Cwalsh7997 Posted April 6, 2015 Report Posted April 6, 2015 Hi guys one thing my panel lacks is a fuel flow gage which I find important. I was wondering where I can find a good cheap one and where It could go on the panel and how much it would cost for the install? Quote
FloridaMan Posted April 6, 2015 Report Posted April 6, 2015 Your panel also lacks 4 cylinder EGT, CHT and a volt meter. I say this, not to be a dick, but as someone who purchased an M20F three years ago. These are the experiences that I had with my own Mooney after purchasing it that led to me biting the bullet and getting a JPI EDM-900. Had I purchased it earlier, it would have saved me time and money. On my initial flight home from Minneapolis, MN to Florida, with an instructor that I had paid to come along and help me meet insurance requirements, I had a magneto fail. There was minimal indication in flight and only after landing and the airplane was incredibly difficult to start did we discover the mag had failed. We landed at a small strip in the middle of TN and had to charter a limo to come pick us up and drive us to Nashville. I had to purchase a return ticket for the both of us, find a mechanic and leave my Mooney unattended in a strange location where I didn't know anyone. I had to take a commercial flight back up there, hire another instructor pilot and pay to get ferried out to that field to pick up my airplane. Total cost, likely around $2000. When departing Republic airport in Long Island, NY for an IFR departure, the tower gave us an invalid fix in our routing. We waited for several minutes on the field. I killed the engine and just monitored the radio. When I restarted the engine, my HSI had flags for Nav/Hdg; I spent a few minutes trying to diagnose that when the GNS530 went silent. There was a broken wire causing the alternator to not charge. The ammeter barely showed any indication of this; had I not gotten the bad fix, I would have likely departed in IFR/IMC and had a total comm failure in NYC airspace in IMC. The fuel line from the engine to the firewall was leaking onto the exhaust; this was discovered last annual. The fuel line from the firewall to the fuel pressure gauge was original from 1967. Flying to Wichita after getting a new cylinder installed I experienced a high indicated oil temperature. I made a precautionary landing, added some oil and continued my flight, babying my airplane to keep the temperature in the green. After several evenings of working to diagnose the issue and fix the problem and verifying temperatures with a laser thermometer, I discovered that it was a bad ground in the gauge in the panel. Pushing hard on it with my thumb fixed the issue. Leaving NC at 5AM, I climbed through a thick overcast layer from 2000ft to 10,000ft. Upon reaching the top, I opened the ram air and felt an odd surging in the engine. I closed the ram air and continued my flight to Florida. The next time I went to take off, the engine stumbled at 2500RPM and I canceled the trip. After a couple days of looking at all the plugs and inspecting fuel screens, et cetera, I found that the #3 injector had a piece of debris in it. I had a clogged injector the whole time. The 4cyl EGT/CHT would have immediately indicated this failure. 1 Quote
slowflyin Posted April 6, 2015 Report Posted April 6, 2015 I have a JPI Fuel Scan450 fuel flow that came out of my F during a panel upgrade. PM me or give me a ring if your interested. I'll share my install cost experience...... 434 607-3243 Quote
Guest Posted April 6, 2015 Report Posted April 6, 2015 Hi guys one thing my panel lacks is a fuel flow gage which I find important. I was wondering where I can find a good cheap one and where It could go on the panel and how much it would cost for the install? A four cylinder EGT/CHT would be a great addition. Sometimes they come up used and have the fuel flow option included. JPI seems to be the most popular brand, but they are available from many others as well. Clarence Quote
carusoam Posted April 7, 2015 Report Posted April 7, 2015 Another vote for CHT, EGT, OAT and FF in a single instrument... Your parents would want you to have these. Best regards, -a- Quote
Ratherbflying Posted April 7, 2015 Report Posted April 7, 2015 Wow, that is a tough panel layout. I have the FS-450, and while the instrument cost by itself is reasonable, the 10 hours to install it takes the "cheap" out of the equation. And with your panel, I just can't figure out where I would put it. I think your best option is saving up for a CGR-30P. You could put it in either the tach or MP/FP gauge location, as it will let you get rid of both those instruments along with the engine cluster below. Quote
Guest Posted April 7, 2015 Report Posted April 7, 2015 Maurader has an 830 listed for sale under avionics for sale. Clarence Quote
FloridaMan Posted April 7, 2015 Report Posted April 7, 2015 Wow, that is a tough panel layout. I have the FS-450, and while the instrument cost by itself is reasonable, the 10 hours to install it takes the "cheap" out of the equation. And with your panel, I just can't figure out where I would put it. I think your best option is saving up for a CGR-30P. You could put it in either the tach or MP/FP gauge location, as it will let you get rid of both those instruments along with the engine cluster below. I almost bought the CGR-30P; the reason against it was that the JPI had a special that made it around 400-500$ cheaper, and, more importantly, it was a certified primary replacement for the fuel level gauges and I was able to get rid of the entire six-pack of engine instruments. All-in-all, I was able to replace a total of 11 instruments (6-pack, mp/fp, tach, egt and OAT). Quote
DrBill Posted April 7, 2015 Report Posted April 7, 2015 I bought my JPI450 from Bob B when he did his panel upgrade and it cost $600 to install, (not trivial). Ties to G430W and works great I'd say accurate to 0.1 gal per tank !! BIll Quote
Ratherbflying Posted April 8, 2015 Report Posted April 8, 2015 I almost bought the CGR-30P; the reason against it was that the JPI had a special that made it around 400-500$ cheaper, and, more importantly, it was a certified primary replacement for the fuel level gauges and I was able to get rid of the entire six-pack of engine instruments. All-in-all, I was able to replace a total of 11 instruments (6-pack, mp/fp, tach, egt and OAT). Yeah, same here. My EDM 900 is sitting in it's box waiting to get installed and I can't wait. CGR-30P is certified primary too, and the reason I recommended it is that I don't see enough space on that panel for a 900. Quote
FloridaMan Posted April 8, 2015 Report Posted April 8, 2015 Yeah, same here. My EDM 900 is sitting in it's box waiting to get installed and I can't wait. CGR-30P is certified primary too, and the reason I recommended it is that I don't see enough space on that panel for a 900. (Just musing) I think it could fit where the #2 VOR is, move that to where the tach is and remove the MP/FP. Here's where it is installed in my panel: http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/36486-/ Quote
golfpilot Posted April 8, 2015 Report Posted April 8, 2015 i could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure an EDM 900 will fit right where the fuel gauges/etc are. You'll need to check all the legal stuff, but I'm pretty sure the can replace, not just supplement, those gauges. Quote
Oscar Avalle Posted April 8, 2015 Report Posted April 8, 2015 i could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure an EDM 900 will fit right where the fuel gauges/etc are. You'll need to check all the legal stuff, but I'm pretty sure the can replace, not just supplement, those gauges. +1 Quote
Mooneymite Posted April 8, 2015 Report Posted April 8, 2015 I've been real happy with my EI FP-5. http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33954-fuel-flow-panel-installation-m-20c/ They go on sale from time to time. Sun n Fun is coming up. It took me about 8 hours, spread over three days, to install it, but I suspect someone who's done it before can install it a lot faster. Last time I fueled up, the FP-5 said I'd burned 31.1 gallons, but it took 31.2 gallons to fill the tank. It will interface with a Garmin GPS and give you all sorts of fuel burn information. When you buy it, you have to option of buying an "aux" function.....might be some other parameter you want to display. Quote
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