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Oil cooler mod from Showplanes.com . . any luck?

Airflow Systems

We installed an Airflow Systems oil cooler on our RV-7A. I believe it was a 2006X and we mounted it on the firewall using the AFS mounting kit. We have too much oil cooling (hard to get to 180 on a slightly cool day), so we just installed a butterfly valve with a linear actuator to modulate the valve.

Since you have a 7 and not a 7A, I don't know if this would work given the differences in the motor mount. Bill at Airflow is very helpful and knowledgeable. https://www.airflow-systems.com/category/aircraft-parts/

The picture is from last year before we installed the butterfly valve.

 
Check your vernatherm. My buddy had very hot oil temps. Replaced the Vern and all was normal.
 
Oil cooling.

I?m doing the show planes oil cooler system on a recently completed 7 with the IO 360 in a couple weeks . Got the kit, looking fwd to see how well it does.
 
Oil cooler for RV7

I have an IO360 A1B angle valve on my RV7. CS prop. No inverted oil system. Oil cooling was managed sort of adequately with a 7 cell cooler mounted on the baffle behind #4 cylinder. I was running Shell 100W Plus. Last year on a particularly hot day at full gross and an extended taxi after picking up a passenger, I saw oil temp go up to 228?. It settled at about 220? at cruise with OAT around 86?. Engine compartment was plenty hot because fuel was vaporizing during the taxi out, giving a rough idle but which cleared with full power. Been flying the plane for 6 years, but I didn?t worry about oil temps because even though I?m in Texas, I don?t fly much in high OAT. Upshot is I didn?t have enough cooling capacity for that engine if I wanted to really work it during a climb or in hot weather.

Problem with adding a bigger cooler is the gear leg tube welded integral with the the motor mount for the taildragger version reduces open space behind and below the engine. With careful planning I suppose the bigger cooler can be managed during construction, but finding a place for it after the plane is built was a real issue for me.

I opted to add a second cooler on the baffle behind Cylinder #3 with oil lines in series. While I was at it, I made the little baffle channel to make sure air flows around the aft fins of #3 cylinder. I did a little minor ?caulking? with red RTV, too, but I didn?t have too many gaps.

Now, my oil temps are right around 183 to 186 on very warm days - pretty close to vernatherm operating specs. Max I?ve seen on a non stop aggressive climb to 9k? was 191 which settled back at cruise. On taxi back from landing, I?ve seen 190 due to limited airflow through the cowl.

It was one of those rare fixes that really worked well.
 
I'm installing that mod as we speak. Have an IO360A1B6 with CS and a James cowl. Summer temps on climb as high as 235 with 220-225 as cruise down low. Just getting started in conjunction with the condition inspection so it will probably be 10 days or so before I can test it. So far it's pretty straight forward, will report findings when I can
 
Cooling is difficult...
Have an RV-7 with IO360-M1B and the showplanes mod you are asking for. I intended to tow gliders, so the mod is in from the beginning - have no comparison to the "normal" oil cooler configuration.
The mod itself looks good, decouples the weight of the cooler from the baffles.
In the winter (about 30F this year) I had to close the air inlet to the oil cooler completely to have the oil above 160F.
Therefore I added an additional oil thermostat in spring.
After opening the air inlet to the oil cooler completely I got troubles with my CHT's - looks as the cylinders did not get enough air as too much was flowing through the oil cooler. Therefore I closed the air inlet to the oil cooler except a 1*6cm open area. With that configuration, the CHT's are still hot but acceptable (430F@120kt climb 80% power LOP, OAT 70F on the ground), oil temp max. 185F which equals the control temperature of the thermostat.
Therefore I thought of going to the standard cooler but did not manage to do so far - would be a big issue.
Have electrically operated cool flaps (similar to the antisplat ones but much bigger), all the numbers above are with them closed.
With the cool flaps open have CHT 430F oil 185F @75kt OAT 70F and full power full rich.
Maybe your hot days are hotter than ours...
Ren
 
