Vic Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Good morning crew, I noticed my Oil pressure was reading low during cruise this morning and landed not to long after. When I started the engine I had good pressure reading around 65 on my GRT digital EFIS. When the engine slowly heated up to 120 it settled down around 30-40psi. On takeoff I had around 25 psi and during cruise it settled around 9-14 psi. My concerns were raised dropping below the the 20psi Rotax has defined as the minimum. After Landing I was at idle and the Oil pressure came back up to 24 -30 psi. Static test I do read 0 PSI with an engine off, 0 RPM after landing and shutting down During idle and warming up the engine first thing in the morning at 2200 rpm I was seeing around 40 psi. GROUND TESTING I set the brakes and ran the engine up to 5200 rpm and the pressure dropped again to around 13 psi. Engine was running at 182F Return to IDLE after run up at 1800 rpm with 32 psi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 9-13psi is really low, I like to see at least 35psi. I wouldn't fly it until you find out what is causing that. I'd check all your grounds really well. I have had an issue before where oil pressure went below 10psi, and traced it back to a poor ground. Once I cleaned and tightened all the grounds, the problem went away immediately. The bolt that goes through the firewall to the ground block behind the right panel is prone to get rust/corrosion on it. Disconnect that bolt, clean any corrosion from it and the ring terminals on the engine side with a Scotchbrite pad or fine grit sandpaper, squirt some electric contact cleaner on it, and reinstall it. On the engine side I'd also cover it with dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion. Also the big ground connected near the battery on the engine mount. Pull that bolt, do the same as listed above. Make sure when you reinstall the bolt that you use the correct torque, IIRC it's either 200 or 220 inch pounds, but look it up to be sure. EDIT: If improving the grounds doesn't fix it, suspect the oil pressure sender next. I have had these fail as well...if you have the engine mounted sender, they will fail quite often due to vibration. Lockwood sells a remote pressure sender kit that moves the sender to the firewall, and that will keep the sender working for many years. I had two on the engine fail in two years, and once I relocated it it has been great for 8 years now. If you buy the original Honeywell sender it will be expensive, like $200+, but it's really just a re-branded VDO sender that can be found for probably $30-40...so buy the VDO and pocket the savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted May 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Thanks for the help, and advice. I will check my grounds thoroughly and see if my sender is relocated or still engine mounted. Would this been the VDO you are referring too? I'm not near the airplane so I dont have any point of reference for form and factor of the existing unit. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vdo-360004 Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Buy a gauge and hook it up to the oil pressure line and verify readings before you go doing all this work. This does sound electrical in nature. There are several VDO sensors of various PSI ranges. You need to use the correct one for your avionics or it will not read correctly, best to consult your avionics installation manual to find which one you should use, and failing that, try to find the part number on the installed part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted May 31, 2023 Report Share Posted May 31, 2023 The the pressure fluctuates like this with increased rpm nine times out of ten it's a poor ground wire. If it went down and never ever came back up then it's the sender. There is five grounding points that should have a wrench put on them. They may be hand tight, but wrench lose. Make them all tight including the one behind the passenger panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted May 31, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2023 Thank you Roger, I will be sure to check grounds. I ordered another Oil Pressure sender just to have on hand in case this is not a ground issue. Seems like this sender, voltage regulator and some spare tubes and spark plugs should be in all our tool boxes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted June 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2023 Wanted to update this in case anyone else runs into this issue. Tested ohms on all my ground points and appears that they were all good with everything less than 1/2 ohm resistance if it read anything at all. I checked the resistance of my original sender and it was reading only 5 ohms, not the 10 ohm that's recommended for the vdo 360 004. My new sender was reading 10ohms so I installed it this morning and just like that my oil pressure came back up to around 30-40psi after warming up and full throttle. I do thing I still have some electrical issues. When I turn on my avionics and collision lights my efis says I loose about 5 psi, when I turn on my landing light it really draws a load on my battery and I drop almost a full volt and the psi reading drops.around 10-15 psi. Thoughts or ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted June 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2023 Hey all. To answer my own question my voltage regulator is failing causing the voltage to drop