Bluelabel
Well Known Member
What REALLY happened at Barrett.
Just the facts. My opinions are just that and spelled out accordingly....
Now that the details of the tests are out, I wanted to do a write up about my Barrett Engine/Dyno/EFII testing and break in we did back in June. My other write-up got sidetracked onto the tests. If you subscribe to Kitplanes, which most of you do, it’s in the latest issue (Nov 2014)
-First, a quick backstory on how I ended up where I was (and am). It’s obviously no surprise that I ended up choosing Barrett Precision to build my engine, so that doesn’t need any explanation. Plus, they are 95 miles from where we are building the plane, so it was nice to be able to see the shop prior to our purchase and pick the engine up ourselves.
Literally the engine was decided from day one. That left me trying to figure out the ignition system. This was a task I did not take lightly. First, as I have only been a pilot for a couple years, I researched magnetos and their technology, went and talked to my local A&P about the service and maintenance of them. Armed with that info I started seeing what else was out there.
I came to realize, there were not that many other options:
Mags: Pros and Cons… in my mind, I wasn’t going to put 100 year old technology in a 2015 plane. Just My Opinion. Yes, they are self-powered, but that’s the only thing going for them.
P-Mags, not an option for a 6 cylinder engines then or now (as far as I know, plus, seems like a weird way to do it)
-That leaves Electronic Ignition: Which the only real negative is the need to have an external power supply to fire it. Which, to be honest, with current battery, alternator and electrical technology, is a pretty marginalized factor. I had already planned on having a redundant electrical system, so not much to change. My current system has 2 PC680s and a single 70amp Alternator. I may add a backup alternator later after some testing. At the moment I don’t think I will need it. I designed my system with an “Essential Bus” switch, which is actually a LOAD SHEDDING switch. Should there be any sort of electrical issue, one flip of the switch and I can drop down to one screen, one com, one ECU etc. (the particulars are still a work in progress with much consulting with people above my pay grade)
-I looked at Lightspeed. I called Allen Barrett and asked his 2 cents. When he told me they had issues with Lightspeed ignitions and refused to work with them, I of course became worried. So, I called Klause. Let’s just say the conversation did not leave me feeling warm and fuzzy.
-More research brought me to EFII. I liked what I read. Again, a call to the MAN building my engine. Allen said they done one or two EFII installations on 4 cyl engines, liked the product and had a few more in production including a 540 like mine. All the research seemed to add up. I found that EFII/Protek Performance were just a short hop up from me in San Diego to Cable Airport. I decided, it’s an important decision, I want to see for myself the product, the facility, the people behind the scenes…
That info is spelled out in this write up:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=108661
I had made up my mind on the ignitions system and had planned on going with the standard Airflow Performance mechanical fuel injection. (Don’t get me wrong, Airflow Performance makes a very nice product and Don is super knowledgeable and friendly, in fact he spend about 30 minutes on the phone explaining the basics of fuel injection 101 to me last year…) However, once I learned that already having the ECU put me half way there, it wasn’t hard to realize the benefits of a full EFII set up. Mainly, not having to deal with the mixture. LESS PILOT WORKLOAD is always nice especially in IMC, in which this plane will surely end up. The options you have for mapping the fuel curve are great. You can get max horsepower when you want it, lean in cruise and have the mixture return, all automatically without having to do anything. No pilot error of flying into detonation…
So… that’s the decision factors FOR ME… your results and findings may vary…
At Barrett for the testing on the Dyno. As it turns out, Allen for some reason was having a heck of a time getting their stock Bendix fuel servo and spider to run properly. I flew out on a Monday night, with Tuesday supposed to be just playing with the EFII set up before packing it up and taking it home. Turns out they spent part of the weekend and most of the day Monday just getting the Bendix set up going.
I arrived at Barrett Tuesday morning to see and hear my engine running (On Mags and Mech Fule Inj), it sounded great. It was a good crew, Allen and Monty Barrett, Robert Paisley from EFII and Dan Horton to do the write-up for Kitplanes, and my beautiful custom painted freshly built IO-540. I was like a kid in a candy store.
So, Robert was primarily there to get BPE up to speed on his system and leave them with a set up so when clients wanted an EFII set up, they could actually install it and dyno it there. Leaving the ECU and a few other parts to stay permanently at Barrett. Well, due to the lack of time available for Robert to catch a plane, and me and my in-laws (Shayne and Phyllis McDaniel, this is plane #4 for them, definitely repeat offenders) set to leave with the engine the next day, we had a very short time to rip one system off and get the next one installed. Literally a few hours. We all pitched in, literally about 5 of us doing whatever we could to get it done.
We got the EFII system installed, however, for the fuel system, we (as a team) made a big no-no. Apparently, due to the set up of fuel flow calculations on the Barrett dyno, returning the fuel from the fuel rail back to the tank wasn’t an option. So, since we didn’t have time to fab up new hoses and modify the system, we had to return the fuel into the system just before the pump. (side note: if you didn’t know, in an electronic fuel injection system, much more fuel is sent to the injectors, with much more unused needing to return back to the tank. It’s literally a loop, just like in a car). So, we actually ended up setting the system up NOT ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURERS GUIDELINES…. Robert had just given us a lesson on how NOT to do that earlier that morning, but it was the only option to get the system running in a short time frame. WE didn’t really over think it, it was just what needed to happen to get the engine running.
