C182 Engine Monitor

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Mike Marshall

Filing Flight Plan
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Hey! Long time reader, first time poster. I have a 1965 Skylane whose engine instruments are original. I’m considering adding and electric engine monitor. Thoughts? Suggestions? Costs?
Thanks to all, Mike
 
Mike Marshall said:
adding an electric engine monitor
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Those electrics are waaaay better than the old wind up models.

There are many to choose from. Two initial choices are feature set and form factor.

I think I saw @Jesse Saint trying to sell an EI CGR engine monitor.

In two of the aircraft I have access to, one has the JPI 700 and the other a JPI 830. Between the two, I like the JPI 830 for its larger display, how it displays items, and the user interface.


And welcome to not lurking on PoA! We look forward to more participation from you.
 
I play fantasy league upgrades with the 182K I fly. If it were up to me, I'd replace the original gauges with a JPI primary and get new fuel senders.
 
Thanks! Can’t decide put in a primary or secondary.
 
Mike Marshall said:
Thanks! Can’t decide put in a primary or secondary.
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Our group considered the same thing. Eventually we couldn't come to agreement to spend the additional money for the JPI 930 which is permitted to be the primary. So the original MP and RPM gauge was left in our 182P and the JPI 830 was installed.

A few years later, we find out that nearly all of us are using the digital 830 (positioned on left side of panel within our peripheral scan) as our initial input of information, backed up viewing the primary gauges (in the original positions).

So yes, there is some convenience with having the electronic one being primary. But not an absolute need if you want to save a few dollars.
 
Welcome to POA. Are the original gauges still in working order? A primary will cost twice as much than a secondary.
 
10 years ago I pitched my stock engines gauges (1975 C-180J) and added a JPI EDM711 (primary) and Aerospace logic oil press/temp, amps/volts, and fuel quantity. Light years ahead of stock gauges. Really easy to see the info I want. I subsequently added a JPI FS450, too. Would I rather have the mini CGR thing? No. Too small. Would I rather have a JPI 930? Yes, but not enough to change what I have.
 
About four years ago I added the JPI 930 in my 182 and have never looked back. Replacing the fuel senders with the new digital ones gives me accurate quantity measurement to about half a gallon.

The new engine monitor gives you a lot of information, you can download it, and use a service to evaluate the information to give you more information on the health of your engine.

This might just be me but I find I can suffer from data overload at times. You have access to so much information that it can be more work when one cylinder now goes a bit over what you feel is the temp range for your cylinder.

The red blinking light alerts you when items get into the warning range. If I had one improvement to make to the JPI 930 it would have a yellow warning light when something is below normal but above Oh Crap!

All-in-all, I'm still very happy with the JPI930 investment and installation.
 
Mike Marshall said:
Thanks! Can’t decide put in a primary or secondary.
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Consider the future supportability of both the OE and aftermarket instruments. In 5-10 years, which is going to be easier to find replacement parts for? Also keep in mind that if the engine monitor is not approved as the primary instrument you need to retain the old instruments and continue to maintain them even if you never look at them.

I’m not a big fan of full engine monitors in something like a 182 but I’m also very wary of most of the 50+ year old engine instruments that are commonly found in vintage aircraft so I know which direction I’d go with it.
 
Mike Marshall said:
Hey! Long time reader, first time poster. I have a 1965 Skylane whose engine instruments are original. I’m considering adding and electric engine monitor. Thoughts? Suggestions? Costs?
Thanks to all, Mike
Click to expand...
Garmin makes a nice one called the G3X Touch. :)
 
I researched them all and found the Insight G2 to be the best value. $2100 from Sarasota Avionics (it's a bit of work to order the right version), plus install. You get to see all CHTs and EGTs at the same time (instead of the annoying toggling by comparable JPI models). Mine also has fuel flow, which I really like. You can lean the engine very precisely. Highly recommended.
 
Here are prices from Jesse Saint recently...

$7,500 JPI900 Primary
$8,000 TruTrak Auto Pilot
$7,500 Dual G5’s

If you were interested in a Dynon system, the basic system with a 10” display, backup battery, ADAHRS, Magnetometer, Knob Panel, backup EFIS w/ backup battery, GPS receiver, Wifi, IFR Interface for 430 or 530W, STC fee, new main panel overlay and installation.
With this system your whole 6-pack goes away as well as all of your engine instruments. You would probably want to retain a CDI for your second GPS/Nav/Com.
$17,540 Basic 10” System
$3,188 Primary engine monitor add-on
$4,160 Auto Pilot Add-on (more features by far than TruTrak or STEC50)
 
I went with EI's MVP-50 in my 67 182, and also installed the cies fuel senders.

Pros:
+ One unit replaced every gauge on the copilot side
+ Great support from EI
+ 1 second data reporting (helps find issues)
+ No issues with new fuel gauges (some do)
+ Have digital carb temp with master alert always visible (carb ice)

That said, when I did this, the g3x wasn't available, and that's a strong contender if you're also thinking about doing other upgrades.

