EI UBG-16 Engine Monitor

[Skybrd]

I just picked up my Mooney after an engine change and installation of a EI UBG-16 engine monitor. I read the EI instruction instructions and tried to use the lean mode. It appears that to find peak cylinder and get the instrument to start flashing didn't happen until the engine started to almost quit. Then by pressing two switches, it enters a mode that shows degrees from peak. I was wanting to set the engine to 100 degrees rich of peak (for engine break in). One thing that seems not so good is the slow response to get the instrument to start flashing showing it has reached 1st cylinder peak as a baseline. If a person takes too much time adjusting the mixture to the peak setting, wouldn't the engine be running hotter than what you want while its taking it time finding the peak. One site I just read, said it takes up to 5 minutes to get this right. Somehow that seems to slow especially while the engine is running hotter toward peak. Any of you have experience using the monitors lean mode and a way to speed up the process.

[FBCK]

I have the same unit and on my 231, my tit would over heat if I tried to lean and try to fine peaks, I just pull the mixture back until I feel the engine slow and then rich it just a bit and do hat in relation to the tit, which seems to be my limiting factor ( in relationship to my fuel flow). It maybe the same for any unit not just the ubg16, it only takes a couple of seconds to see the tit go up the 1650.

[scottfromiowa]

Before I had my G3 and fuel flow I used to do the "Big Pull" on mixture. Pulled to rough and then enrichened to running smooth. I have found that I essentially do the same thing now, I just have instrumentation (fuel flow and solid white boxes showing I am 50-70 LOP) and the temps of my cylinders are fine. In my M20E I am LOP if my fuel flow is 9.5-10GPH. This is the "sweet spot" for my plane with a good compromise on fuel flow to speed and happy cool cylinders...I use fuel flow and "how the engine is running" 9.5-10gpm with big pull MORE than messing around fine tuning the mixture. The engine monitor just confirms ALL is well and WHAT the temps are and what % LOP I am.

[M20F]

Hi Skybrd,

I posted a similar issue with my EI MVP-50P. Sometimes it seems to find the peak right away but more often then not it just hovers around and never sets to the first or last to peak. While I know the fuel flow based upon when it has ticked over to peaks to approximately set either ROP or LOP for a given power setting would be nice to know it for certain especially when I use an unusual power setting.

Hopefully somebody who has one of these EI units can chime in with the magic advice.

[danb35]

The standard EGT probes that EI ships respond pretty slowly to changes in EGT. EI sells "fast response" probes, which have finer (and therefore lower-mass) tips, and therefore presumably respond more quickly, but I have no direct experience with them. I haven't found the lean find mode on my UBG-16 to be very useful, but that seems to be the nature of the beast. You're probably better off setting your MUX-8A to burst mode, leaning to near peak, and then very slowly leaning through peak. Download the data (possibly using my handy gadget) and graph it, and you'll get your leaning information.

With a little bit of practice, you'll know a fuel flow that will do what you want, and then just lean to that fuel flow.

M20F, my M20F also came from 06C, a little under 5 years ago.

[tablor]

I have the UBG-16 and use lean mode of most every flight in my '66 E. I rarely get CHTs high enough to worry about how long it's taking to get to peak. I would say it takes under 5 minutes if I'm paying attention to the mixture. The number for the first cylinder to peak starts flashing and as the other cylinders peak those numbers begin flashing. I generally wait for each of the cylinders to go over peak before I push the mixture back in to run ROP if that's what I'm doing that day. I'll scroll back to the front page that just reads temps for the cylinder that peaked first and as I go in with the mixture I watch the temps to see if it gets a little hotter with a bit finer adjustment when I get back to the temperature that it recorded as peak. That's it, there's a few things I'm unsure about and we all know that everyone has a bit of a different process. I don't see any harm in running near peak for a minute or two.

Anyone ever take the engine management course from the guys in OK? It's been on my list of things to do.

http://www.advancedpilot.com/

[Hank]

"Several minutes" to find peak? And this is normal and accepted??

The factory-installed single point, single needle gage in my 1970 C-model takes ~30 seconds to lean to peak and enrichen to where I want it, but only if I am busy and/or distracted. Oh, the price of progress!

[Skybrd]

My new EI UBG-16 Monitor failed today. Last flight it worked fine but today the display was completely dead. I checked for power at the connector and it was good. I sent it back to EI for repairs. This failure reinforces my opinion against going to a glass cockpit and putting all your eggs in one basket. Steam gauges are more reliable and isolated from complete instruments going out. It only takes a small IC chip failure to take out multifunction display. Have any of you had failures of EI products?

[Marauder]

My new EI UBG-16 Monitor failed today. Last flight it worked fine but today the display was completely dead. I checked for power at the connector and it was good. I sent it back to EI for repairs. This failure reinforces my opinion against going to a glass cockpit and putting all your eggs in one basket. Steam gauges are more reliable and isolated from complete instruments going out. It only takes a small IC chip failure to take out multifunction display. Have any of you had failures of EI products?

Sorry to hear about the problem. I have an EI Fuel Totalizer that I installed in 1995. Has been running solid since it was installed. The same for my GEM 602 that was installed in 1992. I wouldn't let this experience deter you from considering electronics in the cockpit. I have had my fair share of AI, DG, TC and even an airspeed indicator failure (ok, it was really due to the stupid weathervane thing the previous owner installed on the pitot tube). Even both of my old King KX-170B radios had mechanical failures of the tuning mechanisms.

I do agree with you about putting all your eggs in one basket though. I would rather have a couple of basket of eggs