Builders,
A friend of ours who is building a Zenith 750 wrote in with a quick note asking about oil pressure gauges and senders. I pulled together this general set of notes on oil pressure measurement and instruments as a good resource on the general subject. Over the years Corvairs have flown with just about every kind of oil pressure instrumentation imaginable. Going back to my point of Principle vs Preference. On this subject, it mostly falls in the category of preference.
The Builders specific question was focused on sending units for electrical gauges, and their reliability. If I had to pick one brand over another, I will say that I have never had an issue with the senders that are used in Autometer gauges. VDO is usually trouble free, but I have personally had one mess up, and it caused a lot of work with it’s erroneous information. Goes without saying, I wouldn’t use one from the land of Chairman Mao.
Some people are concerned about mechanical gauges bringing oil into the cockpit, but in actual experience, I have never had an issue with it. The line itself is 1/8″ on the outside, but only 1/16″ on the inside, and I generally put a #80 hole in a restrictor, at the engine, so even if the line came off, the flow rate is about 1/2 gallon per hour. For the record, I have never seen even the poorest mechanical line installations leak. You can take the nut off at the gauge with the motor running, and it does not “spray” oil, it just oozes, and even when the engine is hot, the oil really isn’t after six feet of line.
Below is the close up of the mechanical oil pressure gauge I have in the Wagabond. In addition to all the other things I like about mechanical gauges, I like the fact the needle covers a 300 degree arc, allowing you to see very fine changes. The gauge below is $54.97 from summit racing.
Now get a look at the next part, which is an analog electrical gauge. My primary complaint beyond the fact it is electrical is that this type of gauge is only a 90 degree sweep, making small differences had to see. They also cost about twice as much as mechanical after you get the sending unit. It is priced at $69.97, but the sender is about $40. I buy Autometer because of the tiny letters at the bottom of the instrument that say “made in USA”
For Builders interested in digital instrumentation, Google the name “Dakota Digital”. Below is one of their instruments, but the come in many different varieties, all made in the USA. They have a website you can buy direct from, it has many choices. Just a reminder, never mention to anyone on the phone while ordering from a non aviation company that you are building a plane. Summit will actually black list you. The people answering the phone have $9/hr. jobs, so don’t jeopardize anyone’s just scraping by living by saying that on the phone, and having them get in hot water for not turning you in. It is an annoying fact of a litigious society, but you are not going to fix it by getting a single mother just above the poverty line fired.
