bstrachan

Not really...as a integrated package that does both UAT and 1090ES. My only issue is the tablets going into shutdown mode. My mini Ipad wouldnt turn on last time I flew to the farm when I jumped in to fly home. It was a hot day but the Ipad was in its airgizmo holder in the dash and was turned off. I took it out of the hold then used my hand to suck some heat out and it turned on after about 3 mins. I put it back into the holder and it was flawless as usual on the 1hr 40 min trip on the way back in the middle of the day. Just a bit disconcerting thats all.

Rotax builds a fine engine, no doubt about that, but in my personal opinion, their documentation and support sucks. I guess you can't have everything.

That's interesting. So that cuts out VDO immediately as a source for oil pressure senders.Lawyerese BS. Every 912ULS I've ever seen (except Rex's brand new one) has a factory installed VDO sender. The warning is a CYA. This cute little tag is packaged in with the new sender where you can't miss it. You figure it out.

 

And before somebody pounces on me, I mis-spoke earlier. The 912ULS oil cooler IS connected to the engine by pressurized hoses, and on my airplane they aren't even the stainless braided Teflon variety.

 

Pressure Sensors & Switches | Senders and Sensors | VDO Instruments and Accessories

 

The other interesting point that VDO make, is that the use of Teflon thread tape or pipe sealant, will interfere with grounding and produce false pressure readings.

 

They also point out that VDO senders should only be used with matching VDO gauges. So the VDO/Speco mismatch that Skippydiesel has, is an immediate potential source of problems.

 

Note the variety of threads available in the VDO senders - NPT, NPTF, Metric, and BSP.

I'm with bstrachan. Every single item I have ever purchased from America or Canada has NPT threads on any piping locations - and I've purchased very substantial amounts of American and Canadian equipment over more than 50 years.I didn't consider the possibility that some ham-handed idiot might have screwed something into the oil pump housing that didn't fit, but I guess these things happen. At any rate I am prepared to assert without further proof that the female thread in an UNMOLESTED 912ULS oil pump housing is 1/8-27 NPT. 'Nuf said.

 

Re "remotely locating" the sender - while this may sound like a good idea for sender protection - by doing so, you're introducing another failure point, in the form of the piping or flexible hose that is needed to connect the sender to the engine.

 

VDO recommends it. I've replaced enough of these things to go along with them. These senders are not designed to withstand the vibration resulting from hard mounting to the engine.

 

You could mount the sender remotely elsewhere on the engine, secured to the engine, and use steel or copper piping to connect it to the oil gallery outlet

 

I wouldn't recommend it. Been there, done that, regretted it.

 

- or you could mount the sender remotely on the airframe, away from the engine, and connect it with a braided flexible hose. The latter solution is going to remove engine vibration as a source of potential damage to the sender - but it is adding the potential extra failure point of the flexible hose.

 

True enough. Neither of the external oil hoses on the 912 is under any kind of pressure.... but braided stainless steel Teflon hoses are meant to cope with high pressure oil.... you pays your money and you takes your chances.

 

A remote mounting elsewhere on the engine, is only going to remove some potential engine vibration damage, not all - but then you still have the added potential extra failure point, of the steel or copper oil line.

 

Bingo!

 

I would run a 1/8 NPT thread tap through the engine sender mounting hole and then check the cleaned-up threads very closely for damage.

 

If there's substantial thread damage, then I would use a Helicoil or Recoil thread insert to repair the damage.

 

If the damage isn't too bad after clean-up with the thread tap, and the bulk of the thread form is still intact, then I'd install a new sender with Loctite to ensure a good seal with no leaks.

 

There are other ways, but I'm not going out on a liability limb by suggesting them.

