> > > >snipped

 > > >>   George Graham used a Setrab cooler in his airplane. I
think Lynn uses
 > > >> Setrab as well. I'm putting a Setrab in my RV-4.
 > > >snipped
 > > >> Mike Wills
 >
 > > Has George had good luck with his Setrab? I ask, because the consensus
 > on the RV list, is that these coolers are too lightly built. Several have
 > split open, causing engine fires in RVs. Does anyone know if Setrab has
 > redesigned their cooler, ala Positech?
 > > Charlie Kuss
 > > RV-8A fuselage
 >
 >That is interesting. We have had three in-flight fires because
 >of oil coolers splitting. One was fatal. I assumed they were
 >cheap Chinese oil cooler bought from Griffin rad. I had
 >no idea Setrab coolers also split in aircraft service.
 >
 >Paul Lamar

 Charlie,

   If you know of "several occurances" please specify. I know of one
 documented case of a failure of a Setrab cooler in an RV. In that case the
 cooler was rigidly attached to the engine (Lycoming O360) and failed in
 short order due to fatigue. As is typical of the RV-list there was an out
 pouring of rants about using anything other than  an "aircraft quality
 cooler" in spite of the fact that this one failure was a fatigue failure
 due to vibration (the owner indicated this). I will concede that the
 Stewart Warner cooler (and the stock Mazda cooler) are of a much stouter
 construction and so are far more tolerant of a poor installation. They are
 also much heavier, and in the case of the S-W would be totally incapable of
 providing adequate cooling for a 13B. In my search of the RV-list archive
 this is the only Setrab failure I find only this failure (after you discard
 all the messages by somebody who knows someone who died in a crash where
 there may have been an automotive type cooler that may or may not have
 failed). The RV-list is flooded with far too much innuendo and far too
 little fact on subjects like this.

   I purchased my cooler on the recommendation of Mark Frederick. Mark has
 built numerous RVs and Rockets (he produces the F1 Rocket kit) and built
 Bruce Bohannon's hybrid RV as well. He uses Setrab coolers exclusively,
 highly recommends them, and has never experienced a failure. The Setrab
 coolers are easily capable of handling the oil pressure of a Lyc or 13B and
 should provide good service if mounted properly.

   If you know of an instance where a properly installed Setrab cooler
 failed I'd like to hear specifics and talk to the owner of that
failed cooler.

 Mike Wills

Mike, are you using vibration isolators to mount your oil cooler?   Jerry

 
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