Replaced Battery and somer did an oil service same time

[Turbo]

howzit all,

After my first solo to the east rand GF i came back to FASI and did 4 touch and go's, Oom Paul was on the runway watching my learning curve, anyways, after the landing and taxi back to the hangar, i killed the engine and told oom Paul that flaps one up with low fuel was difficult to land, the plane just dont want to land, so you slow the speed, and eventually she drops down with a bit of a bump. So I asked Paul to take her up and comment -- half a turn later and a clicking noize --- flat battery!!!!

thank goodness nothing went wrong in the air (its not really possible anyways as far as a battery goes anyway) - no warning, nothing! Anyways went to specialized battery services just off Snake Road, and got a replacement 20AH 12V battery (instead of the 18AH 12V) R592.00 later, installed and all hunky dory , i am going to buy a battery monitor anyways so i can see whats happening with the BATT in real-time --

I decided to somer change oil and oil filter (after only 50 hours) the task was easy thanks to some assistance from conairsports.co.uk they have a nice document showing 24 pages of interesting and valuable info on the 912 Rotax engines, its called "looking after your rotax 912 series engine" -- check it out, you will learn from it.

Did a magnetic plug inspection -- all good, no filings attached!
Topped up the water resevoir -- with distilled water (about 200ml)
I used the Fuchs Silkolene 4T SG rated Bike RACE oil -- ester based (paid just over R800.00 for 10 litres)
New Rotax oil filter -- from Skyreach, thanks Mike!
Srill want to cut open the oil filter and inspect it for debris - interested to see if i find anything inside.... hopefully not though!

one thing i noticed that sucks, is that there is no thermostat built into the oil system on the Rotax, this is very bad for a cold engine (as the most wear occurs during cold operation) I am thinking of installing a thermostat that will only open and allow oil to pass through the oil cooler after it reaches 60-70deg C this will allow the oil temp to increase alot quicker and protect the engine aswell as allow less time until take-off. Anyone carried this sort of mod out before?

[psg]

Hi Turbo

I got one of these for the exact reason to let me know if a battery isnt charging in flight no comnnection to the electrics hence no paperwork just plug it into lighter plug.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Display-C ... 4238wt_932

[Dobbs]

Hi Turbo, I have an oil thermostat on my 912S, they are very common on these engines - cannot recall where I got mine from, but I am sure Comet Aviation can help.

[bobthebuilder]

i am going to buy a battery monitor anyways so i can see whats happening with the BATT in real-time --

Burt Rutan once said something to the effect of "If you are ever faced with a question of weather to add something to your aircraft or not, throw it up in the air. If it comes down, it is too heavy"

[Turbo]

hehehe botthebuilder -- i hear you, but if this device can save myself from falling to ground, im sure as hell gonna give it the space on my dash to prevent that from happening...

re the thermostat, i have one from my Skyline, it uses the same Setrab cooler (actually automotive cooler by design) as the Cheetah, bolts straight in. BTW what temp is yours rated at?