Tpe331

[JohnnyP]

....

I haven't heard 7000, but 5400 can be done on the Twin Commanders. I have a bunch of 331 information in my office. If you want to send me a PM I may be able to help you.

I went and checked again, and your right, 5400 is it. Not sure where I came up with 7000, must have been the wine.

PM sent.

 

[400A]

Only real Gotcha I knew of was to be very vigilant with lip/intake heats and ignitions in icing. It is easier to flame-out than the Pratts. ( Research the Hooters Merlin/Fairchild 300 crash) The older ones in the Merlin were harder to start because you had to sit and pump a primer button to keep the start accelerating at the proper rate. I liked the pratt's better, but never had a problem with the 331's.

 

[siouxicide]

I have experience with both and I'd have to same I'm a Garrett fan for one simple reason: Besides start, you can't screw up and break a TPE-331 under normal ops. Firewall it and forget it if you want to(with the SRL in the SA-227, not sure about other 331's). With the PT6 the starts are faster and cooler(as in cold) but you really have to babysit the torque in-flight. The TPE-331-11U only seemed to want to exceed max torque on TO in frigid temps...or with the CAWI on.
Agree with the GPU use mentioned. Good batteries did a better job though, but do that enough and you won't have good batteries anymore. Spinning the props after shutdown. Not having condition levers. Airflow front to back. CHECK OIL THROUGH SIGHTGLASS!!! God I hate pulling a dipstick on a PT6. Push a button to start and watch it go. Flames out the tailpipe if you do it right. No autofeather, but the NTS is kinda nice to have. Bout all I can think of.

 

[JohnnyP]

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All good stuff guys, much appreciated!

 

[Say Again Over]

A great engine, treat it like a turbo charged recip, give it a good three minutes for cool down, if you are in a steep descent and one or both of the props start cycling toward feather, don't worry too much it's just a slightly low FF setting. Like previously posted, keep your battery in top shape or use a GPU, recommend trend monitoring.

 

[AV80R]

...I think the right term is shaft bow where you spin the prop to where the binding is strongest and let it cool down in that position...

That's it, I knew there was a better term for it.
As far a starting procedure?
Well,
push "Select"
push "Start" (For airstarts the “Start button will not illuminate, or was it the Select button?)
...I think that's about it? - Fully automated starts.
We had the TPE 331-12s on our birds. I can also vouch for the airplane's single engine performance - it's a really great engine!

 

[Box-Hauler]

The Pratt / Garrett argument is like the ford/chevy issue. I personally loved the Garrett on the metro, J31, and J41. yes it was a little noisy on the ground but it had a good fuel consumption, lasted long time, the NTS was a cool system and you could choose to fly at 97 or 100% prop speed, depending on how fast you wanted to get there.

 

[GIVDrvr]

Loved the Garretts on the MU2. Honeywell used run an annual TP seminar which was very good go to it if you can. I believe we had the 7000 hr extension. We used to also spin the props by hand a few turns after shutdown to enhance cooldown.