSPENtBkmi6cGH3cXTkzvPVvY2sESNBXESFPhKmrmyIAqaWKtLgjaLx-weMRV_7vc=w503-h670-no


With the coils on top,access to the rear of the engine,oil filter,heater valves and front strut is greatly improved for servicing.


I hope that helps,
 
Hi Randy,

It is hard to see in the photo but the coil mount that is secured to the top cross-bar with 4 x adel clamps and AN 3 bolts is also secured to the angled cross-brace at the rear to stop any for/aft movement.

A 30mm stand off through the rear mounting bolt attached to another adel clamp is needed to keep the coil mount bracket level. I am not sure if this comes with the bracket from Ross.

Svd2S6ACao1adirZM9_Q8c6RAD6iDH_2cbRsoWKXaCMnHKuDL_jvcWoU5xBI6umRMCXyYixdif34eC5F4jyPqTLRrhe3k_C1c8Bg1-EQiDL_xkohT-VIG3ig9ZW3AlHhlxEj9u7UpE_KgoMH4mYWfojDerpZesSXs9utesknsme6hR4rqxvCZhKZNbmSPFGj6psRm7BSrGihKpDrQsSeEenOFPbcm0fpxUcAUEFiXe-rQhMDFixpHlM2E-tAqw2bkqfspkSM-Z0NKha7Wu3PLXr-EQ_bRr_ZnLQ2EhvHr70-Wqm3Kp0OZCNj9t_GadQ9dK5Gqiw9susyDN8q0SJ4q7Mm7zY3m_U_5VdslYJ_eZUG9eN-tuTajMKKS1Ke836YxMSVr080a6BKzjdxp8YriqFX8eyWk6ve_5cbp9ta9Z6DbugMfiQhVX-MkF_ZK7-yRDghP-FgLFbvC3sxGKJt7bZkJoADd9WiuxmPmdHi4VW1zyBt2mf-mFwylXaCPQWUM1nYHWouok5Js7SJB_0ORv58oiEyZXJj9V1wb1Zrk-kGY6rmTjIsJQTWTXlABL79zn8umT0IjwA8PGb9g8PpKhGMR3xxVKiLSPENtBkmi6cGH3cXTkzvPVvY2sESNBXESFPhKmrmyIAqaWKtLgjaLx-weMRV_7vc=w503-h670-no


With the coils on top,access to the rear of the engine,oil filter,heater valves and front strut is greatly improved for servicing.


I hope that helps,

Thanks for sharing Ashley. That is a nice setup.
 
Mounting on top of the engine, any issues with heat after shutdown? Obviously while running they are being air cooled by fresh air. After shutdown, hot air flows up hill and the coil will get very hot. 300+ degrees F.
 
The Coil Packs are UF-305 are available everywhere including Australia and Amason Prime for about $40.00usd

The temp range that I could find is up to 180 deg C or 356 F, maybe Ross knows more.
Keep in mind that these coils live buried under the bonnet of many cars that routinely live in very hot climates .

Still it is up to me to test 😀
I?ll report back when I know.
 
We supply all the hardware to mount this bracket- bolts, nuts, washers, Adel clamps, standoff.

Like Ashley said, these coils are engine mounted in the OEM applications so are designed to see a lot of heat and vibration. The underhood temps on some cars with massive cast iron manifolds and turbochargers releasing a lot of that stored heat on shutdown is probably higher than our aircraft see in many cases.

We've been selling these coil packs on our 6 cylinder CPIs and EM-5 systems for 3 years now. Zero failures to my knowledge. We've been selling the 4 cylinder ones since 2008 (integrated drivers), hundreds to date and again zero failures.

This coil hardware is much more reliable IMO than that used by some of the other EI manufacturers where we've seen multiple failures reported here on VAF and elsewhere- heat related and vibration failures of their exposed terminal connections are common. The connectors on these coils shown are really bulletproof.
 
Connector quality is one of the unsung heroes of modern car reliability. Using these, especially forward of the firewall, is one of my reasons for trusting EFI. All of my power distribution will be using Delphi style connectors.
 
