REFLECTOR: [Fwd: Re: Franklin starter won't engage.]

[michalk]

I fired off an email to the nice guys over at Sky-Tec.


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: Franklin starter won't engage.
Date: 	Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:30:26 -0600
From: 	Rich Chiappe <richc at skytecair.com>
To: 	Brian Michalk <michalk at awpi.com>
References: 	<43889959.5030807 at awpi.com>



Brian,

It sounds to me like this customer's starter BENDIX drive has failed.

Please understand, Sky-Tec was created from day one to eliminate the
BENDIX from aircraft starters (as well as making them lighter and more
powerful/fast).  To this day, all of our Lycoming and Continental
starters are Bendix-free designs.  Ironically, however, the Franklin
engine did not allow for us to design a Bendix-free design.

Truth is, we probably never would have developed the Franklin starter
for this reason except for the fact that some close friends (at Maule)
asked us to personally consider building a Franklin starter to allow
them to use the Franklin engine (then PZL Poland) on a new Maule design
(that never fully materialized).  That said, we moved forward with the
certification process and have since sold maybe a hundred Franklin
starters that have frankly (no pun intended) served quite well in the
field.  Every now and then, one of those experiences a problem.  Most of
those problems are associated with abuse (kickbacks).  Of the remainder,
a small subset experience Bendix failures.  Bendix failures typically
materialize in a behavior where the starter spins but doesn't engage.
That is why I suspect this customer is experiencing a Bendix failure
problem.  The only way to be sure is to have him send it in.  I know
that's a killer hassle on Velocities, but it's about all we can venture
to offer to help in this situation.

Beyond the Franklin-powered Velocity population, we continue to hear
nearly entirely positive things about the performance of Sky-Tec
starters on Velocity aircraft more typically powered by Lycoming
engines.  The only failures of Lycoming-powered Velocity starters appear
to mostly be related to the use of dual electronic ignition systems that
seem prone to generating some pretty vicious kickbacks if sufficient
battery voltage cannot be maintained while cranking or if a prop ever
happens to 'bounce' off a compression stroke while starting.  We
continue to repair those starters quite affordably and encourage folks
to isolate the electronic ignition during starting (turn it off), or in
the case of a dual setup, ensure that a separate battery powers the
electronic ignition than powers the starter during cranking to avoid
known problems associated with voltage sag on both Electroair and LSE
systems generating kickbacks.  For those of you running good old
fashioned impulse-coupled mags, we thank you and look forward to many
years of flawless starter performance.

If there is anything I can do to support you or any of the list, please
do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Thanks,

- Rich



Rich Chiappe
Sky-Tec
800-476-7896
richc at skytecair.com
www.skytecair.com