Just the facts. My opinions are just that and spelled out accordingly....
Now that the details of the tests are out, I wanted to do a write up about my Barrett Engine/Dyno/EFII testing and break in we did back in June. My other write-up got sidetracked onto the tests. If you subscribe to Kitplanes, which most of you do, it’s in the latest issue (Nov 2014)
-First, a quick backstory on how I ended up where I was (and am). It’s obviously no surprise that I ended up choosing Barrett Precision to build my engine, so that doesn’t need any explanation. Plus, they are 95 miles from where we are building the plane, so it was nice to be able to see the shop prior to our purchase and pick the engine up ourselves.
Literally the engine was decided from day one. That left me trying to figure out the ignition system. This was a task I did not take lightly. First, as I have only been a pilot for a couple years, I researched magnetos and their technology, went and talked to my local A&P about the service and maintenance of them. Armed with that info I started seeing what else was out there.
I came to realize, there were not that many other options:
Mags: Pros and Cons… in my mind, I wasn’t going to put 100 year old technology in a 2015 plane. Just My Opinion. Yes, they are self-powered, but that’s the only thing going for them.
P-Mags, not an option for a 6 cylinder engines then or now (as far as I know, plus, seems like a weird way to do it)
-That leaves Electronic Ignition: Which the only real negative is the need to have an external power supply to fire it. Which, to be honest, with current battery, alternator and electrical technology, is a pretty marginalized factor. I had already planned on having a redundant electrical system, so not much to change. My current system has 2 PC680s and a single 70amp Alternator. I may add a backup alternator later after some testing. At the moment I don’t think I will need it. I designed my system with an “Essential Bus” switch, which is actually a LOAD SHEDDING switch. Should there be any sort of electrical issue, one flip of the switch and I can drop down to one screen, one com, one ECU etc. (the particulars are still a work in progress with much consulting with people above my pay grade)
-I looked at Lightspeed. I called Allen Barrett and asked his 2 cents. When he told me they had issues with Lightspeed ignitions and refused to work with them, I of course became worried. So, I called Klause. Let’s just say the conversation did not leave me feeling warm and fuzzy.
-More research brought me to EFII. I liked what I read. Again, a call to the MAN building my engine. Allen said they done one or two EFII installations on 4 cyl engines, liked the product and had a few more in production including a 540 like mine. All the research seemed to add up. I found that EFII/Protek Performance were just a short hop up from me in San Diego to Cable Airport. I decided, it’s an important decision, I want to see for myself the product, the facility, the people behind the scenes…
That info is spelled out in this write up:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=108661
I had made up my mind on the ignitions system and had planned on going with the standard Airflow Performance mechanical fuel injection. (Don’t get me wrong, Airflow Performance makes a very nice product and Don is super knowledgeable and friendly, in fact he spend about 30 minutes on the phone explaining the basics of fuel injection 101 to me last year…) However, once I learned that already having the ECU put me half way there, it wasn’t hard to realize the benefits of a full EFII set up. Mainly, not having to deal with the mixture. LESS PILOT WORKLOAD is always nice especially in IMC, in which this plane will surely end up. The options you have for mapping the fuel curve are great. You can get max horsepower when you want it, lean in cruise and have the mixture return, all automatically without having to do anything. No pilot error of flying into detonation…
So… that’s the decision factors FOR ME… your results and findings may vary…
At Barrett for the testing on the Dyno. As it turns out, Allen for some reason was having a heck of a time getting their stock Bendix fuel servo and spider to run properly. I flew out on a Monday night, with Tuesday supposed to be just playing with the EFII set up before packing it up and taking it home. Turns out they spent part of the weekend and most of the day Monday just getting the Bendix set up going.
I arrived at Barrett Tuesday morning to see and hear my engine running (On Mags and Mech Fule Inj), it sounded great. It was a good crew, Allen and Monty Barrett, Robert Paisley from EFII and Dan Horton to do the write-up for Kitplanes, and my beautiful custom painted freshly built IO-540. I was like a kid in a candy store.
So, Robert was primarily there to get BPE up to speed on his system and leave them with a set up so when clients wanted an EFII set up, they could actually install it and dyno it there. Leaving the ECU and a few other parts to stay permanently at Barrett. Well, due to the lack of time available for Robert to catch a plane, and me and my in-laws (Shayne and Phyllis McDaniel, this is plane #4 for them, definitely repeat offenders) set to leave with the engine the next day, we had a very short time to rip one system off and get the next one installed. Literally a few hours. We all pitched in, literally about 5 of us doing whatever we could to get it done.
We got the EFII system installed, however, for the fuel system, we (as a team) made a big no-no. Apparently, due to the set up of fuel flow calculations on the Barrett dyno, returning the fuel from the fuel rail back to the tank wasn’t an option. So, since we didn’t have time to fab up new hoses and modify the system, we had to return the fuel into the system just before the pump. (side note: if you didn’t know, in an electronic fuel injection system, much more fuel is sent to the injectors, with much more unused needing to return back to the tank. It’s literally a loop, just like in a car). So, we actually ended up setting the system up NOT ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURERS GUIDELINES…. Robert had just given us a lesson on how NOT to do that earlier that morning, but it was the only option to get the system running in a short time frame. WE didn’t really over think it, it was just what needed to happen to get the engine running.