KR> Tiny Tach

[laser147 at juno.com]

I wore my first Tiny Tach out after more than fifteen years.  The battery
eventually died and is not replacable.  I called Tiny Tach with a
question and to order another one and darned if they didn't just send me
a new one.  Free.  

When I put new electronic ignition wires on I had to fiddle with the
number of windings wrapped around the new Taylor ThunderVolt 8.2 mm 40
oHm wires.  These tires are shielded extremely well yet, at 40 oHms,
offer practically no resistance.  My old wires, also Taylor, were very
old and putting new ones on made a world of difference.  Radio clarity
actually improved despite the OWT that resistance wires are necessary to
prevent RF and EMI interference.

This was such a clear reminder that ignition wires wear out - no matter
how nice they may look on the outside - that I replaced the wires on the
car at the same time.  The wires on my daily driver - a 1982 Suzuki
GS850G - are 34 years old and have 40K on them and the bike still starts
instantaneously so maybe bike wires are made better - probably solid core
copper.  It's the ferrite or carbon core wires that break down over time.
 Shielding also breaks down over time so despite the fact it runs like a
Swiss watch the Suzuki could probably use some new wires.  

So . . . back to TT.  Initially I complained to the group about the
trouble I was having getting the tach to register reliably.  Mark replied
that he had had the same problem with TT and had given up on it (if I
recall correctly).  

It took a bit of experimentation (not all that much overall) but I
finally got the winding correct and TT has been operating fine ever
since.  I made no cuts in my Taylor wire shielding - the only variable
was the number of windings of the TT lead around the plug wire.  Make
sure you've got a good ground with the other lead.

Keep playing with the windings and you'll get it working.  I am in awe of
Tiny Tach - both of their reliability and customer service.  

Mike
KSEE
Laser147 at Juno.com


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KR> Tiny Tach

[Neal Hornung]

I had an old tiny tach that wasn't working anymore.  I bought it a long time 
ago and at the time didn't realize that it had an internal battery that ended 
up dying long before I ever got to actually use it.  I used a very sharp razor 
knife to cut around the glued seam and opened it up.  The electronics inside 
are all enclosed in a rubber like material that holds everything in place.  
After removing all of that very carefully, you'd find that there is nothing 
more than a circuit board, the digital readout panel and a large watch type 
wafer battery.  It's a lithium battery with the numberBR2325 made by Ray-O-Vac. 
 It is soldered in place.  Even if you were to replace the battery it would not 
be feasible to remount the internals back in the case and easily reseal the 
plastic enclosure as well as it was originally. 

It was interesting to find out what was inside however.  I like to know how 
things work and really there isn't all that much inside the tiny tach case.  
That's probably why it's so inexpensive and easily replaceable.  I just bought 
another and hope to get some running time on the engine this summer.  
Unfortunately that's only running time, not yet flying time.  That'll come in 
time though.


Neal Hornung
lt1corve...@earthlink.net
EarthLink Revolves Around You.

KR> Tiny Tach

[laser...@juno.com]

If _Mark_ can't get something to work then something really strange is
going on.

My KR with Steve's 2180 has the Tiny Tach.  I always wondered how
accurate it was until I bought the DynaVibe and confirmed that it's
within a few RPM's of the DynaVibe readout - ±5 RPM usually.  

It's been working for me for three years now and for some unknown period
before that . . . so the battery lasts a very long time . . . at least
for me.  

The TT wire is just wrapped around a spark plug lead - one of them that
goes to the electronic ignition.  I've never tried it on a mag lead.  If
I turn off my electronic ignition in flight I lose my TT readout, but I
don't normally do that.  

Is there a way to replace the battery inside it?  I was planning on just
buying another TT whenever this one conks out since the company says the
batteries aren't replacable.  I don't see why one couldn't get into the
case and replace whatevwer is there.  For $37 bucks though . . . who
cares.  

Anyway, I've been very impressed with it.  Something so simple I didn't
have a lot of faith in initially, but time has proven it to be quite an
accurate and dependable little device.

Mike









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KR> Tiny Tach

[Al Hawkins]

Hi Eric

Steve Bennet, does sell instruments, including the tiny tach.

http://www.greatplainsas.com/scuma.html

It is near the bottom of the page

Al Hawkins
KR2  C-GDPU
Port Coquitlam, B.C.

