 |
Matronics Email Lists
Web Forum Interface to the Matronics Email Lists
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
MaxNr(at)aol.com
Guest
|
 Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:33 pm Post subject: Diesel Zenith |
 |
|
There is another A/C Diesel on the market. This company is in Great Britian and is shipping their 100 hp. They have flown it in a Pietenpol. There are also instalations in Thorp T-211 and Europa. I got a price some months ago for >$20K.
www.wilksch.com
Also found (and misplaced) a recent letter from FAA re: type cerification of diesels. You have to disable a cylinder during tests, then see if the vibs don't break the motor mount.
Bob Dingley
601XL(Lyc)
**************************************
Check out free AOL at http://free.aol.com/thenewaol/index.adp. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, millions of free high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and much more. [quote][b]
| | - The Matronics Zenith-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List |
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
mijniljj(at)yahoo.com
Guest
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:38 pm Post subject: Diesel Zenith |
|
|
It is true that the old diesels were hard to start,
but since 1978 at least when i had a vw diesel it was
easy to start in cold weather, it had glow plugs and
just heat them for about 20 seconds and it would start
right up. It is interesting that almost all of the
truck engines are Detroit Diesels and eve the
catapiler uses Detropt Diesel parts. The General
motors Diesels were two stroke and had a blower and
they also make the locomotive engines that are two
stoke but too big for us (100 Hp/cylinder and twelve
and sixteen cylinders.
Jim
--- Noel Loveys <noelloveys(at)yahoo.ca> wrote:
[quote] No... There is more power (BTU) in a pound of Diesel
than there is in a
pound of Gasoline It also is not as volatile. One
down side could be that
diesels are notoriously hard to start in cold
weather. They do need good
size starters and probably heavy batteries.
Noel
--
| | - The Matronics Zenith-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List |
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ashontz
Joined: 27 Dec 2006
Posts: 723
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:14 am Post subject: Re: Diesel Zenith |
|
|
| 2thesky wrote: | | Float Flyr wrote: | | One down side could be that diesels are notoriously hard to start in cold weather. They do need good size starters and probably heavy batteries. |
Only diesel engines that aren't properly cared for, have fuel pressure problems, or are worn out are hard to start. I currently own five diesel engines and have owned many more in the past. Every time I have had a hard to start engine, I have been able to find and fix a problem that corrected the problem of being hard to start. You can just crank on it loger, use bigger and more batteries to suck fuel up to the injectors, and that will work and is, in fact, what most folks do, but I have always been able to fix mine so that they start easily through keeping the fuel system in top shape. I own one diesel in a Ford F-250 pickup. I also own two tractor trailers with big 550 hp engines and smaller diesel powered aux. power units on them, too. None of these are hard to start in the cold because they are all equipped with block heaters that keep the coolant warm. When it gets REALLY cold, I also use a heated dipstick that tends to keep the engine oil close to 85 degrees. All of my trucks start just fine in really cold weather. It has been hovering around 0 degrees here for a couple of weeks and all of my trucks started everyday with no problems, usually after just a couple of turns of the engine. One of my trucks sat outside in North Dakota for three days last week. It started on the third turn. In fact, I drive my diesel pickup more in the cold weather because the oil and coolant is warm all the time, and my car has to start cold. The diesel engines run smooth from the start and my car and farm tractor complain to me for the first few seconds. It is my opinion that because of the block and oil heating devices, my diesels suffer less wear than my gas engines from cold weather starts. It is simply a matter of plugging it in to a 110 volt electrical outlet at night, or just a couple of hours or so before starting (depending on the temp). I prefer to leave them plugged in all the time when not in use. For an airplane, I think I would leave the block heater off and just use the heated dipstick so not to add any extra flying weight. To me, that sounds easier than the propane powered pre-heater that I use on the PA-28 I rent now. Just show up at the hangar, unplug and remove the heated dipstick, and replace the normal dipstick. You are ready to rock and roll.
As for the starters and batteries, both of my semi's are equipped with auxiliary power units so that we don't need to idle the big engine for overnight stays and still run the heat/AC, provide electricity in the sleeper for lights, refrigerator, microwave, engine block heaters, battery charging for the big engine, etc. These units use lighter twin cylinder diesel engines, made by Kubota, and require only a single battery that is lighter than the one in my little V-6 powered car. It will spin and start the little Kubotas very easily. The starters are pretty much the same as a lawn mower. I doubt that for these lighter aircraft diesels, any huge heavy battery or starter would be needed. We do use huge starters on truck diesels, but I think that it is because manufacturers realize that most will allow small air leaks in the fuel system exist. I think these diesels could be great for airplanes if they can just keep the installed weight down. I hope by the time I am finally ready to start building, I will have a choice of engines that can run on diesel or Jet-A. I like it more than gas because of the volatility of gasoline. Also, my auto and truck diesels last a whole heck of a lot longer than my gas engine cars. One of my truck engines has 1.2 million miles on it. I usually run trucks to 1.5 million before trading them in or rebuilding them with meticulous maintenance, of course. I am sure most aircraft owners, particularly folks who built them are very good about maintenance. I hope that longevity will be the same in aircraft diesels. Just my opinions. |
Just the fact that diesel fuel is less volatile in a crash is a nice plus.
| | - The Matronics Zenith-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List |
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
2thesky
Joined: 30 Jun 2006
Posts: 18
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:24 pm Post subject: Re: Diesel Zenith |
|
|
| mijniljj(at)yahoo.com wrote: | It is interesting that almost all of the
truck engines are Detroit Diesels and eve the
catapiler uses Detropt Diesel parts. -- |
Well, lots of trucks are Detroit powered. I wouldn't say "almost all of," though. Lots of big fleets use the Series 60 12.7 liter engine in Freightliner Columbia's and Century class tractors. Lots of Internationals have 14 liter Cummins ISX's or C-15 CATS. Almost all of the Peterbilt 379 and Kenworth W900 tractors (the ones with the long square hoods) are CAT powered. I have owned all of them and my favorite is the CAT, in particular the 3406 or the later C-15 550 hp engine. The Detroit is a good engine, too, and I have logged many miles sitting behind them. I am curious about which Detroit parts that CAT is using. I have owned lots more CATS than any other kind of engine, and the only shared part I can find is the Bendix air compressor, which is common to lots of tractors. Maybe I could save some green by putting grey parts on my yellow engines? 
Please Do not archive!
| | - The Matronics Zenith-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List |
|
_________________
Every takeoff is optional, but every landing is mandatory! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
Get Email Distribution Too!
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
