Oil Level Sensor - Off Topic

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

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GAHorn
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Oil Level Sensor - Off Topic

Post by GAHorn »

From another Discussion-Thread:
n2582d wrote:…. On my wood splitter the Honda engine has an oil level sensor. If the oil level gets to low, the engine ignition is shut off. Someone needs to come up with an STC for a similar switch on the O-300 ... only hook it up to a warning light rather than the ignition! A low oil pressure light might also give a pilot a bit of warning before the engine seizes from an oil dump but not as much time as a low oil quantity switch. The problem is where would one mount it. This might be one solution. PMA approval would no doubt be cost prohibitive.
….
Gary, Thank You for the contribs you make to this and many other threads. Yours always add qualified depth to the discussion.

The “oil level sensor” idea for an oil sump is an intriguing one. I will share an experience I had with one on our trip to the Columbus Convention…
Jamie and I travelled to that convention pulling our little Airstream because we wanted to visit some venues between our home and Columbus (Mtn-View, AR, Mena, AR, Nashville Grand Ol’ Opry and Pres. Andrew Jacksons’ home/plantation, Hot Springs riding stables, and. few other places) which we wanted to show our 12 yr-old granddaughter Ava who travelled with us. <edited the age-typo> :oops:
When we travel with the Airstream we sometimes “boondock”…camp on BLM land or other wilderness areas…..and so also carry along a small portable generator with which we can power-up the on-board AC and/or Microwave Oven…(Yes…we are true, rugged, outdoors, campers who like to rough-it…) :lol:

The little generator has a Chonda engine on it with one of those little oil-level safety-sensors on it you mention on your Splitter.
While we were overnight in a state park at Hot Springs Lake Catherine…a line of Thunderstorms came thru which took out the campground power system, and all the other RVs, Motorhomes, Camping trailers who, like us had “hook-ups” of water and electricity…were suddenly without the electricity…. And after the storms passed the night had turned into a windless, humid swamp-like climate next to that lake.
We couldn’t sleepdue to the Humidity and Heat…then I remembered our little generator in the back of the pickup. I got it out, set it on the ground, it started on the second-pull… and I flipped ON the Air Conditioner, closed the windows, took a shower and slept like Babes….

I felt a little bit guilty because the campers in the big 5th-Wheel at the next campsite watched me unload and hook-up the generator as they sat outdoors in the sultry air sipping on iced-tea (or whatever) …. The man remarked to me that he wished they’d brought their generator but because they knew they’d be camping where there’d be “facilities”…. he didn’t bother to pack it.

About 4-AM I awoke feeling slightly warm and kicked off the bed-covers… then realized the AC was not running…. and the generator had shut-down.

I went outside and saw that campers on either side were all sound-asleep on outdoor cots or in sleeping bags…not inside their campers or RVs…. The generator had fuel…the switches were ON… but it was not running. I now was fully-awake and did not want to make all those within ear-shot have to listen any longer to the generator….( despite the fact it’s a “quiet design”…. they are never actually “silent”.) I had a sneaky suspicion that one of the neighbors might have become tired of the “humming” of that generator in the middle of the night and had come over and cycled the ON/OFF switch. 8)

After sun-rise I made breakfast and we packed up and left Hot Springs. We did not use the generator for the rest of the trip home.

I use that generator for other purposes at home…. to run my elect. chain-saw out in the woods away from the house for example …and one day while cutting fire-wood it ran rough briefly…recovered…then SHUT DN. 8O
It started up again easily…but a few minutes later …Shut Dn Again!

This was an intermittent issue with that generator and all kinds of trouble-shooting befuddled me…. until one day I became suspicious….so I CUT THAT OIL-SENSOR wire with my pocket knife!

Never a problem since.

I’m not savvy as to how they really work…I imagine a little “float” or sensor of some sort that simply went-bad….but growing up (or trying-to) in the 1950s and ‘60s…NONE of the Briggs and Stratton, Lincoln, Tecumseh, or Robin engines of that period had “Oil Level Sensors with automatic Shut Down” features….and NONE of them ever failed or burned-up for lack of oil.

My little generator will spend the rest of its’ life working just fine with that cut wire… I’m pondering what I’d do if I were flying at Night and my O-300 engines’ little Oil Sensor put out a Warning…. … 8O

In a sense..we all already HAVE an oil sensor… we Pre-flight the engine…and while In-flight we should NOTE the Oil Pressure and the Oil Temperature. IF WE SEE Lower than normal oil pressure AND Higher than usual Oil Temperature…. That’s one possible Indication of LOW OIL QUANTITY.

(and as a reminder….REPLACE that copper oil pressure line with a quality rubber hydraulic hose.)
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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Joe Moilanen
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Re: Oil Level Sensor - Off Topic

Post by Joe Moilanen »

Having a "low oil sensor" that actually shut down the engine would be a grave mistake in an aircraft engine, but I don't see anything wrong with a warning light. In this "day and age", I have a lot more problems with sensors in modern engines than I do with engines. I remember a flight where this could have saved my bacon or my engine if my flight had been a little longer...

A friend of mine was building an RV-6 and located an engine for sale up in Oriville, WA near the Canadian border. I removed my back seat and we headed North to retrieve it in my 170. After loading it up, I checked my oil, added a quart, and...you probably see where this is going. We departed Oroville, and while flying "fat and happy" over the Cascade Mountains my friend remembered that there was an RV fly-in in Scappose, OR and suggested that we drop in so that he could get some building ideas. We landed, and as we taxied by the large crowd of attendees I was wondering why my plane was getting so much attention and pointing fingers... they must be admiring such a beautiful aircraft! Right! With the O-320 in the back I couldn't move my seat back so I carefully put my left foot out on the step to pull myself out. as soon as my foot slipped off the step it hit me...the oil cap...I embarrassingly got out to witness the newly corrosion-proofed belly and the oil dripping off my plane. The first person to approach me commented on my oil-leaking engine. Being the occasional smart -ass that I am, I informed him that my motor was on it's last legs but I carried a spare in the back for when it finally quit. He walked away shaking his head while I purchased 5 quarts of oil, PUT THE CAP ON and taxied out. I barely had 3 quarts left. Close lesson, but I learned from it!!

Joe
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DaveF
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Re: Oil Level Sensor - Off Topic

Post by DaveF »

Joe Moilanen wrote:I informed him that my motor was on it's last legs but I carried a spare in the back for when it finally quit.
Good one. Sometimes the best response is the one that gives ‘em nothing to work with.
Last edited by DaveF on Wed Nov 16, 2022 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DWood
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Re: Oil Level Sensor - Off Topic

Post by DWood »

which we wanted to show our 120 yr-old granddaughter Ava who travelled with us.
I bet she saw a lot of changes in 120 years! :lol:
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GAHorn
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Re: Oil Level Sensor - Off Topic

Post by GAHorn »

DWood wrote:
which we wanted to show our 120 yr-old granddaughter Ava who travelled with us.
I bet she saw a lot of changes in 120 years! :lol:
:oops: :oops: :lol:
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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