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Old January 18th 04, 05:06 AM
John Giddy
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Another possible way with two identical flow type varios, is
to use a single capacity flask and put the two varios in
series. i.e. TE probe to "static" on Vario #1, "capacity" of
#1 vario to "static" on #2 vario, "capacity" on #2 vario to
flask.
This won't work if one of the varios is a different type,
requiring either no capacity or a different capacity.
Cheers, John G.


"Roger Druce"
wrote in message
u...
Another aspect to be aware of is the need to keep the

flasks in a T.E.
driven vario system with a number of varios each with its

own flask -
such as is often found with two-seater gliders - identical

physically
and thermodynamically.

You can demonstrate the issue in the following way

provided you operate
with care. Set up a pneumatic line to a Tee junction with

branches to
two identical model mechanical varios (say Winter and

perferrably new or
near new) and have each vario plumbed to a flask with a

different
construction, or same construction but with one with heat

sink material
inside and the other without heatsink.

Introduce a small signal to the pneumatic line simulating

a signal from
the TE head (care required - you don't want to drive the

varios off
scale and have to have them repaired!!) A needle valve

will enable
control of flow rate so one can record the two vario

readings at
different flow rates. The varios will read different, one

against the
other, and the appearance is that the varios have

different calibrations
perhaps leading one to question the quality of the varios.

Run the
experiment a second time with the flasks swapped over, and

you will find
that the recorded calibration swaps between the varios!!

You don't have
a problem with the quality of the varios, you have the

inlfuence of
cross flow between the varios due to the different
mechanical/thermodynamic characteristics of the flasks.

Use identical flasks in a multi vario system with flask

type varios.

Roger Druce


"Mike Borgelt" wrote in

message
...
| On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 16:40:45 -0700, "Bill Daniels"
| wrote:
|
| I'm fiddling with a Bohli Variometer that originally

had a TE
compensation
| diaphragm that connected to the pitot. (A Bohli uses

the same taut
band
| technology as the Sage except it's shorter and the

needle is at the
face of
| the instrument.)
|
| I have removed the compensating diaphragm and its

housing and
installed a
| tubing nipple in its place. (The diaphragm compensator

utilized
several
| "O"-rings that had dried out and were leaking.) My

intention is to
convert
| the instrument to use a tail mounted TE probe and a

capacity flask.
|
| With the instrument modifications complete, I decided

to test the
| temperature sensitivity of the instrument with a 0.45L

(1 pint)
capacity
| flask I had handy. I first placed the instrument in

direct sunlight
coming
| through my office window and the flask in shadow. After

10 minutes,
the
| Bohli still had a stable zero reading - no heating

effect at all.
|
| Then, I placed the flask in the sunlight and the

instrument in
shadow.
| Within 60 seconds, the vario read 1.5 meters/second (3

Kts.)up. This
reading
| slowly dropped back to 0.5 MPS (1 Kt) after 10 minutes.

Moving the
| instrument back to my desk in shadow, the reading

dropped to 0.5 MPS
down,
| then slowly crept back toward zero over about 10

minutes.
|
| Clearly, as every instrumentation book says, the flask

has to be
insulated.
| The purpose of the above narrative is leading up to the

question
about the
| best material to insulate the flask. I want to mount

the flask behind
the
| instrument panel to keep the tubing runs as short as

possible.
|
| What's the best insulation material?
|
| Bill Daniels
|
| Vacuum.
|
| Use a glass wall vacuum flask. Fill with copper pot

scourers.
| See Reichmann for a complete explanation of why this is

a good idea.
|
| Mike Borgelt
|
|