Recently my buddy Rex noticed oil pressure fluctuations on his brand new Rotax 912ULS. He has the Grand Rapids Technology EIS and the housing of the oil pressure sender on his new engine is physically different than the VDO I have. However the pipe thread that goes into Rex's oil pump LOOKS the same as mine.... today is the first I'd heard that Rotax had changed this pipe thread. I'm not sure I believe this, in fact. Whatever, I removed the "new style" sender from Rex's brand new 912 and screwed in a small mechanical gauge which is 1/8-27 NPT. Went right in, didn't leak. Also the VDO sender (P/N 360-004) is 1/8-27 NPT, says so right on the package. (I keep a spare on hand, I've had to replace a couple of these already. If you mounted the sender remotely as the instructions tell you to do, rather than screwing it into the oil pump the way Rotax does, the sender might last longer.) Long story short, I attach a photo of the 360-004 sender and the 1/8-27 NPT mechanical gauge screwed into a 1/8-27 NPT tee fitting. Note that this is the exact same mechanical gauge that was temporarily installed in the new 912ULS, and the VDO sender is an exact replacement for the one in my 2006 912ULS. From all the above, I conclude the female thread on the Rotax 912 oil pump, old (my 2006) or new, is 1/8-27 NPT. Take it for what it's worth. BTW, VDO is very adamant that the 360-004 IS NOT FOR AIRCRAFT APPLICATIONS. Good old Rotax.

I have wired up my com radio and everything works except when I connect the mic socket to the metal dash I get a hum( grounding feedback issue) ?If I hold the socket in the air, nothing I hum, If it touches the metal fuse then the hum. Somone told me to isolate the socket by heat shrinking the threaded part and fiber washers on each side of the nuts..

 

Never heard of this before.. Is that the normal installation or will it be just hiding an issue.

 

Chris

 

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Not only is isolating the "sleeve" of the mic and phone jacks normal, it is MANDATORY. The sleeve is NOT a ground, it is the signal return line for the mic or phone. There are various ways of isolating these jacks, just make sure they are not connected in any way to the metal fuselage. If your mic and phone lines have a braided shield, that shield should be grounded at the radio end and left floating (unconnected to anything) at the jack end. Standard procedure.

I took a puddlejumper from Perth to Bunbury about 30 years ago... the Bunbury airport was pretty primitive back then... looks like progress has come to Bunbury ;-)

If your cooling system is working fine and the old cap is holding pressure, why change it? You probably know, the reason for pressurizing the cooling system is to raise the boiling point of the coolant. Take a look at this article Things you should know about coolant | hellafunctional As long as you have the correct mixture of "antifreeze" and water your .9 BAR cap should be fine. So why did Rotax recommend the change? You'd have to ask Rotax. Good luck in getting any info out of them.

"If it aint broke don't fix it"

My A&P told me to make sure the vertical card compass was shock mounted as vibration will destroy them. I used some soft rubber washers to isolate the mounting bracket.... it's been in there for years, no problems. You will love the VCC, it is so much nicer than the old whisky compasses.

I have the GRT 2000 EIS in my StingSport.... works great, and although I love round gauges I have to say the GRT EIS is a much better approach.

It scares me to think how many people are flying around with Ipads. They are not intended for aviation use and as this post attests, they are prone to crap out at the worst possible moment.

If you want a really nice GPS, investigate the Ifly 740 from AdventurePilot. Brilliant bright display, easy to use, well supported, does everything but make you a cup of coffee.

I had this issue, drove me nuts. Turned out in my case, the mic was overdriving the transmitter input. Some radios have a MIC GAIN control which is usually a screwdriver adjust potentiometer that you can access after pulling the radio out of the panel. My Icom radio has an AGC (automatic gain control) on the mic input so no joy there. I finally found the mic on my headset had a tiny gain adjust screw under the muff on the mic where you couldn't see it. I turned the gain on that all the way down and that fixed it. Later on, I replaced the ANR headset that came with the airplane with a David Clark passive headset..... wouldn't fly without it. Good luck with your problem!

hey all, just coming on to do a little lurking! I have been looking into getting my pilots license and am just doing some research.

I'd be glad to post in the "welcome pilots just landed" forum if I knew how to find it

Barrie Strachan USA