andyb Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 Planning to fly in St. Louis today, in about 15 degree F temps. Do I need to tape over part of the oil cooler to keep the oil temps at the minimum? What kind of tape to use? Thanks, Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Cat Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 Andy, I've had success using 2" 3M metal tape from Lowes. As temps start to drop with the season I begin with a strip across the top of the oil cooler.The point being to provide some cabin heat whilst keeping the oil temps higher, but lower than the max. As ambient temps go lower I overlay another strip ( to add 1" wide) to increase the taped area by 50%. This gets the oil temp up to the top of the green and maybe just into the yellow for take-off and climb, and thus provides some cabin heat. I keep a mental note of ambient temps when I fly as too much tape on a warmer day can really raise the oil temp. If you're careful you can peel the tape on/off and use again so you may only ever need to buy one roll of it! Not quite sure what you mean by adding tape over the oil cooler 'to keep the oil temps at the minimum?' usually its done to raise the oil temp to improve cabin heat. The result for me is oil temps on the top end of the green, occasionally in the lower yellow, and CHTs around 148-150F (just inside the lower green) which is enough to provide some warm air. I get a nice warm blast on take-off which lasts a little while and usually by the time I'm ready to land the amount of warm air is reduced as the CHT is around 148F (lower green) with the engine throttled back. This is on a Rotax 912ULS in an RV-12. As a side note, I just saw on the VAF site an RV-12 owner (Dave Valchik) up in Maine who has installed a really neat shutter over the oil cooler operated from the cockpit. He says it works really well. I used to fly a Remos GX which had a little 'lollipop' shutter you could control from the cockpit which worked well too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 Aluminum tape works well and leaves no sticky residue like Duct tape. Don't use Duct Tape. We use a 2" wide barrier across the top of the cooler to help reduce cold air across both the radiator and oil cooler. With an OAT down at 15F my guess would be a minimum of 3" barrier and maybe 4". Shoot for an oil temp around 200F-220F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 My experience has been when you start putting more that 2" on CHT or coolant temperature starts to be an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 There are no minimum temps for CHT's on a Rotax so that part isn't a worry and usually the CHT's stay below oil temps unless you have an issue. So if you can get the oil temp up to 200F-220F then the CHT's will usually be 15F-30F below the oil temp depending on what you did with the tape. Max coolant temp is 248F and max CHT metal temp is 275F. We use our CHT metal temp as our coolant indicator unless you have a separate temp sender so 248F is it. Up to 230F is considered normal oil temp for continuous running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 There are no minimum temps for CHT's on a Rotax so that part isn't a worry and usually the CHT's stay below oil temps unless you have an issue. So if you can get the oil temp up to 200F-220F then the CHT's will usually be 15F-30F below the oil temp depending on what you did with the tape. Max coolant temp is 248F and max CHT metal temp is 275F. We use our CHT metal temp as our coolant indicator unless you have a separate temp sender so 248F is it. Up to 230F is considered normal oil temp for continuous running. I was talking about CHT on the high end, not minimum temps. The unfortunate thing is we have to block both the radiator and oil cooler at the same time. You can call me overly cautious, but I don't like to see the temps in and staying in the yellow during flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 The unfortunate thing is we have to block both the radiator and oil cooler at the same time. not necessarily Tom, on mine, I put a aluminum sheet 'velcroed' behind the oil cooler because of what you explained...wanting a higher oil temps I was getting a too high CHT while still putting 'some ' tape on the front radiator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 When tape is applied with some common sense and a little at a time an over heat shouldn't be an issue. If you get carried away with the tape just land and take a piece off. This is such a common practice with many Rotax owners and their planes and it hasn't been an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 I got hyperthermic flying from Page to Tonopah. I had no tape, a big headwind and nowhere to land. After landing in Tonopah and getting warm I overtapped and overheated CHT while climbing to pattern altitude. I landed and removed 1 strip and was good to go. That fight demonstrated that CHT can be too cold or hot if over or under taped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 I've had temps get high from over taping as well. Not a big deal, but usually now I'm conservative with it, I'd rather have oil temps of 180 than 240. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 When tape is applied with some common sense and a little at a time an over heat shouldn't be an issue. If you get carried away with the tape just land and take a piece off. This is such a common practice with many Rotax owners and their planes and it hasn't been an issue. I would like to think I have some common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted February 15, 2016 Report Share Posted February 15, 2016 Tom, I wouldn't think otherwise. Your one of the good guys. Everyone needs to remember that some things are personal choices or even Best Pratice and that there is a range to fall in and not a hard number to always go by. Many things discussed here are personal choices. Once in awhile some things could be a little closer to the optimum range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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