EI CGR-30P

[David Kagey]

Curious if anyone has had issues with their EI CGR-30P engine monitor?
First, as a tool in the panel, it has worked great. RPM, fuel flow, Amp, Volts, etc...all great. No issues.
My issues came when I started sending data to Mike Busch and the Saavy group. I first found that the CGR wasn't recording all the flights I flew. EI has been good and so far has replaced the CGR once and has had me return it to them for reprogramming once just last month
You probably wouldn't notice anything unless you were really downloading your flights to the USB stick and looking at them and seeing if they are all there.
Just curious. Could be my aircraft and wondered if anyone else
Thanks

 

[Jackk]

Curious if anyone has had issues with their EI CGR-30P engine monitor?
First, as a tool in the panel, it has worked great. RPM, fuel flow, Amp, Volts, etc...all great. No issues.
My issues came when I started sending data to Mike Busch and the Saavy group. I first found that the CGR wasn't recording all the flights I flew. EI has been good and so far has replaced the CGR once and has had me return it to them for reprogramming once just last month
You probably wouldn't notice anything unless you were really downloading your flights to the USB stick and looking at them and seeing if they are all there.
Just curious. Could be my aircraft and wondered if anyone else
Thanks

If you have had this issue with one unit, and a second replacement unit, if you’re following the directions properly, sounds like a flaw with their design.


Is this your first plane? I don’t know many small GA planes who send out for trend analysis, most just split their oil filters at every oil change and and look around, know how their plane normally preforms temp and pressure and power wise, and just practice common sense.

 

[David Kagey]

If you have had this issue with one unit, and a second replacement unit, if you’re following the directions properly, sounds like a flaw with their design.


Is this your first plane? I don’t know many small GA planes who send out for trend analysis, most just split their oil filters at every oil change and and look around, know how their plane normally preforms temp and pressure and power wise, and just practice common sense.

I’m open to it being something wrong with my install…that’s why I’m asking if anyone else has had issues. All the reported parameters seem to be working perfectly. It is just the flight recordings that are having issues.

No, not my first plane…in fact my fifth. And while I do oil sample at each oil change…along with cutting the filter open…I said I was sending data to the Saavy group. Check out their website for information on what they offer. I have about 500 hours on a zero time factory Lycoming and am a believer that the size of the engine isn’t the only qualifier for oil or data monitoring.

Your comment is a good one…I would be interested to see how many “small GA planes” do oil or data following

 

[Jackk]

I’m open to it being something wrong with my install…that’s why I’m asking if anyone else has had issues. All the reported parameters seem to be working perfectly. It is just the flight recordings that are having issues.

No, not my first plane…in fact my fifth. And while I do oil sample at each oil change…along with cutting the filter open…I said I was sending data to the Saavy group. Check out their website for information on what they offer. I have about 500 hours on a zero time factory Lycoming and am a believer that the size of the engine isn’t the only qualifier for oil or data monitoring.

Your comment is a good one…I would be interested to see how many “small GA planes” do oil or data following

What would you install have to do with its internal data capture?

 

[David Kagey]

What would you install have to do with its internal data capture?

I don’t think anything. During one flight everything is fine. Data shows all information from takeoff to landing. Then the next one might combine two flights into one set of data. Latest one was two flights but combined them into one, but the first departure point showed as the landing point. Again, I have had a replacement unit sent and mine returned for service. I am mainly reaching out to see if anyone else who is downloading their data is having issues. Assume possible that some users just use the instrument and never look at the data. I’m hoping to connect with another user and compare issues.

 

[Jackk]

I don’t think anything. During one flight everything is fine. Data shows all information from takeoff to landing. Then the next one might combine two flights into one set of data. Latest one was two flights but combined them into one, but the first departure point showed as the landing point. Again, I have had a replacement unit sent and mine returned for service. I am mainly reaching out to see if anyone else who is downloading their data is having issues. Assume possible that some users just use the instrument and never look at the data. I’m hoping to connect with another user and compare issues.

Sounds like they need a firmware fix/update, I don’t see how this could be a issue on your side.

 

[David Kagey]

Sounds like they need a firmware fix/update, I don’t see how this could be a issue on your side.

