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'Issues with FT60 red cube fuel flow transducer.

david.perl

Well Known Member
I have a FT60 red cube fuel flow transducer.

Its been used for 150 hours and has worked flawlessly for that time.

This morning when priming the engine it normally gives a fuel flow reading of 3-4 ltrs / hour however the reading stayed at zero.

On starting it remained at zero for around 30 seconds then increased to give a reading of around 1/3 - 1/2 of the normal fuel flow.

the second flight of the day was exactly the same

Any suggestions?
 
Details

Is it installed correctly....per manufacturer and is it shielded from heat?
Wiring connections good?
FI? Location?

They seem to work ok in a bad location for awhile then quit like yours has.
 
David---I'd pull the cube and the hoses and check for a restriction, or FOD in the inlet of the cube. Seems Dan Horton did an autopsy on one and found it have a very small fuel orifice. Wouldnt take much to restrict it.

Tom
 
I did a lot of research before mounting it. Its suspended between the fuel inlet and outlet pipes which are fixed to the engine mount. the Red Cube itself is not hard mounted. Its out of heat just off the firewall although ive no idea how hot it gets in the engine bay.

Interestingly ive gone through one dynon CHT probe and one EGT probe in the same 2 year period.

Engine is a Fuel Injected Lyc IO 360.

Ill check the wiring and inspect the inlet / outlet when next at the field
 
I had a problem once with the Red Cube wires being a bit too close to a pmag plug wire, maybe 3~4 inches away. I would get erratic readings and zero readings. It's easy to see how the RFI from the plug wire was radiating into the Red Cube wires and sending bad pulses to the engine monitor input. I relocated the wires and that seemed to solve the problem.
 
These transducers don't seem to last all that long. I have had to replace one already. If the readings don't match what you know your engine to flow and it worked reliably for some time, it is probably failing. That said, the most common reason for them to failing is wiring, so I would verify that the connections are still good.

Remember all your engine fuel flows through this, so actual reduced flow through the cube would mean reduced flow to your engine. If your cruising at normal cruise speed and seeing 50% of your normal flow, you know that close to 100% or more of normal cruise fuel flow is going through the cube. Generally speaking, power production is closely tied to fuel flow.

Larry
 
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I just had to replace one for similar symptoms. Fortunately, the fine gentleman below gave me a tip about the cheapest place to buy a replacement. Note that you have to use the manually add item to cart option to find it.

Cheers,
Rusty


Use Spruce Part no. 10-01165. Same part as a Dynon accessory $128.95.

Eulice Curington
RV-10 N104EW
 
Hello Rusty,

I didn't find any Red cube at this price with your link...Only 259$ !
Can you precise if this offer still exists ?

Thank you
Sylvain
 
Replaced mine a few months back and found AFS and Dynon to offer the best price at the time.
 
Another idea - -

I have had a problem with the other version. I spoke to mfgr. A good tech said to remove it and fill it half full of carb cleaner and shake the snot out of it and then blow out with low pressure. It has fixed mine twice so far. Might be worth a try.
 
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OK I will try..

You have also Steiner who sell the Red Cube 200$...But I never found an offer at 129$ as Russel said.
 
I think the Spruce price must have been a mistake, but I rechecked my order history, and it was in fact $128.95. The same part number is nearly double that now though.

I do like the idea of trying to clean it, and never thought to try it. Looking inside the one that went bad appeared completely clean, but of course you can't see everything.

Cheers,
Rusty
 
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