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RK400 Clutch

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bughntr(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:50 am Post subject: RK400 Clutch

Anyone using or have an opinion about switching to  a RK400 clutch? I need to replace my hardy disk (not sure yet why it came apart)  and was considering going to a clutch instead. Any help would be  appreciated.

  

 Thanks,

 Bryan Quinton

 Model II 582

   [quote][b]

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Guy Buchanan

Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 1204
Location: Ramona, CA

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:31 pm Post subject: RK400 Clutch

At 11:52 AM 8/17/2008, you wrote:

  	  Quote: 	
		  Anyone using or have an opinion about switching to a RK400 clutch? I need to replace my hardy disk (not sure yet why it came apart) and was considering going to a clutch instead. Any help would be appreciated. 	


 Love it, love it, love it. Wouldn't be without it. HOWEVER:



 1. I haven't reached the useful life of the first unit and have not had any good information from the makers on how to tell when to replace it. (Other than the prop stops turning.) Still working on this one.



 2. I recently had to replace my gearbox seals and bearings. There is some concern that the clutch dust causes the lower rear seal to fail pre-maturely, and that once it fails the dust migrates into the box and eats the bearings and other seals. (Some evidence of that in my engine.) My seals and bearings lasted about 230 hours. We're now on iteration number two so we'll see what happens. Fortunately you get a lot of notice of failure. Also fortunately a gearbox re-build is fairly cheap, if you work hard to find the bearings and seals elsewhere than Rotax. (Pretty good success last time.)



 

 Guy Buchanan

 San Diego, CA

 K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.    [quote][b]

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_________________
Guy Buchanan
Deceased K-IV 1200
A glider pilot too.

msm_9949(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:56 pm Post subject: RK400 Clutch

It will make your 582 run much smoother at idle, though you may have trouble getting it to idle slow enough (<2400 rpm) once warmed up, for the clutch to disengage. I did.

  

 Sometimes I consider the effect the freewheeling prop will have on glide in the event of a complete engine failure. I've been told it would be about the same, drag-wise, as a solid disk on the nose of the plane. Obviously, not a desirable condition.

  

 Marco Menezes N99KX

 Model 2 582-90 C-Box



--- On Sun, 8/17/08, Guy Buchanan <bnn(at)nethere.com> wrote:



  	  Quote: 	
		  From: Guy Buchanan <bnn(at)nethere.com>

Subject: Re: RK400 Clutch

To: kitfox-list(at)matronics.com

Date: Sunday, August 17, 2008, 6:55 PM



 At 11:52 AM 8/17/2008, you wrote:

  	  Quote: 	
		  Anyone using or have an opinion about switching to a RK400 clutch? I need to replace my hardy disk (not sure yet why it came apart) and was considering going to a clutch instead. Any help would be appreciated. 	


Love it, love it, love it. Wouldn't be without it. HOWEVER:



1. I haven't reached the useful life of the first unit and have not had any good information from the makers on how to tell when to replace it. (Other than the prop stops turning.) Still working on this one.



2. I recently had to replace my gearbox seals and bearings. There is some concern that the clutch dust causes the lower rear seal to fail pre-maturely, and that once it fails the dust migrates into the box and eats the bearings and other seals. (Some evidence of that in my engine.) My seals and bearings lasted about 230 hours. We're now on iteration number two so we'll see what happens.  Fortunately you get a lot of notice of failure. Also fortunately a gearbox re-build is fairly cheap, if you work hard to find the bearings and seals elsewhere than Rotax. (Pretty good success last time.)



 Guy Buchanan

San Diego, CA

K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.  	  Quote: 	
		  

	


	


           [quote][b]

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akflyer

Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 574
Location: Soldotna AK

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:11 am Post subject: Re: RK400 Clutch

I have almost 200 hrs on my brothers KF with the clutch, and a few hours in an Avid Mk IV and an "A" model without the clutch.  Hands down I like the clutch much better.  Easier starts, way smother idle and no shaking of the airframe when warming up.  The down side is I cant prop the plane when the battery is dead.  I have had that happen several times when I was at the local lake, and am dreading the day it happens when out in the remote bush.  I am thinking about tapping 4 small holes in the clutch that you could run some set screws into in the event you need to prop the plane.  I have not gotten into it far enough to figure out if this can be done safely, but I cant really see a reason that it cant be done.

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_________________
DO NOT ARCHIVE
Leonard Perry aka SNAKE
Soldotna AK
Avid "C" / Mk IV
582 (147 hrs and counting on the rebuild)
IVO IFA
Full Lotus 1450
#1 snake oil salesman since 1-22-2009

I would rather die trying to live, than to live trying not to die....

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