and fluctuate the voltage reference point for the oil sender. I am going to source a new regulator soon. Has anyone got a mra or approval to use a different voltage regulator for the 912 uls. I saw on another thread where a company has made a direct replacement to the Ducati style.. https://bandc.com/product/avc1-advanced-voltage-controller-14v-homebuilt/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredG Posted June 11, 2023 Report Share Posted June 11, 2023 My CT is ELSA, so I have no MRA issues. I installed the BandC regulator in place of the Ducati regulator and I am very pleased with how well it works. As you know from their web site, it is adjustable for fine control of the charging voltage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted June 12, 2023 Report Share Posted June 12, 2023 9 hours ago, Vic said: Hey all. To answer my own question my voltage regulator is failing causing the voltage to drop and fluctuate the voltage reference point for the oil sender. I am going to source a new regulator soon. Has anyone got a mra or approval to use a different voltage regulator for the 912 uls. I saw on another thread where a company has made a direct replacement to the Ducati style.. https://bandc.com/product/avc1-advanced-voltage-controller-14v-homebuilt/ Get the Ducati. I used an aftermarket unit and killed a bunch of electrical equipment in my airplane costing me several hundred dollars. It’s not worth it to save a $150 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted June 12, 2023 Report Share Posted June 12, 2023 I don't think the B&C saves any money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredG Posted June 12, 2023 Report Share Posted June 12, 2023 The BandC unit is expensive so, as Tom said, you don't buy one because it is cheap. You buy it because BandC has a reputation for high quality aircraft parts and for excellent customer service. Unlike the Ducati part. Five Rotax 912 Aircraft at Iowa City are flying with BandC regulators. No killed electrical equipment in any of them. Maybe not all aftermarket regulators are the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted June 12, 2023 Report Share Posted June 12, 2023 9 hours ago, FredG said: Five Rotax 912 Aircraft at Iowa City are flying with BandC regulators. No killed electrical equipment in any of them. Maybe not all aftermarket regulators are the same. I'm sure that's true. There are likely some that are great. I have a Deere regulator sitting on the shelf, and I know a lot of RV-12s use them. The Ducati might not be the most amazing piece of gear, but It's the approved part and they don't fail very often. I flew with mine almost ten years and 850hrs before it started to struggle. $150-250 in that period is very acceptable to me. And given the price of some really nice VRRs like the Silent Hektik, you can end up ahead on cost even if you have to replace it once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Meade Posted June 12, 2023 Report Share Posted June 12, 2023 I've had the Ducati go out on me several times and the Silent Hektik go weak once. When it comes to having a piece of equipment be reliable or just inexpensive each of us makes his own choice. I sometime fly half way across the country and it's nice to know the BandC I have is reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted June 12, 2023 Report Share Posted June 12, 2023 There is an old thread on this forum from Chanik who went over this stuff and tested different regulators. The ducati was middle of the road but could be a lot better. A few aftermarkets were total trash. The silent hectik was the one he tested and said that's how a regulator should be. BandC is one I would like to look at. It's hard for me to get a silent hectik regulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted June 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2023 Great conversation here. I do agree that going with an unproven piece of equipment is not a good idea after learning the hard way with a cloned Ducati VR. Mine lasted 1 week before my battery failed to charge and I ended up sourcing a new one from leading edge. I called and spoke with the folks over at B&C to talk about their unit, seems like they are very knowledgeable. If the extra 120$ for the B&C gives me just one more year of service and a reliable voltage output then it would be worth it. Seeing that some of you folks have them and are happy and vans is using them gives me confidence it won't fry anything in our aircraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted June 14, 2023 Report Share Posted June 14, 2023 Does anybody have a link to the B&C regulator? Now I'm curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted June 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2023 3 minutes ago, FlyingMonkey said: Does anybody have a link to the B&C regulator? Now I'm curious. https://bandc.com/product/avc1-advanced-voltage-controller-14v-homebuilt/#installation-kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted June 20, 2023 Report Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/14/2023 at 1:24 PM, Vic said: https://bandc.com/product/avc1-advanced-voltage-controller-14v-homebuilt/#installation-kit Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted June 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2023 Mine just came in. Have not installed it yet but looks very well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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