Start counter?

[Battson]

Has Dynon made available, planning on releasing, or considered an "engine starts counter" to record the number of times the engine has been started?

I think this would be a relatively straightforward addition, and extremely useful for maintenance and engine care purposes.

 

[dynonsupport]

We haven't ever considered this because as far as I know we have never been asked.

I'm not generally aware of piston engines that keep track of maintenance requirements purely based on starts. Can you point us to a engine manual that requires this so we can get a sense of what is really needed for this function to do what you need?

 

[Battson]

Thanks for the reply,

I am also not aware of any aircraft piston engine manufacturers who force their users to keep track of this parameter - perhaps because it's not easy with certified avionics?  So I can't point you to a manual.

I am an engineering manager, specialising in asset health and performance for larger engines and more expensive assets, and cycles (starts) is always an important feature in our analysis. Smaller engine are the same. Many experts in advanced engine care will share this view, it's well understood that most damage occurs to a well cared for piston engine during a cold start up due to lubrication issues and thermal transients. This was at the heart of my question, if you know more about the number of starts you can better understand your engine condition. So that is why I asked.

The sort of thing I had imagined would fit well with the data logging information you can download to your computer from the Dynon unit, for those who are interested in knowing more about their engine and prolonging engine life. I wasn't suggesting it was something you'd want to see on screen.