Eric Evezard wrote:
> Hi Willie,
> The Tiny Tach tacheometer has worked very well for me.It also records 
> hours.The end of a lead is simply wrapped around the nearest plug wire for 
> about four turns.Some have had poor results but remember when ordering to 
> state whether two stroke.four stroke.two,four or six cylinders.In South 
> Africa try the weightshift microlight guys for supply.I have tried to order 
> other stuff from Aircraft Spruce but was referred to PLACO S .A, their 
> representative in SA. Sadly PLACO cant be bothered to answer my orders.My son 
> in Australia used a Tinytach in his weightshift for many years,with good 
> results.I wish Steve Bennet at Great Plains,stocked instruments .He gives 
> instant ,prompt service and expertise.The whole world needs this.
> Best Regards,
> Eric,
> S.Africa
> ___
> Search the KRnet Archives at http://www.maddyhome.com/krsrch/index.jsp
> to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net
> please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html
>   

KR> Tiny Tach

[Jeff Scott]

Maybe I suffer from dumb luck or perhaps my memory isn't so good, but I don't 
recall having any issues with the one I had, although I did think the battery 
was a bit short lived.  When the battery dies, the accumulated engine time 
resets to -0-, but otherwise was simple enough to remedy with a fresh battery.

Perhaps the difference is that the magneto simply fires once and isn't nearly 
so hot of a spark as you'll see coming off a high energy coil like you run in 
on the Corvair.  I don't know about yours, but some of the high performance and 
high energy ignition modules are designed to maintain the spark a bit longer, 
which might really mess with the inductive pickup of something like the Tiny 
Tach as the inductive pickup might see multiple pulses to maintain the spark. 

As best I recall the question was about getting tach data on a magneto fired VW 
without attaching directly to the points.  Without some sort of gear drive, or 
a pulse counter on the back of the spinner, an inductive pickup gets down to 
the final of choice.  Some of us have used it successfully in that exact 
application.

-Jeff Scott
Los Alamos, NM


--
Don't waste your money on the Tiny Tach.  I bought three or four of them and 
finally gave up.  
-- most of comment deleted to save space --
Put your money into something
that will be accurate and last, and you'll be way ahead...

Mark Langford



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KR> Tiny Tach

[Eric Evezard]

Hi Willie,
The Tiny Tach tacheometer has worked very well for me.It also records hours.The 
end of a lead is simply wrapped around the nearest plug wire for about four 
turns.Some have had poor results but remember when ordering to state whether 
two stroke.four stroke.two,four or six cylinders.In South Africa try the 
weightshift microlight guys for supply.I have tried to order other stuff from 
Aircraft Spruce but was referred to PLACO S .A, their representative in SA. 
Sadly PLACO cant be bothered to answer my orders.My son in Australia used a 
Tinytach in his weightshift for many years,with good results.I wish Steve 
Bennet at Great Plains,stocked instruments .He gives instant ,prompt service 
and expertise.The whole world needs this.
Best Regards,
Eric,
S.Africa

KR> Tiny Tach reliabiility

[Mark Langford]

> Albert Cassar wrote:

> If it is the type that has a red lead that coils around one  of the spark
> plug lead. Then you may wont to try  what a friend of mine did . (He used 
> the
> tiny tac on a Jaberu eng,) when he first put it on it was giving him crazy
> readings so after many attempts to get it right by cutting the length of 
> the
> wire that coils around the spark plug lead ,he ended up with one coil in 
> fact
> it may have been a little less it then was reading just fine.

Thanks.  I've tried all of that, every conbinatioin possible, and eventually 
discovered that shielding the red wire/plug wire junction by either wrapping 
with copper braid (or even aluminum foil) and grounding the shield to the 
engine case makes it work perfectly.  I'm quite happy with the Tiny Tach 
now.  It's the EIS tach function that is totally unreliable.  I'll work with 
them to get something else.  I think somebody said they can use a tooth 
counter too, so I guess that's where I'm headed with that.

Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama
see KR2S project N56ML at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford
email to N56ML "at" hiwaay.net


- Original Message - 
From: 
To: "KRnet" ; "KRnet" 
Cc: "Corvair engines for homebuilt aircraft" 
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 7:48 AM
Subject: Re: KR> over the hump!


