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I have a 914 with 90 hours. I have done about 15 since taking ownership. I have done very little flight at altitude due to weather, however recently did a sustained climb at 100% throttle through 7500 when the engine started to surge. Temps and pressures were all good. Boost pressure was constant, only RPM varying at about a cycle per second. The surge disappeared coming back to 80% power. I checked all the filters through to the fuel pumps, and tried again. 3500 feet and the surging came on. Switched the prop to manual to rule it out, noted constant boost pressure so turbo must be innocent, changed pumps, changed tanks. No change. Again disappears with power reduction. Full smooth 115% power available at sea level before landing. Checked turbo hoses, airbox to carby hoses, balance and boost pressure lines visually for leaks or wear points, and put clamps on the carby balance tube (none in place). Climbed to 5500 before surging. I vaguely recall QNH of 1032 for the 7500, 1003 for the 3500 and it was 1013 for the 5500.
Any ideas?
  • Re: 914 surging at altitude

    by » 11 years ago


    Jonathan
    Curious problem, can you tell us what the variation in engine speed was during this "surging"?
    Do you have any way of knowing the airbox temperature?
    Mike G

  • Re: 914 surging at altitude

    by » 11 years ago


    Jonathan
    Thinking about it in the bath, Rotax says that prolonged operation between 100% and 115% (especially between 108 and 110%) is not allowed because of the risk of control fluctuations (that sounds like your problem). Perhaps you are unwittingly in this region. The TCU reads the percentage throttle position from a potentiometer on one of the carbs, it might be worth checking that the throttle position that you set when you run at 5500 is actually 100% at the carb and not more, the difference is very small when you look at the movement involved.
    Mike G
    A question for Roger
    Do you know if it's possible to read the airbox temperature from the existing temperature sensor without confusing the TCU?
    Mike

  • Re: 914 surging at altitude

    by » 11 years ago


    Hi Mike,

    A good question, I have never tried it. Exactly how would you accomplish this and what would you actually gain from it?
    Maybe Rob can chime in?

    Roger Lee
    LSRM-A & Rotax Instructor & Rotax IRC
    Tucson, AZ Ryan Airfield (KRYN)
    520-349-7056 Cell


  • Re: 914 surging at altitude

    by » 11 years ago


    Roger
    As a compressor engineer I want to check on the turbo performance and the temperature rise tells me the efficiency of the compressor part of the turbo.
    I don't know how I would do it I just wondered if an airbox temp gauge was a Rotax option and if so how they did it. Since the Rotax thermocouple is there it seemed obvious to try to tap into it.
    Also I have a Magni M16 autogyro and Magni put a thermal blanket on the airbox that no other autogyro manufacturer seems to do. Since it's a pusher installation, I would have thought that it would be better to let the air go around the airbox and cool the air to the carbs like an intercooler. I wondered if Magni did it to ensure that the cylinders 2 and 4 didn't get colder air than 1 and 3 which would upset the mixtures. I would like to try to check if taking the blanket off makes a difference and was therefore looking into what temperature sensor options were available.
    Mike

  • Re: 914 surging at altitude

    by » 11 years ago


    If you want to check the throttle position against the potentiometer I made this bracket that fits to the carb and this gives you a reading of the throttle physical position that you can check against the resistances that are in the manual.Be careful the throttle position versus restance graphs can be misleading because the X axis is marked in 10 increments which don't really represent a graph that should go up to 115%. If you want the corrected graphs and the file to print the scale for the bracket let me know.
    Mike G
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