O-360 Fuel Flow Transducer

[norcal64d]

I am in the process of installing a EI engine monitor on my MX-7-180 and I was curious if anyone had any pictures of their hose routing for the fuel flow transducer. It has to go between the engine driven fuel pump and the carb so I am thinking two roughly 8" sections of fuel lines with a 90 degree elbow going into the transducer that will be more or less in the middle.

[maules.com]

I think having a 90deg too close to the transducer turbine upsets the flow and accuracy.
I believe it is written in the instructions. Been a while since I fitted one.

[Andy Young]

Jeremy is correct; the directions do state no elbows within some distance from the transducer; maybe six or 12 inches, I can’t remember. That said, I’ve seen plenty that do have a 90° elbow right on the transducer. Not sure if those are working well or not.

[drak130]

I just did an EI install on my IO-540 so not sure how your plumbing works but we mistakenly mounted the transducer to the oil pan on the underside of the motor. No beuno. The fuel flow was fluxing -/+ 1.5 gal/hr very rapidly. Trying to do a GAMI spread check was frustrating. Removed the transducer from the oil pan mounts and everything smoothed out. Thus, don't mount it directly tonthe motor either.

Tim

[norcal64d]

Thanks for all the replies, gents. I found a reference for the JPI fuel flow transducer that says "for best results it is advisable to have two inches of straight tube just before the inlet to the transducer" but the Electronics International data doesn't say anything about it. I guess I will check with their tech support and see if its an "understood best practice" or something. On the 0-360 its a fairly short run from the fuel pump to the carb so without the elbow I'll have to study it some more and see how to tackle it.

[Trevtt600]

You may need to extend the fuel lines in order to place it in a convenient spot. I just installed the EDM-830 on a Continental IO-360, and I also had very few areas to place the transducer per the required spot.



In the end, this is what I ended up with.
Good luck, but don't be afraid to extend the fuel lines to make it work.

Trever
M5-210C

[riverbuggy]

For carbureted installations the transducer needs to be installed above the carb inlet port in the horizontal axis.

[asa]

Thanks for all the replies, gents. I found a reference for the JPI fuel flow transducer that says "for best results it is advisable to have two inches of straight tube just before the inlet to the transducer" but the Electronics International data doesn't say anything about it. I guess I will check with their tech support and see if its an "understood best practice" or something. On the 0-360 its a fairly short run from the fuel pump to the carb so without the elbow I'll have to study it some more and see how to tackle it.

I installed an EI FP5 fuel flow on my last plane (Scout, O360) last summer. Installation instructions required that there be flex line on both sides of the transducer, and had stipulations on the support of the transducer and lines. They use the same transducers in all their monitors so it should all apply. See installation instructions here:

https://iflyei.com/wp-content/uploads/FP-5L-II.pdf

Section 2 is relevant, but the drawings at the back have the most info. The very end of section 2 lists some fittings you may want to use for the installation, and includes straight, 45deg, and 90deg.

-Asa

[Andy Young]

I just did an EI install on my IO-540 so not sure how your plumbing works but we mistakenly mounted the transducer to the oil pan on the underside of the motor. No beuno. The fuel flow was fluxing -/+ 1.5 gal/hr very rapidly. Trying to do a GAMI spread check was frustrating. Removed the transducer from the oil pan mounts and everything smoothed out. Thus, don't mount it directly tonthe motor either.

Tim

Interesting. On my IO-540, I installed in between the fuel pump and injector unit, secured by a short bracket to one of the oil pan bolts. Sounds similar to your original location, but I haven’t had any fluxing issues.

[drak130]

Andy,

That probably would have been a better way to go. We epoxied two studs to the bottom of the oil pan and then adle clamped the hose to the studs on both sides of the transducer. A bit over engineered which lead to some issues. All good now. Love the CGR and the support.

Tim