Showplane

Rene, I believe your engine is a parallel valve 180 hp without piston squirters but maybe I?m wrong. I?ve gone with the showplane configuration because I have a IO 360 a1a that is 200 hp and oil squirters. The 8, 9, or 10 row was not enough so I have the 13 row set up with the showplane. Will know by tomorrow how it handles the heat. Just wanted to put out there that the IO variants have different cooling requirements. You can get by with smaller cooler if you have 180 hp configuration without modifications but not with the angle valve. The trade off is with piston squirters I hopefully don?t need as much air to the cylinders so the big opening for the showplane hopefully won?t affect my #4 cylinder. My cylinders never get above 350 but my oil temp was in the 220s in cruise, not acceptable. To each his own
 
Showplane update

For those that are interested,

Got the Showplanes installed with the Vans 13 row cooler with a hugh thanks to Donny Eccker who masterfully post build installed the cooler. Two days worth of work but really worth it. Yesterday was extremely hot day for southern California with temps at 8k in the high 70's. Initial and follow on flight tests to 10K resulted in oil temps staying in the 180-190's on climb out and cruise. That was 25/2500 on climb out with NO stair stepping. It was a dramatic difference from the previous 8 row. This really worked for my situation ( IO-360, angle valve, 200hp, piston squirters) so your mileage may vary. Also this install is not necessarily straight bolt-on as some modifications are needed to fit your engine design, mostly fitting and routing of lines but well worth it. Again, my credit goes to Donny Eccker for doing this post build. NO more pull backs or stair stepping to cooler air. I may need to block off in the winter but that is better than living with cruising temps of 220 in the summer time. I believe my engine will thank me.
 
Last update

For those still interested,

After another 25hrs with the Show plane oil cooler configuration, I am seriously impressed. I've had no oil temps above 200 and I've pushed the engine hard for the last week. Im in SOCAL, so the Santa Ana winds have been blowing and I've had 85 degrees air temps at altitudes (around 6K) and the oil always settles down to 180 degrees. Pushed out the other day with 100 degrees on the ramp, typical fuel boiling during taxing, oil temp around 190. Took off with hard climb, oil temp goes up to 200, piston squirters keeping CHT's below 350 and leveled off at 6.5K. I pushed a 90KT climb (2000+ foot/minute climb) all the way. Couldn't get oil temp over 200 and I was trying. On the other side, around 7:00 am, I ran the San Diego bay bridge/San Diego coast route at 500 ft and oil temp leveled at 178 degrees. So I'll probably have to block off during winter months but I can live with that. Conclusion: I have full use of my power (200hp) during extreme heat events. Best modification that I could have made, this was after checking all baffling, leaks, etc...Again, my shout out goes to Donny Eccker for the install. So those that have heat trouble with Angle Valve, 200 hp engines and can't use all your power due to temps, please consider the Show planes engine mount solution. No long 3" or 4" tubes trying to direct air to the back of the firewall mounted oil cooler, the show plane sits back about 45 degrees off #3 with rubber seal to allow for the violent engine shaking that Angle valves are known for during start up. Happy camper here......
 
Scott- are you running a 13 row cooler? I installed a 10 (maybe 11) on my 390 that has yet to fly (close though!) . Easy to move to a 13 if I need to based on oil temps.
 
No, I think it's a 9 row, but definitely the small one that Van's recommended. After reading a recent post using a Showplanes mod with high success, I'm excited to make the mod to my IO-375 and upgrading to a 13 row cooler! The question is, should I also add the flapper to reduce airflow for the winter months which is almost non-existent here in SoCal?
 
