Engine Monitor Thoughts (Yeah, You Should Have One!)
The JPI EDM Engine Monitors are not CSOB
priced items, but I believe they pay for themselves in fuel savings and engine diagnostics!
Get the Fuel Flow option and oil temp probes installed and connect the EDM 760
to your GPS and know your instantaneous NM/gal and Fuel Remaining at
Destination
Psst....see that fuel flow, yeah, I'm
running Lean of Peak at 10,000' with a TAS of about 162KTAS. Want to read
more? Click HERE for
my settings or click the picture above and read the photo caption info.
Below is a recent flight instruments video of 21.6GPH total @ 9,000' yielding 183KTAS.
Here's a note that I sent to a fellow Baron owner who asked me about engine monitors:
I have flown behind
my EDM 760 for nearly 19 years now (2/2023) and find it to be a very
good device. It did, however, need a screen replacement at about 1500hrs
TIS. I am told the EDM760 is NLA new. If you have the panel real estate
for a 790, that looks like it could do the job very well.
RPM
and MP monitoring are superfluous IMHO, Oil temp, CHT, EGT, FF (that
talks to the panel GPS for Fuel Remaining at Destination or Waypoint)
and OAT (assuming you don’t have a G5 or AV30 with an OAT probe) are key
measurements in my view. PS: Don't let the installer put the OAT probe
in the belly if you have a Baron because the heater exhaust comes past
the belly!
If
you are primarily interested in high KIAS below 8,000’ and FFs on the
order of 12.5 gph/side or more then you are likely to be operating in
the “Red Box”.
Below 8,000’ is where one must be judicious with FF and MP if you intend
to be kind to your horses. Above 8,000’ you can’t hurt the engines with
MP or FF.
Takeoff
power and climb out are where the EGT values and FF are key to staying
out of the Red Box. For the IO470L this means a T/O FF of about 24gph at
sea level and a hand on the mixture levers to keep the EGTs in the
range of 1250°-1300° during the climb. At TOC, I pull the MP to my
cruise power (or leave it at WOT if I’m at my usual 10,000-13,000’
altitude) and then the FF to my cruise flow of generally no more than
11.5gph/side. I then switch to the aux tanks and note the fuel used in
the climb and add 62 gallons to that number. This then becomes my fuel
consumed changeover point for aux tanks exhaustion. Baron drivers with
interconnected tanks don't participate in this changeover drill.
Check HERE if you'd like to spiff up your Main/Aux Fuel Selector placard.
Depending
on headwinds I might pull back to 10gph/side at those cruise altitudes
to achieve the required “FRAD” fuel remaining at destination that makes
me comfortable given the expected WX conditions. This is where the FF in
the JPI that is talking to the GPS will pay big dividends. It will also
pay big dividends in alerting you to your changeover point for aux tank
exhaustion.
The
vast majority of my trips are from DTO to ATW, about 800nm, non stop,
so I am extremely mindful of NM/gal and FRAD during the entire flight.
My engines are currently (2/2023):
RE: 2340 SFRM
LE: 1874 SMOH
All
but 400hrs on the RE are put on by me and I have been well served by
Aero-Shell 100W (sans additives) with engine heaters for winter ops. My
stage lengths are quite long, rarely poking holes in the sky or $200
Hamburger runs, except for routine training proficiency. I also have
been well served by Air Wolf remote mounted spin on oil filter adapters which allow me 50hr oil & filter change intervals.
Here is another little tidbit submitted to
CSOBeech.com by a Beech owner contributor, as regards a fuel flow transducer for
a very popular digital fuel flow instrument. He found that the $210
Flowscan
#201A-6 was the same one used by his instrument manufacturer who wanted $650
for their replacement part.
Here are additional comments from this
contributor:
"the Floscan 201-B6 is rated up to 60 gph, while the -A6 is
rated for 30 - either would work for my plane. However, the -B6 is made in a
range of K factors closer to the original 201 provided by Shadin, so I ordered
it instead. I installed it using the original Shadin metal box, fire
protection, and mounting... a perfect fit. Flew the plane today, works fine. My
K-factor was 28,600, and is now 29,750 - just 4% difference. This was
easily programmed into the Shadin using their instructions
HERE"
As always,
consult your A&P/IA for their assessment on the airworthiness of any part
equivalencies and substitutions.
Fuel Exhaustion is
So "Old School"!
I would install Fuel Flow
linked to my GPS before I bought wiz bang GPSS or WAAS stuff, but that's
just me. After all, one of the biggest causes of engine stoppages is fuel
mis-management. I am regularly within a gallon of my JPI indicated
fuel consumed on 100 gallon top offs. This kind of fuel consumed accuracy
makes fuel management and situational awareness on long distance trips where
deviations for weather or headwinds, a virtual breeze.
Additionally, if your
engine ever had a runability issue, the data download of the EDM760 can be
downloaded and
sent to any number of engine experts for analysis. This could greatly shorten your
engine troubleshooting time.
Here's Beech Lister, Mike T's, analog (digital
internals) fuel
flow backup gauge.
It's a 1.25" UMA gauge
P/N N20-11F0-3500,
Mike spoke with UMA to get a custom built gauge to be compatible with the
Floscan 201B-6 transducer and a custom face for 35gph
to supplement his EDM 700. Mike reports a cost of $155 plus shipping back in
August 2006, when he ordered the gauge.
He likes it because
it is helpful to him during takeoff and The Big Pull to LOP operations. The EDM
700 and the UMA share the same transducer. Installation was easy, since UMA
included a sketch showing how to wire it to share the JPI transducer and they
also included the proper diode to prevent crosstalk with the JPI.
This lets Mike monitor his EGTs in the climb
on the EDM700 while at the same time monitoring an accurate analog fuel flow
display.
Sounds like a great gauge company to work
with. See the UMA website
HERE