Lookin' at a Shaden Fuel Flow indicator on Ebay, wondering if anyone has heard of them, or used 'em. I know EI is the best, but too spendy for me. (If you're not looking, please don't scoop me!)
Should I buy this ol' thing??

My own experience with a fuel flow indicator was fairly brief. It was a brand no longer supported, from Australia I believe, not certed for sure.

It was accurate and great to have, but after the first few hours I realized I was using it less and less. Once I knew what the number's were for a certain configeration fuel flow wise, the fun kind of wore off. When the transducer (or something) took a crap I removed it (couldn't get parts) and havn't really missed it.

As I have a 3 gallon header tank with it's own sight gauge, I always know to the 1/2 pint how much fuel I have remaining, so I don't need an instrument to tell me gallons remaining. Having said all that Shadin though seems like a pretty good player in the field, the name has been around a while anyway.

NimpoCub wrote:Lookin' at a Shaden Fuel Flow indicator on Ebay, wondering if anyone has heard of them, or used 'em. I know EI is the best, but too spendy for me. (If you're not looking, please don't scoop me!)
Should I buy this ol' thing??

That one in the picture likely came from a Cessna 337

Buy the FP-5 and never look back-

You can take every gauge out of my plane... But just leave the JPI 450 fuel flow and the KMD 150 GPS... Those are the only two things I need..... IMHO...

Ben.

I'm using a JPI 450 very accurate links to my Garmin 1 wire gives plenty of info. I bought it new off of Ebay 4 years ago for $480. From these guys.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JP-Instruments- ... d5&vxp=mtr

Last year coming back from the BCP flyin @ JC I fueled at Wells had a head wind down to LAS and turned the corner towards So. Cal. watching the 450 it gave me constant info on fuel used fuel left and how much I needed to make it home with a 45 min reserve. It said I landed with 8 gallons I put in 7. JPI tec service helped me fin tune the calibration, very good people there. The way it's set now when ever I fuel I look at the fuel used function and compare it with fuel dispensed and it always shows 1 more gallon then I put in.

For the price and support I highly recommend. Right now I'm going thru a tiff with a guy on Ebay who sold me a OAT temp probe, "new"
It came with a bit of rust on the stainless probe dirt on the threads and the stainless washers were deformed like it had been mounted and the hex nut had wrench marks on it.

I agree that it is not a "long term" deal, I just want to confirm my fuel burn @ different weights/speeds/config's, etc, so I have an idea. The only long trip I've done so far was down to Kamloops & back, I flew 3 hrs & poured in 15 gals (of premium mogas), both ways. Still can't believe I'm flying @ 85-90 indicated & burning 5 gals/hr. (That's Canuck gals, t'would be about 6 'Merican gals) I have a few LONG trips planned for this summer/fall, so will know what's up by then.

If the fuel burned/remaining & fuel required to destination work, that'd be a bonus, but I can SEE my fuel in the Cub sight tubes, and plenty of places to put down & pour more in if need be around here. I think it will be just a temporary thingie for me, and then be for sale again.

We use Shaden FF in all of our helicopters and fixed wing, they work great but I have nothing to compare them with.

Only experience is with Shadin units on PT-6's.
They work great & are accurate, customer service is excellent.

The 180 has the Shadin in it and the PA-16 has the EI. I like them both. They have been a great tool to reference.

CW

I have the EI in my airplane, and it's amazingly accurate. I can count on my refueling to be within a couple of tenths of a gallon of what it says I've used.

Years ago I regularly flew a Mooney 231 with a Shadin, and it was also pretty accurate, although not as accurate as my EI. My guess is that it needed recalibrating, but since I didn't own the airplane, it wasn't my call to fiddle with it.

The one you're looking at appears to be for an inline twin "r fuel flow" for rear engine, "f fuel flow" for front engine. If it was from a 337, it must have been a very early model, since most were 24v and the label on the one you've shown is 12v.

Cary

Seller says:
"Shadin Twin engine fuel flow system as removed from a 1978 Piper Arrow IV it was working when removed from aircraft I will refund your money if it doesn't work."

I'm thinking that even tho it came out'a a twin, I should be able to use just ONE transducer, as it's just measuring the fuel flowing through it, right? All i want is an inexpensive, temporary thingie to confirm my fuel burn, it's not important/critical, but of course I want to be able to believe it.
I know that JPI is the gold standard, but just too spendy for my simple desires.

Do y'all think this thingie will work (or not)??

My JPI is stunningly accurate when caliberated properly... It has a way to alter the CAL numbers, basically it massages the pulse count from the flowscan to jive with the true flow.... When I run straight 100LL I use one cal number,, when burning straight MOGAS there is another number I plug in.. For the last year or so I run a cocktail or 75% MOGAS and 25% 100LL and that has its own unique CAL number..... I might add in the first 100 hours I ran straight 100LL and after I dailed in the CAL number perfectly I tracked the flow versus what I put in the plane.. Over a 500 gallon run the JPI was off 4 gallons... That in my book is outstanding..

Ben.

You may have to change transducer to gravity fed, but otherwise it should.

Gump

I think I need to enroll in "Gump Thinking 101"

I'm thinking that all the fuel that gets to the carb/engine has to pass through that transducer thingie, right? I understand it's just an impeller connected to a magical pulse-generating thingie that sends the info (pulses) to the indicator. So, I wonder what could be the diff between a pressure system & a gravity system to that lil impeller??

Ready for lesson # 1.

NimpoCub wrote:I think I need to enroll in "Gump Thinking 101"

I'm thinking that all the fuel that gets to the carb/engine has to pass through that transducer thingie, right? I understand it's just an impeller connected to a magical pulse-generating thingie that sends the info (pulses) to the indicator. So, I wonder what could be the diff between a pressure system & a gravity system to that lil impeller??

Ready for lesson # 1.

The difference is the size of the hole in the flowscan.... The gravity one has a bigger hole for less restriction and gravity flow delivers less fuel then a pressure system does... The reason for a smaller hole is it will give a more accurate reading by spinning the turbine blade faster....

When you buy 'em new the only difference I see, is a transducer for gravity fed fuel systems, and a different one for aircraft with fuel pumps. Last I looked, an Arrow uses a fuel pump!

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/i ... can450.php

Gump

You may run into a problem with the AML (approved Model List) portion of the STC to install it in your aircraft (since it is a model for twins), that and the unit needs programming for the K factor. I have had different Shadins and they work well and do their job. I also have the EI FP5L in my O-1, it works extremely well, especially if you take the time to calibrate it over multiple tankfuls burned.

I had to burn down the fuel on a 206 to replace something, I don't remember what (I was remote, so draining was not an option). So I flew it around until it go down to a few gallons and then landed and let it run on the ramp while it burned off the residual. The Shadin started flashing its fuel exhaustion warning, and the engine quit at the same time. So I would say it was pretty accurate.

I would just worry if an FAA dude stuck his head in your cockpit for a ramp check. Even the "Village Idiot" of the FAA might notice your aircraft is not a twin.

Nimpo Lake is a long ways from the FAA.

Gump

[quote="GumpAir"]Nimpo Lake is a long ways from the FAA.

Gump[/quote

They got drones now Gump

The Canuks don't.... Yet

Gump