Done. Once with the new unit they sent me…my cost to install. Second time when I returned unit to them while plane down for annual. Third when they sent me a usb stick to do an upgrade. Latest email questioned not the unit but how I was using it. “Use it”…get in the plane and fly. Again, hoping to connect with another CGR user who downloads data. Thanks for the reply

 

[asicer]

I don’t think anything. During one flight everything is fine. Data shows all information from takeoff to landing. Then the next one might combine two flights into one set of data. Latest one was two flights but combined them into one, but the first departure point showed as the landing point. Again, I have had a replacement unit sent and mine returned for service. I am mainly reaching out to see if anyone else who is downloading their data is having issues. Assume possible that some users just use the instrument and never look at the data. I’m hoping to connect with another user and compare issues.

Nope, never seen that before. However, I have had issues if I try to download too many entries in a single go. The sweet spot seems to be around 30 or so.

Have you tried a different USB drive? Maybe the one you've been using is corrupt?

 

[David Kagey]

Nope, never seen that before. However, I have had issues if I try to download too many entries in a single go. The sweet spot seems to be around 30 or so.

Have you tried a different USB drive? Maybe the one you've been using is corrupt?

Thanks…good thoughts. I usually do it maybe once a month so only get 6-8 flights. Good idea on the usb…never thought of that. Will switch to a new one. Thanks…that’s the kind of thing I was hoping to find
Question. When I download, I get the normal flights, but also get a flight listed for every time the master goes on, even if engine isn’t running. I pull up outside my hangar and shut down. After pulling in hangar I turn in master to get the tach time for me to log. Each of these show as a new and separate flight. Do you get those too? Wish I could only have it save ones that were actually flown. What does yours do?
Thanks again

 

[asicer]

Question. When I download, I get the normal flights, but also get a flight listed for every time the master goes on, even if engine isn’t running. I pull up outside my hangar and shut down. After pulling in hangar I turn in master to get the tach time for me to log. Each of these show as a new and separate flight. Do you get those too? Wish I could only have it save ones that were actually flown. What does yours do?

Yes, but the ones that actually result in a flight have an 'F' on the end of the filename. The ones where the engine was fired but the plane not flown end in 'E'. The ones where the unit was powered up but the engine didn't run end in 'P'. You could just copy only those that end in 'E' and/or 'F'.

 

[David Kagey]

Yes, but the ones that actually result in a flight have an 'F' on the end of the filename. The ones where the engine was fired but the plane not flown end in 'E'. The ones where the unit was powered up but the engine didn't run end in 'P'. You could just copy only those that end in 'E' and/or 'F'.

Thanks. I’ll check that out.

 

[farangutan]

Our club's Grumman traveler is getting a CGR-30 combo package installed in a couple months. Seems like a good choice. We like the feature of downloading the data. I'm following this with interest.

 

[asicer]

Our club's Grumman traveler is getting a CGR-30 combo package installed in a couple months. Seems like a good choice. We like the feature of downloading the data. I'm following this with interest.

Hopefully your club does not password protect the data download screen.

 

[455 Bravo Uniform]

Curious, could the unit be set to start a record based on a certain parameter and could that parameter have an intermittent bad signal?

For instance, if Oil P greater than X were the start of a new record, could an intermittent ground issue cause recording to shut off, but the display to still show functional? An example might be where the data sampling rate would be every 0.1 second, but the display would show every 1 second to remain readable (rather than fluctuating 10 times a second).

I don’t know if that’s dumb or not, just helping you guess.

 

[David Kagey]

Our club's Grumman traveler is getting a CGR-30 combo package installed in a couple months. Seems like a good choice. We like the feature of downloading the data. I'm following this with interest.

First, EI has been great. Their technical people are awesome. Second good news is that they overnighted me a new usb stick today with a software revision. So far, so good. Took it up and it worked perfect. Wish me luck

 

[David Kagey]

Curious, could the unit be set to start a record based on a certain parameter and could that parameter have an intermittent bad signal?

For instance, if Oil P greater than X were the start of a new record, could an intermittent ground issue cause recording to shut off, but the display to still show functional? An example might be where the data sampling rate would be every 0.1 second, but the display would show every 1 second to remain readable (rather than fluctuating 10 times a second).

I don’t know if that’s dumb or not, just helping you guess.

Great question. Nothing too dumb. In fact, you might be close. They said that I could possibly be starting the engine too soon after turning the master on. Said this could cause the CGR to not recognize the rpm drop to tell it to start a new flight…this they blend together. They asked me to turn on master and wait 30 seconds before I start the engine. We’ll see. Thanks for the post