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View Full Version : Adjustable Propeller Angle gauge- which one to get?



kmach
07-17-2011, 10:22 AM
Hi All, I am looking at getting a gauge for setting the pitch , or getting the blade angles equal to each other. i was wondering what others have , ones they have tried , likes, dislikes etc... I just about ordered a gauge from ACS but decided to ask a few questions first. ACS has an electronic one and a Warp Drive gauge, I was leaning towards the electronic one for some reason.

cap01
07-17-2011, 10:56 AM
kevin , i have the warp drive protractor . it works pretty good . as you probably know , it uses a bubble . the acs cube would be nice and probably a little more accurate , if a guy could justify the price .

kmach
07-17-2011, 08:35 PM
I have never seen a warp drive gauge, except in the ACS advertisement. I have never had or used any gauge as of yet so I am a rookie in the gauge area. I have the Sensenich ground adjustable prop , from their instructions the blades should remain equal by the center hub setup, but I would like to confirm with a gauge. I want to have a gauge before I start to experiment with prop settings .

SkySteve
07-18-2011, 05:45 AM
My hangar partner has a ground adjustable Sensenich prop with the pin gauges. He found them to be very unreliable in setting the pitch. Could never get all three blades set at the same degree. He ended up using the Warp Drive protractor to get his blade pitch angles set the same.

kmach
07-19-2011, 07:56 AM
That is really good to know.

jtpitkin06
07-19-2011, 08:34 AM
I agree, the Warp Drive Prop Protractor is easy to use. It fits many different size props, it's very accurate and you don't need to level the aircraft.

I used it yesterday to check a McCauley on my Cardinal RG.

Great tool. Well worth borrowing for the task.

JP

Slyfox
07-19-2011, 08:51 AM
I love mine. I push the switch up and goes to fine pitch, push down and goes to course.

avidflyer
07-19-2011, 09:02 AM
I have a Warp Drive on my Avid Flyer with the Jabiru engine so I got the Warp Drive protractor when I got the prop. It works quite well. I've also made and used a jig that holds a lazer and fits on the blades. The lazer will shine a spot on the wall 20' away. Mark that spot, move the jig to the next blade and adjust it so the lazer hits the same spot, ect. I think the lazer is the most accurate way to get all the blades the same. It is suprising though that using the the Warp Drive protractor and then checking with the lazer showed that the protractor was very close. If you use the protractor, try to get the protractor in exactly the same spot on each blade and the bubble to be in exactly the same spot in relation to the lines on the protractor on each blade, not "just between the lines".

chefwarthog
07-19-2011, 06:20 PM
Here in Canada we have the right to use in flight ajustable propeller dose it worth the price?

t j
07-19-2011, 06:56 PM
Yes, the IVO in flight adjustable gets rave reviews from most all that have it.
We in the great brown south can use in flight adjustable too as long as we don't need to fly under Sport pilot Rules ie no medical needed.

As for a prop protractor, I first had a GSC prop and protractor. The protractor was kind of chincy and hard to use. I made a bracket to do the laser check like mentioned. That worked well on the GSC. I now have a warp and adjust the blades with the protractor at the tip as warp insisted I do. The warp is so flexable at the tips my laser bracket is hard to use on the tips.

My advise to anyone is get the Warp protractor, it works easy and gooood!

kmach
07-20-2011, 09:25 AM
Thanks to ALL !, great info, I added a warp drive protractor to my ACS order, I am looking forward to using it on my Sensenich prop to experiment with settings. :) Thanks; Kevin

chefwarthog
07-20-2011, 06:49 PM
Thanks TJ. for the info, and for the gig with lazer.... that wath I like of this forum always new idears!:)

kmach
08-01-2011, 09:50 PM
Hi Steve,
where on the Sensenich blade was he taking the readings ?

I have fooled around a bit with the warp drive protractor now and am using this method; I measured 3 '' in from tip on both blades, drew a vertical ,level line .

I aligned the protractor to the line vertically,and level.

I have the protractor on the pilot side, and rotate blades to take angles on pilot side only, blades are measured from floor to bottom of blade to keep all consistant. I have not changed any settings yet, but I have a difference of 1 degree from the two blades using this measurement method.

I sent Sensenich an email asking where on the prop to take the angle measurement, but no reply as of yet.

cap01
08-01-2011, 10:24 PM
kevin , warp drive instructions are to use the front plate on the prop hub to set the vertical on the protractor bubble for the reference . i use a level to get the blade horiziontal on the pilots side of the airplane then install the protractor at the prop tip . i think the trick is to get the protractor installed at the exact same spot on all the blades . if you can use the warp instructions let me know and ill send them .

kmach
08-01-2011, 10:53 PM
I have the instructions, after reading the warp drive instructions I decided just to use the gauge to reference blade to blade angles and not worry about hub to blade numbers. On the Sensenich the hub has a plastic insert in the center of the hub that is not flat, when you loosen the locking nuts on the blades you are supposed to turn this center insert to set the blade angles together at the same time . I am
using the warp drive protractor to verify the blade angles are the same. here's a pic of the Sensenich hub

SkySteve
08-02-2011, 06:06 AM
Kevin,
We used the same method you described. I can't remember the exact distance we went inboard from the tip, but we used a level in a horizontal position to get the blade level, then used a level in the vertical position to find the vertical level spot working inboard from the tip. We marked this spot vertically on the back side (plane side) of each blade, then measured the distance on each blade from tip to the mark to verify each mark was the same distance from each tip. Then we used that mark to set the degree of pitch with the Warp gauge.

Finally, we set up a gauge on the floor from one blade tip (with the blade tip in the straight down position). The gauge gave a visible location of both the blade length and tip location. Leaving the gauge in place, we turned the prop so each blade was lined up with the gauge, one at a time. This verified each blade was the same length and was set on the exact same track.

One last thing. We did find that the prop was way out of balance and we did have to balance it.

kmach
08-02-2011, 10:50 AM
Thanks Steve, sounds like I'm on the right track

kmach
08-02-2011, 10:29 PM
I talked with a Sensenich Tech today, the proper place to take the angle measurement on the blade is, from the hub , 75 percent of the total blade length from the hub to tip.

they recomended the flatest blade surface you can find , in the 75 percent area .

I will give that a try when I get some time, I have to decide between going flying or messin with the prop !!

SkySteve
08-03-2011, 05:52 AM
That's right about the spot we were using to set the prop.