Microlighters

Anyone got any advice on this?

What is the best way to flush out a 582's cooling system and what is the correct ratio of anti-freeze/water to refill it with?

Hi Sad-Ham,

This is how I drain, flush and refill the cooling system on my 582 Aquilla once a year.

1. Remove bottom hose from radiator and drain into a bucket. Bend bottom hose down and have someone lift the front wheel of the trike to get last 200ml.

2. Replace bottom hose (loosely), fill cooling system with clean water – approx 3 litres and run engine for under 1 minute.

3. Repeat step No. 1 and drain again.

4. Refit bottom hose and tighten and fill cooling system with a 50/50 mix of cooling inhibitor (anti-freeze) and water. Solo Wings sell it premixed.

5. Run engine up to normal operating temperature, switch off and let engine cool for a few minutes and check coolant level – top up as necessary. You may have to top up a few times during the next pre-flight routines.

Tips and suggestions: -

a. The term anti-freeze is a misnomer. Yes, it does reduce the freezing point by a few degrees, but its primary purpose is to serve as a cooling inhibitor (conditioner) preventing corrosion.

b. The cooling inhibitor (anti-freeze) is toxic – dispose of the drained fluid where you never want to see grass / growth.

c. Be sure to clean all parts of the trike where the drained fluid has made contact – it is highly corrosive.

d. Don’t forget to drain and flush the expansion bottle as well.

Good luck!!

Regards
John ZU-CIB

I know Johnnie Boy was waiting for me to comment :D

I can't comment on the flushing procedure that John uses but it sounds fine to me. What I can comment on is the "antifreeze"

Make sure you get something that contains a high percentage (90% or more) of Mono-glycol. Stay very far away from anything that's labelled Polyester-glycol. Rubbish stuff with low lubricating properties, that.

Next, use only distilled water (you knew that, right?) and mix to a ratio of 30/70. That is 30% antifreeze and 70% distilled water. You do not need a mix of 50/50 in South Africa's warm climate and in any event, believe it or not, you may even increase your engine's operating temp. by adding too much antifreeze

Thanks for the advice guys. Will get all the stuff on saturday morning and give it a go.

Hey Guys,

My 582 use 3 small radiators. 2 are located on each side of the 582 and the other small one is under.

Just curious, do you know what is more/less the capacity in gallons or litres of the full system?

THX

Isaac

Easy ....

Do the flush thing into a known bucket volume and record it in your aircraft logbook!

I know that is not what you wanted to hear but each type of aircraft may have a slightly different volume per setup - more/less radiators, shorter/longer coolant hoses etc.

Just had to say something...

Bad Nav wrote:Easy ....

Do the flush thing into a known bucket volume and record it in your aircraft logbook!

I know that is not what you wanted to hear but each type of aircraft may have a slightly different volume per setup - more/less radiators, shorter/longer coolant hoses etc.

Just had to say something...

You said well........