Show Planes RV-10 Intake System to fit SDS EFI TB

Here are a couple phones of the new Show Planes intake system to fit the SDS Aero 80mm throttle body and Barrett cold air intake.





Their usual nice work.
 
Ross;
I didn't want to Hi-jack your current threads, so I resurrected this one.
I have flown piston engines, but never owned one. Now that I own one, I care a lot about how long it lasts.

I was reading an old Lycoming pub about how to operate their engines. They recommended descending with the same lean power setting you were using for cruise. This was to help reduce shock cooling.

I haven't read anything about this with EFI, but if Lyc recommends running closer to peak EGT to keep the engine warmer during the descent, do any of your users, or you, recommend the same.

Sorry, maybe it is a dumb question but I haven't read anything on EFI that states to do this, or if it is a good, or bad idea. It sure seams easy to set up, just run closer to peak EGT, either ROP, or LOP.

Thanks
 
Nobody has ever mentioned doing this with our EFI. There are lots of opinions on whether you can really shock cool a Lycoming. I know we spray a couple gallons a minutes of water on the Sport Class turbo engines when they are already pretty warm and they don't grenade or seem to show any ill effect. I suspect the initial cooling rate is much higher doing this than pulling the throttle back on an RV for the descent.

If you wanted to run peak EGT in the descent, you could just turn the mixture knob a bit. Very easy.
 
OK, thanks.

That came from an old Lycoming recommendation, to keep CHT's to less than 50F per minute cooling rate.
 
OK, thanks.

That came from an old Lycoming recommendation, to keep CHT's to less than 50F per minute cooling rate.

The document you saw- is it referring to "mixture" or "power" (red knob or black knob)? Putting aside the "shock cooling" controversy, I typically maintain my cruise MP in the descent. In other words, if I'm at a typical 9000 alt, WOT and 22 inches, I'll drop the nose at TOD and then pull out throttle as required to ride 22 inches all the way into the pattern. I typically don't touch the mixture until I enter the pattern (or need to add power).
 
It referred to leaving the mixture at the same lean setting (still ROP) as you used in cruise. Start the descent by reducing power a little, but leave the mixture at the same setting you used in cruise. I will try to find it and do a cut and paste.
 
"And finally, power-off letdowns should be avoided. This is especially applicable to cold-weather operations when shock-cooling of the cylinder heads is likely. It is recommended that cylinder head temperature change not exceed 50 ̊ F. per minute. Plan ahead, reduce power gradually and maintain some power throughout the descent. Also keep the fuel/air mixture leaned out during the descent. If an exhaust gas temperature gage is installed with a normally aspirated engine, keep it peaked to ensure the greatest possible engine heat for the power setting selected; for a turbocharged installation, lean to peak during descent unless otherwise specified in the Pilot?s Operating Handbook, or under conditions where the limiting turbine inlet temperature would be mixtures that contribute to sudden cooling. It is recommended that pilots maintain at least 15" MP or higher, and set the RPM at the lowest cruise position. This should prevent ring flutter and the problems associated with it.
Letdown speed should not exceed high cruise speed or approxi- mately 1,000 feet per minute of descent. Keeping descent and airspeed within these limits will help to prevent the sudden cooling that may result in cracked cylinder heads, warped exhaust valves and bent pushrods.
The mixture setting also has an effect on engine cooling. To reduce spark plug fouling and keep the cylinder cooling within the recommended 50 ̊ per-minute limit, the mixture should be left at the lean setting used for cruise and then richened gradu- ally during descent from altitude. The lean mixture, maintaining some power and using a sensible airspeed should achieve the most efficient engine temperatures possible."

It is from a document called the "Lycoming Flyer".
 
Mounting on top of the engine, any issues with heat after shutdown? Obviously while running they are being air cooled by fresh air. After shutdown, hot air flows up hill and the coil will get very hot. 300+ degrees F.

Naaa. 200F or less in that location. Mags and similar gear bolted directly to the hot engine only max around 220.

I was reading an old Lycoming pub about how to operate their engines. They recommended descending with the same lean power setting you were using for cruise. This was to help reduce shock cooling. I haven't read anything about this with EFI, but if Lyc recommends running closer to peak EGT to keep the engine warmer during the descent, do any of your users, or you, recommend the same.