For engine diagnostics alone it's worth the investment if you learn how to interpret the data.

I pulled out a secondary 6-cylinder monitor which I now need to sell!!!
 
We have a CGR-30P in a 182 with carb temp, fuel flow, ammeter, dad seems pretty happy with it.

We used an aerospace logic fuel gauge with new Cies senders for new fuel quantity system.
 
I recently installed a JPI 830 in my 182S. I got a quote from all the main online avionics distributors and ended up saving a few bucks off of what was advertised. Installation was around $1700.
 
I understand your dilema completely. It burns my biscuits to have to pay double for the JPI primary unit over the secondary. If you are going to fork over 4K for an engine monitor you then start looking at a G3X and replace everything. Where does it end. I will likely get the JPI 730.
 
Pilot Steve said:
About four years ago I added the JPI 930 in my 182 and have never looked back. Replacing the fuel senders with the new digital ones gives me accurate quantity measurement to about half a gallon.

The new engine monitor gives you a lot of information, you can download it, and use a service to evaluate the information to give you more information on the health of your engine.

This might just be me but I find I can suffer from data overload at times. You have access to so much information that it can be more work when one cylinder now goes a bit over what you feel is the temp range for your cylinder.

The red blinking light alerts you when items get into the warning range. If I had one improvement to make to the JPI 930 it would have a yellow warning light when something is below normal but above Oh Crap!

All-in-all, I'm still very happy with the JPI930 investment and installation.
Click to expand...

I initially put my EU UBG16 in when I rebuilt my engine 6 years ago. My Tach was inaccurate by 175 and pondered a primary replacement, which there are several. But I decided to keep the inaccurate primary one, and in the blank hole next to it put in the EI FP5L which has a “secondary” digital tach on the Aux channel, and get all the fuel flow goodies at the same time.
I’m very happy with the performance of all my EI instruments, and the prices were right.

It is interesting to have all this information which does cause some consequences. So my exhaust stack was cracked and replaced recently at the annual. The EGT probe was supposedly put on at the the right place.
When flying, the pattern of EGTs and CHTs appeared very different making me question a bunch of possible problems post annual.
After doing a full performance spectrum flight, it became clear to me that cyl 3 EGT was altered to 45 degrees warmer on that cylinder than previous. So the performance was unchanged, only the pattern that I had been used to changed. This will become the new normal pattern going forward.

This pattern change was a bit of a pain, but illustrative of the fact that the information available will help you to see something different about your engine real time that could alert you to a potential problem. If I had no EGTs, I would not have been the wiser.
 
5MikeCharlie said:
I recently installed a JPI 830 in my 182S. I got a quote from all the main online avionics distributors and ended up saving a few bucks off of what was advertised. Installation was around $1700.
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Nice. I just got a quote of $2900 to install a 4 cyl JPI 730. Time to look for a new avionics shop!
 
Rcmutz said:
Nice. I just got a quote of $2900 to install a 4 cyl JPI 730. Time to look for a new avionics shop!
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I'm lucky in that we have a really good guy that installs these at my home airport.
 
MajorTurbulence said:
I initially put my EU UBG16 in when I rebuilt my engine 6 years ago. My Tach was inaccurate by 175 and pondered a primary replacement, which there are several. But I decided to keep the inaccurate primary one, and in the blank hole next to it put in the EI FP5L which has a “secondary” digital tach on the Aux channel, and get all the fuel flow goodies at the same time.
I’m very happy with the performance of all my EI instruments, and the prices were right.

It is interesting to have all this information which does cause some consequences. So my exhaust stack was cracked and replaced recently at the annual. The EGT probe was supposedly put on at the the right place.
When flying, the pattern of EGTs and CHTs appeared very different making me question a bunch of possible problems post annual.
After doing a full performance spectrum flight, it became clear to me that cyl 3 EGT was altered to 45 degrees warmer on that cylinder than previous. So the performance was unchanged, only the pattern that I had been used to changed. This will become the new normal pattern going forward.

This pattern change was a bit of a pain, but illustrative of the fact that the information available will help you to see something different about your engine real time that could alert you to a potential problem. If I had no EGTs, I would not have been the wiser.
Click to expand...

Is it possible they put the probes in the wrong order? Probably not, if your wiring is tight, close, and neat, but possible if you had a lot of slack in the wires and they weren’t labeled.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Is it possible they put the probes in the wrong order? Probably not, if your wiring is tight, close, and neat, but possible if you had a lot of slack in the wires and they weren’t labeled.
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Probably no.
I was not clear enough in my description. Only the Cyl 3 stack was replaced. I do not think they had to touch the other probes. All the other 3 EGTs and all the CHTs were acting normally in flight.
 
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