Today is a big day for the RV-12 airplane. I have been working through the Production Acceptance Procedures step by step. I'm now up to the point of starting the engine for the first time.
Couple of highlights. I used Dex Cool mixed 50/50 with distilled water for the cooling system and added 3.2 liters of AeroShell Oil Sport Plus 4 to the oil (it came with the engine.) Then purged the oil system per SI-912-018. This requires building (or buying) some oil lines and fittings to pressurize the oil reservoir with up to 15 psi of air and rotating the prop until oil pressure registers on the EFIS system.
Next came the big moment, with extinguishers on hand we started the engine. Oil pressure came right up. But there was a problem. Why is the battery not charging?
After some searching the problem was a loss wire on the regulator pictured below.
With that fixed the charging system worked just fine. I have started going through all of the Service Bulletins to ensure everything is done and documented in the maintenance records. I am also continuing with the Production Acceptance Checklist. Next time will cover the final technical inspection and weight and balance.
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