In the context of your question, it doesn't matter what kind of injection or carb you're flying behind. And anyway, mixture is only one of the variables to maintaining temperature.

FWIW, I typically let it go very lean in descent, to save fuel, reduce combustion chamber deposits, and keep the airplane below VNE. It's a regime where the LOP HP loss is welcome. I actually set an EIS alarm at 50F per minute back in 2010. It hasn't tripped in 800+ hours.

Gotta take some of the old Lycoming recommendations with a grain of salt. You just know there were some instructors out there teaching "full rich for descent" and other crazy stuff.
 
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It referred to leaving the mixture at the same lean setting (still ROP) as you used in cruise. Start the descent by reducing power a little, but leave the mixture at the same setting you used in cruise. I will try to find it and do a cut and paste.

Copy. Never heard that one before. That said, I'm typically LOP in cruise and dont touch the mixture again until the pattern. This results in a VERY lean mixture at the bottom of descent but never had any trouble maintaining smooth engine operation. Addition of throttle will of course require bringing the mixture back in.

In context of SDS EFI, the system has barometric compensation so it will maintain a stable AFR without manual manipulation of the mixture knob regardless of altitude. It also has a LOP setting which with the press of a button will advance the ignition timing and lean the mixture by a user defined amount. Assuming that I follow the same MO as with the Bendix FI, I'll cruise at altitude and then descend with the LOP function active. The cool thing about the SDS EFI however is that if I forget to deactivate the LOP function when I need power, it will automatically turn off when I ask for a power setting at or above a certain threshold. Its a failsafe for my fading memory or missed checklist item.
 
I have less than 90 hours of aircraft piston time, and it was all 3 1/2 decades ago. And they were rental hours. This is the first time I have owned an engine that costs as much as a new car.

Thanks for the input.
 
Personally, I dont like to pull a bunch of power out for a descent, but I know plenty of people who do without issue. I know of someone who stuck a valve after a completely power off rapid descent from 10,000 feet to an airport at sea level, but thats a bit extreme. The "shock cooling" issue reportedly addresses the vastly different expansion rates of the steel and aluminum parts working together in the engine. Makes sense to give them time to equallize, and thats where the "xx degrees per minute" guidance comes from. Sounds reasonable until you realize that the differing expansion rates happen during heating too, and we all significantly exceed the "xx degrees per minute" rate on every takeoff.

The bottom line is that with halfway reasonable care, a Lycoming will go to TBO and beyond. Make sure it cools evenly (look at bypass ducts and baffle seals), fly it often, and keep clean oil in it. No need to treat it with kid gloves.
 
TOO;
I hadn't thought about the TO heating rate, but it makes total sense.

Just trying to get as much good info as I can. At work I have flown with a few guys recently that had a lot of light twin experience. They both said the 540's routinely go way beyond TBO. One said he flew for an outfit that had about 6 airplanes with the same engine, and by his recollection they got about 2800 hours on average on them.

They all said something different about brand X engines.
 
Thank you!

Thanks to the guys at SDS for spending a couple hours with me yesterday at their facility in Calgary. I enjoyed meeting them and getting a better understanding of their system. Good also to see future development ongoing.

I believe electronic ignition and injection is the future (Rotax certainly thinks so) and SDS has done years of work for us in the experimental community.

Next stop, California - to visit the other big player in this market.
 
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Bob Hoover used to shut engines down on his Commander and restart during his air show routine if I recall. Apparently did not suffer any ill effects. Of course I'm sure he had the corporate sponsor $$ to replace any jugs that did show problems.

I'd still be mindful of shock cooling but I don't believe it would immediately destroy an engine.

Paul Klusman
 
Talk about shock cooling

At UND, multi engine instructors in the Piper Seminole shut an engine down on upwind using the fuel shutoff valve. They do this in the winter in Grand Forks, ND.

The engines (O-360) usually make it to TBO.
 
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Les Kearney just finished the initial test flight on his beautiful RV-10 yesterday with dual EM-5 EFI/EI. Looking forward to doing some videos once the test flight phase is over.

Congrats Les!
 
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