Need Ercoupe cans

[KewFlyer]

All:

I'm finally going shielded ignition. Looking for four Ercoupe cans in good condition or repairable.

Thanks

Ralph
202-437-1580 or PM

[M Towsley]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Ralph,

Not sure if you will find used but here is a thread I started last year regarding these: http://vb.taylorcraft.org/showthread...hlight=ercoupe

If bought new they are very costly and you will have to modify them. Lots of info here on that as I am sure you are aware.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

There are drawings in the archive that show you how to make them yourself for a lot less money. They work just as well as the Erocoupe cups. What you may find is that there are a lot more sources of radio noise than the ignition leads. If unshielded ignition was put in the plane originally, it is unlikely they shielded the Mag "P" leads and they can generate a TON of noise. You will also want to look at your antenna location and installation. A Rubber Ducky antenna won't usually cut it in a noisy environment. It is pretty easy to hook up a coax connector and move the antenna further aft and away from the noise source. Remember radio noise follows the inverse square law. If you move the radio lead from 1/4" from the "P" lead to 3" from it, the noise drops by a factor of 144! That is a HUGE reduction just by moving the antenna lead!
It is probably time for another thread on noise reduction (good timing). A lot of guys have found neat little tricks and sources for things that can help. Anyone have a copy of the drawing I did on the home made Spark Plug Cups, or do I need to dig through my "archive"? I know my iCom radio had the Rubber Ducky antenna and the Radio Shack avionics supply store had the cables and connectors to move my antenna to the top of the fuselage aft of the aileron cross over cables. Made a HUGE difference.
Hank

[M Towsley]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Putting on the Slicks with shielded leads made a huge difference, though the Ercoupe cups did not shield the plugs as much as I had hoped. My P-leads do have a shield, but I would like to find a source for that shielding.

Using ANL and squelching a bit usually removes the popping from the ignition. Something else I am going to use is a can that attaches to the back of the mag switch that is also grounded. The leads ground to the can, the switch is grounded to the can and the can is grounded. I picked one up off of Ebay a while back.

[KewFlyer]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Thanks Marty & Hank.

Marty: do you have pictures of the can to be attached to the back of the mags?. Sound like having a "common" ground for the p-leads, mag switch and can should do the trick.

Let us know if you find a source for the p-leads shield. would like to also install them or do something to shield them.

Hank: in talking with you at your hangar when you showed me your project (2010 fly-in @ your home field), we discussed the "Italian spaghetti sauce can" that could be modified to resemble the Ercoupe cans; which brand are they? pictures? this would an option, instead of spending $ 35 for each can.

Thanks,

Ralph

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Ralph,
They were "Contidina" (SP?) tomato paste cans, but I really need to find the drawing. Those were made from tube as I remember with a washer at the bottom and a cap and key at the top. I would think they would stand up better than the tomato paste cans.
Hank

[M Towsley]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Ralph,

I thought I had a picture of that mag switch shield on my computer when I posted the comment above, but could not find it. Yes, I can take a picture and post it later. And the Ercoupe cups from Fresno were $47.50 each, if my memory serves me correctly.

[KewFlyer]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Thanks Hank & Marty.

I checked with the Ercoupe Group at $ 35 each. Some used ones at $10 to $20. Need to see some pictures of them, for their condition.

Hank: let me know when you find the drawings. I can fly down to you.

Thanks

Ralph

[M Towsley]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Ralph,

Here are some photos I just took of the mag switch shield. My understanding is they were used on the military ships, but I have nothing to back that up. A cast number in the unit is: 32Z1-3

[KewFlyer]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Marty:

It looks like the one that was on ebay a few months ago......it does not look to be to difficult to make. have you posted them on the forum's gallery?.

Thank you for the pictures...they will help.

Ralph

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Just finished sorting through all of the Virginia/Carolinas Taylorcraft newsletters and didn't find the can drawings I did. Got to search the TOC newsletters next (finally getting around to putting all of them in binders!).
When I am done we need to start a thread on the old newsletters. There is a LOT of great history in them we need to get out to everyone. Maybe we could get full sets together and make copies (or just start a thread here with scans. In a couple of years we could scan the whole lot!)
I will keep looking.
Hank

[waltermrich]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

I found those drawings on the Forum a little more than a year ago , I think some one posted the drawing on a thread about a year ago from an eailer post , a guy had made his owm spark plug cans by welding up some pieces of tubing and cutting off the threaded end of a shielded spark plug and welding that to the can top to accept a shielded spark plug leed. They worked Ok but it takes a bit of time to make them, and as most everyone who has done it says the results are not as good as cowl bumps.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

The cups definitely won't work as well as the planes with cowl bumps because the bumps are covering the newer shielded plugs and wires. The whole reason for using the cups is to eliminate the bumps. I know lots of guys who either don't mind the bumps, or actually LIKE them (OK, somebody has to take out the ugly girls).
On my plane the bumps just drive me nuts (MY girl is GOOD looking!) ;-) so I wanted to eliminate them. I need a new top cowl anyway (mine fits like a glove, the one OJ tried on in court) so I spent way too much time making an original hinge and now want to make up the new sheet metal so it actually FITS the front of my plane. I will put the old cowl on while I build the new one so I can fly, but it sure looks funny. I didn't even bother to repaint it when I painted the rest of the plane. I may have to slop a little paint on it just so it doesn't look TOO silly till I get the new cowl made.
Hank

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

OK, this isn't the drawing I did, but it is the one you make with tube and a washer. I will keep looking.
Hank

[M Towsley]

Re: Need Ercoupe cans

Ralph,

No, I haven't posted them in the gallery because there is just no easy way to search for this stuff. Though I love this forum I think some of the information that we keep posting over and over and over again could be put to use in a specific location. Just like the Ercoupe cups.

Hank,

I have a lot of original, and then before that copies, of the old printed Taylorcraft newsletter. I know I would like to get copies from the time I got out of T-Crafts back in spring 2008 to whenever they stopped printing them. As long as we aren't causing anyone problems in scanning them and posting them here I could do mine. Definitely time-intensive to do, though. We need a specific location to put them so everyone can get ahold of them and view or print them. There was a lot of good info in them, and I liked some of the full-size images you could use. Like the full-sized trim tab you could make.

I have copies of originals from Sept. 1991 to April 2007. I have two originals - the fourth quarter 2007 and first quarter 2008, issues 138 & 139.