Cold Starting

·         Doug Smith

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For those of us in the southern hemisphere winter is here. It's been pretty chilly lately so we thought we'd remind everyone of some tricks for making sure your aircraft starts on frosty mornings. The attached list are our suggestions but let us know what works for you!

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·         Adrian Clout

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My engine (3300) is hard to start when cold (Almost impossible when very cold) I decided to remove the start mechanism with the view of enlarging the hole to the recommended 1.2 mm , I am unsure which hole needs enlarging.
The first thing I noticed is the rotating plate only has one hole ,I understood it should have 3 of varying sizes.
My question is should I have 3 holes (The dimples are there , where the holes should be as you can see in the photo)
and which hole should be 1.2 mm?

Cheers Adrian Clout

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·         Doug Smith

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Hi Adrian,
I think, looking at your picture, that you've removed the choke rotating assembly from the side of the carby. We don't adjust anything in that area.

If you look at the second page of the checklist you'll see that the jet we're talking about is down in the bottom of the float bowl assembly - that's where the start enrich circuit draws its fuel from. So to check the jet size you just have to remove the float bowl and use a drill to see what size the bore of the jet is.

Regards,
Doug.

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·         Adrian Clout

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Thanks very much Doug, yes you are correct I had the plate off thinking the hole I had to enlarge was in there. I have since found the jet
in the float bowl and enlarged it to 1.18 mm (The closest drill I had) I am confident this will solve my problem. Sorry to wast your time.
The good news is I now have a full understanding of how the start circuit works.

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·         Doug Smith

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No problems 🙂

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·         Norm Edmunds

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For 13 years now, I've plugged in a small solar charge panel (80-120mah?) to my battery and leave it on the cowl. Hangar has opaque skylight panels. My location gets down to below freezing in winter. I have never experienced a starting problem and have not done anything extra to help it along. First battery was changed at eight years, but still starting perfectly well when I changed it. I'm convinced that the solar charger keeps the battery UP and aids battery life.

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·         Adrian Clout

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Totally agree Norm , I have been doing the same . I have just put a new battery in my Sonex 3300 after 12 years of faithful service.
I do it on and off with my car batteries. My best was 10 years but shock vibration is greater in a car and a killer of lead acid batteries.

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