Clarification

Sorry just saw this, it?s the Vans 13 row. I had the Vans smaller one on first, the one recommended by Vans for the 180 hp engines. It was off the #4 cylinder with angle bracket for the vibration. IT was not enough so I ordered the show planes engine mount kit and Vans 13 row cooler. That is what I have now. I know there is a lot of talk about which 13 row cooler to go with but checking show planes website, they recommend Vans 13 row but I?m pretty sure other 13 row coolers will work with the kit. Another quick point, I think showplanes also offers engine mount kits for the 9 row also, so make sure you know which one your ordering. My experience is only on the 200 hp, angle valve engine. Most parallel engines can get by with smaller cooler but I think the show plane engine mount kit which tilts the air flow 45 degrees behind the baffling gives you full use of any cooler your using. On my old 9a, I had a bracket the builder fabricated to tilt the oil cooler back 45 degrees. I now know why he did that to direct as much air as possible to the cooler, problem was it was mounted on the baffling and kept cracking every 300 hrs but I never ran hot on that engine. So the concept is sound and Show plane design is based on the same concept without shaking the baffling to death. Anyway, hope that clears up any confusion.
Scott
 
Also

Flybywire- also recommend installing the butterfly valve now during your install. Flying the coast down low and pulled back put my oil temp at 178 and it was 65 degrees out so I?m also installing the butterfly valve for flying up north and Midwest this fall. Just my thought as butterfly valves are easy compared to trying to keep oil Temps below 220 on a hot cruise day.
Scott
 
Thanks Scott-

I installed the new A mount/gear and looking at it, I don't see how a 13 will fit without it interfering with the top cross bar. Not sure if the geometry changed on the mount but I'll reach out to the guys at showplanes to see if I need a different mount now (I had the old style mount/gear when I ordered).

We'll try the 10 and if we see higher that acceptable temps, that nice thing is it should be an easy-ish conversion since the hoses would be in the same location
 
Great post Scott . . so helpful, THANK YOU! I'm going with the 13 row, with butterfly. %90 of my flying is in SoCal, but want the flexibility of flying in cooler wx. Can't wait to stop stressing when my oil temp approaches 220*.

Fly safe,
Scott D
 
Sam James

I had a Sam James on my previous RV-9A (cowl and plenum) and my guess is probably but give Bryan a call at Showplanes to discuss. My prior RV-9A plenum had the metal baffling to attach the plenum. Side note: hated always having to RVT every time I pulled the plenum but was just part of my set up. The Showplane mounts just aft of #3 cylinder and should clear anything to do with your plenum. Again, I'd talk with Bryan to discuss. For those that care, I was doing night touch/goes last night and was able to do full power climb to pattern altitude (2500 ft per minute), climbing left turn at 90 kts and leveled off at 80kts (TPA) short downwind and followed by a early base to final at 70kts and landed (Finally I was the only person in the pattern). Basically did 10 landings in 5 minutes with oil temps right at 180. I just cant help being so in love with this engine now. Figured she would treat me right as long as I treat her right, she loves cooler oil and really doesn't care what outside temps are....
 
Pics

Just another data point: I am installing an Aero Classics 11 row P/N 8001649 (dimensionally the same as SW 10611R) and is an HE model. Fits well on the Showplanes mounts and plenum. Will also install the Showplanes Air Control Valve. Still building the plane so it will be a bit to realize how this performs. Have an Aerosport IO-375 with oil squirters.

showmy.php

showmy.php
 
Interesting pic. That's unfortunately right where the raven air/oil separator goes. I'll have to give showplanes a call and see what they recommend.
 
OK everybody . . just got off the phone with Brian at Showplanes.com and ordered his angle mount kit . . . He recommends the 13 row "2006X" oil cooler from AC Spruce for my RV-7 (Titan IO-375) which Brian says will fit. I also ordered the butterfly mod to control the airflow to the cooler. Project will commence after July 4th. I will post progress and pics, along with flight testing results. Many thanks to all, especially "Frogman208" for your invaluable posts.

Fly safe,
Scott D
 
I run hot during summer time, above 100C, the red comes on 118C.
in your experience what the best oil cooler? dual pass? single? HE?
SW Meggit Troy? Aero-Classics?
I have a SW South Wind with 7 rows and not enough.
Changed the Vanatherm valve for a different one and nothing changed...

Thanks for your opinion

AC
RV7A built in 2011
 
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