>
> HI Mark
> In ref. to the tiny tac.
>
> If it is the type that has a red lead that coils around one  of the spark
> plug lead. Then you may wont to try  what a friend of mine did . (He used 
> the
> tiny tac on a Jaberu eng,) when he first put it on it was giving him crazy
> readings so after many attempts to get it right by cutting the length of 
> the
> wire that coils around the spark plug lead ,he ended up with one coil in 
> fact
> it may have been a little less it then was reading just fine.
>
> Albert Cassar
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>>
>>
>> the airport, because I'd only done two landings by myself up until
>> today, and they were both near-tragedies. I was actually wondering
>> about things the undertaker does to you as I drove out there.  I
>> left the airport today with a huge smile on my face...thinking,
>>  "I've got this licked now".  Thanks to all that've helped,
>>  especially Bill Clapp.  For the first time, I let out a big yell
>> after one particularly squeaky one!  Sorry Jim, I forgot to call you
>> until I was on final the first time around, and it was too late
>> then!  I remembered it all though, and I came dragging in there
>> barely flying, slower each time, but rarely looking at the ASI.
>>
>> The Corvair is running great, without so much as a hiccup so far,
>>  other than the time I pulled the mixture out instead of the
>> throttle, and the prop came to a stop on crosswind!   I now have
>> 28.6 hours on the hour meter, although the engine has more hours
>> than that on it.  I also did a little flying around today and did a
>> 2-way speed check with the GPS, and the result was 173 mph top speed,
>>  but with no spinner, and no wheel fairings, and no aileron or flap
>> gap seals, and the engine will only turn 3200 rpms at that speed.
>> It climbs out at 3080, which is about what it'll do static on the
>> ground.  I definitely have too much pitch from whatever this Sterba
>> prop is (it's labeled 54x66, but I think it's been repitched to a
>> 52x60). That's down in the 110 hp range, so after I get my fairings
>> on, I'll get another prop with less pitch.  Average CHTs were 345F
>> after doing wide open for 15 minutes, oil presure was 45 psi, and
>> oil temp never exceeded 200 degrees F.  The EIS tach function has
>> gone haywire, reading as high as 5500 rpm when I'm doing only 3200
>> rpm (courtesy of the Tiny Tach).
>>
>> I tried to recalibrate my static ports with some .1" thick blocks of
>> aluminum but it was too much.  VSI now reads descending all the time,
>>  airspeed reads low (stall is an indicated 38mph), and altimeter
>> reads low. Static ports are not an exact science, apparently.
>>  Fortunately, Bill has taught me not to care what any of those
>> things read, so I don't care.  If I can fly tomorrow (weather
>> permitting) I'll try something less drastic, like some .062 welding
>> rod behind the ports to see if that's a little closer to what I
>> need.  I'll get there.
>>
>> Bottom line is that I'm no longer afraid of this thing and feel like
>> I'm going to make it as a contributing KR pilot and Corvair tester
>> after all.  I'm with ya...
>>
>> Mark Langford  [13 N56ML flying hours and counting]
>> Huntsville, Alabama
>> see KR2S project N56ML at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford
>> email to N56ML "at" hiwaay.net
>> --
>>
>> ___
>> Search the KRnet 

KR> Tiny tach problem

[Clayton Brod]

I'm trying to use a tiny tach on a VW engine with a Bosch 009 distributor.  The 
readings are erratic and unreliable.
Has any one else had problems and how can they be solved? 
Clay Brod

KR> Tiny tach problem

[Mark Langford]

Clay Brod wrote:

> I'm trying to use a tiny tach on a VW engine with a Bosch 009 distributor.
The readings are erratic and unreliable.
> Has any one else had problems and how can they be solved?

If it's not a -X, you may never get it to work right!  The "X" means it has
an internal filter.  I tried everything (one was to shorten the red wire so
that you only get three turns, which minimizes it's "antenna" effect), and
eventually they sent me an X (and then billed me for it).  If you didn't buy
it direct from http://www.tinytach.com/tinytach/gasoline.php, you don't have
an X.  One thing you might try is to wrap the red wire (which is wrapped
around a plug wire) with aluminum foil and ground the aluminum foil.  I just
grounded a wire under a screw, stripped the other end, wrapped it around the
red wrap, and wrapped that with aluminum foil.   That's what it finally took
to make mine work, but even that wouldn't work until I got the X rather than
the standard.  I'd make somebody eat the thing if it was bought within the
one-year warranty period.  Wicks and AS need to learn to sell only the X,
and even then, it's not a sure thing that it'll work, but they don't tell
you it's iffy.

What irritated me is that they are supposed to have a "five year" battery
(AS claims 7 years, somehow), and it died after 3.5, never having seen a
single rev, and living in the comfort of my temperature-controlled basement.
They are not replaceable.  I bought another one, and it wouldn't work,
totally erratic, just like yours.  I called Steve at Tiny Tach and he gave
me all kinds of stuff to try, but none of it did, so eventually he said
"I'll send you an X".  I figured it was free, since the first one (actually
the SECOND one) didn't work, but after it was installed  I got a bill for
$42.  I sent the guy a check and explained that I didn't think it was right
to have to buy three of the things to get ONE that worked, but I'd leave it
to his conscience to decide whether or not to cash it.  He cashed it.  If I
weren't stuck with a hole in my panel that's made especially for the Tiny
Tach, I'd have sent it back to him and bought something reliable...

Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama
N56ML "at" hiwaay.net
see KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford

KR> Tiny tach problem

[Mark Langford]

I wrote:

>  If you didn't buy
> it direct from http://www.tinytach.com/tinytach/gasoline.php, you don't
have
> an X.

I should caveat that with "probably" don't have an X.  Neither Wicks or AS
mention the X version, that's for sure.

Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama
N56ML "at" hiwaay.net
see KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford