Top 14 How Does A Shotgun Starter Work The 67 Detailed Answer

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Shotgun starters are composed of a breech, into which the cartridge is inserted, which is connected to the motor by a short steel pipe, which acts like a gun barrel. The blank cartridge fits into the breech, and is triggered either electrically or mechanically.The original Coffman starter system used a large shell, similar to a shotgun shell, filled with the explosive cordite. When fired inside the breech, the fast-moving high-pressure gas struck the surface of the engine piston, giving the engine the impetus to rotate.The traditional starter gets its power from a high-torque, series-wound, direct current electric motor. Current flow through heavy field windings creates magnetic lines of flux that cause motor rotation. The new lightweight starters don’t have field windings high-strength permanent magnets are used instead.

How does a Koffman starter work?

The original Coffman starter system used a large shell, similar to a shotgun shell, filled with the explosive cordite. When fired inside the breech, the fast-moving high-pressure gas struck the surface of the engine piston, giving the engine the impetus to rotate.

How does a Aviation starter work?

The traditional starter gets its power from a high-torque, series-wound, direct current electric motor. Current flow through heavy field windings creates magnetic lines of flux that cause motor rotation. The new lightweight starters don’t have field windings high-strength permanent magnets are used instead.

What is a combustion starter?

The fuel/air combustion starter was used to start gas turbine engines by using the combustion energy of jet A fuel and compressed air. The starter consists of a turbine-driven power unit and auxiliary fuel, air, and ignition systems.

What is cartridge starter?

Definition of cartridge starter

: a starter for gasoline engines that consists of a cartridge containing an explosive which on being electrically detonated forces the piston forward and starts the engine.

Which type of starter uses an explosive charge as a power source?

The Coffman starter was an explosive cartridge operated device, the burning gases either operating directly in the cylinders to rotate the engine or operating through a geared drive.

Why do pilots start the right engine first?

Conclusion. And there you have it: we start the right engine first because passengers board on the left because boats docked on the left because the steering oar was on the right because most people are right handed.

What turns the fan in a jet engine?

The turbines are linked by a shaft to turn the blades in the compressor and to spin the intake fan at the front. This rotation takes some energy from the high-energy flow that is used to drive the fan and the compressor. The gases produced in the combustion chamber move through the turbine and spin its blades.

Why do turbine engines have 2 ignition systems?

This multi-mode capability ensures that sufficient energy is delivered to the air/fuel mixture to start the engine, and reduces wear and tear of the igniter plugs during normal engine operation.

What are the two types of starter motor?

The two main types of starters are Manual Starters and AC Magnetic Motor Starters, commonly known as Motor Starters.

How does a starter generator work?

The starter generator initially engages because of the direct current voltage sent from the battery of the vehicle or equipment. Once the ignition switch is turned, it closes the contactor or electrical connection, sending voltage to the starter of the component.

How many pages does a starter cartridge print?

The starter toner cartridge will print approximately 1,000 A4 or Letter-size single-sided pages. Approx. cartridge yield is declared in accordance with ISO/IEC 19752. Standard toner cartridges print approximately 1,500 A4 or Letter-size single-sided pages.

How does a c172 engine start?

Put the key in the switch, then turn it far right to the “start” option. This will start the engine. After the engine is started up and running, check the magnetos. There are two magnetos in the Cessna 172, the left and right.

How does an aircraft piston engine start?

Power: As the piston nears the top of the cylinder during the compression stroke, a burst of electricity from the ignition system generates a spark in the spark plugs. The sparks ignite the air/fuel mixture, which expands rapidly as it burns. The force of this expansion drives the piston back down in the cylinder.

What are the three general types of inertia starters?

There are three general types of inertia starters: hand, electric, and combination hand and electric.


Wildcat First Shotgun Start
Wildcat First Shotgun Start


Coffman engine starter – Wikipedia

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how does a shotgun starter work

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How do shotgun shell starters work? – Theburningofrome.com

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how does a shotgun starter work

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How Does A Shotgun Start Work Engine? – Pirelli and Michelin tires

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Coffman engine starter | Aircraft of World War II – WW2Aircraft.net Forums

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Starting an Engine with a Shotgun Shell | Smokstak® Antique Engine Community

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Coffman engine starter

The Coffman engine starter (also known as a “shotgun starter”) was a starting system used on many piston engines in aircraft and armored vehicles of the 1930s and 1940s. It used a cordite cartridge to move a piston, which cranked the engine. The Coffman system was one of the most common brands; another was the Breeze cartridge system, which was produced under Coffman patents. Most American military aircraft and tanks which used radial engines were equipped with this system. Some versions of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine used in the British Supermarine Spitfire used the Coffman system as a starter. The Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest also used the Coffman system to start their Napier Sabre engines.

Cartridge starters used on a number of jet engines, including such engines as the Rolls-Royce Avon, which were used in the English Electric Canberra and Hawker Hunter aircraft, used a high gas volume cartridge driving a turbine instead of a piston.

Some Snowcat and similar vehicles used in extreme low temperatures were historically equipped with cartridge start.

Design [ edit ]

The Coffman device used a large blank cartridge containing Cordite that, when fired, pushed a piston forward. A screw thread driven by the piston engaged with the engine, turning it over.[1] This was in contrast with other type of cartridge starter which acted directly to drive the engine piston down and so turn the rest of the engine over, such as those used on the Field-Marshall agricultural diesel tractor.

The other systems used during the period were electric motors (such as those used in automobiles today), inertia starter (cranked either by hand or an electric motor) and compressed-air starters, which operated much like Coffman starters but were powered by pressurized air tanks.

Shotgun starters are composed of a breech, into which the cartridge is inserted, which is connected to the motor by a short steel pipe, which acts like a gun barrel. The blank cartridge fits into the breech, and is triggered either electrically or mechanically. When the aircraft’s ignition is turned on and the cartridge is fired, high-velocity, high-pressure gas (~1,000 psi (6.9 MPa) at ~600 ft/s (180 m/s)) shoots down the pipe, forcing the motor to spin and engage the starter ring gear on the engine, which is attached to the crankshaft.

Shotgun starters had several advantages over other starting systems in use at the time. Electric starters required large, heavy, and often troublesome batteries to be carried on board, or external charging equipment had to be located at every place where the vehicle was anticipated to operate. Inertia starters used a heavy wheel, usually made of brass, which was spun by a hand crank or electric motor, causing the spinning wheel to engage the starter ring gear. The Coffman system was more lightweight and compact than inertial starters or internal batteries, and it did not require any special auxiliary equipment, an important feature when operating in remote areas.

The primary disadvantages of the shotgun starter are the need to keep a stock of cartridges, one of which is used for each attempt to start, and the short time that the motor is spun by each cartridge. Compressed-air starters, which use the same type of motor, are usually recharged by an engine-driven compressor, negating the need to carry cartridges, but adding requirements for the compressor and air tank. Hybrid systems can be made simply by adding a cartridge breech or an air tank to an existing system. Air tanks can also be recharged from an external source in an emergency, such as a hand pump or a portable air compressor.

The Coffman starter was the most common brand of cartridge starters during the mid-1930s, and the name was used as a generic description. Advances in electrical technology have made shotgun starters obsolete for most uses.[citation needed]

See also [ edit ]

Starters

Starters

Proper maintenance is the key to reliable service

By Steven W. Ells

This is a Sky-Tec starter. The starter drive end of a Sky-Tec starter shows the starter pinion teeth in a retracted position. The electromechanical actuator on the Sky-Tec starter replaces Bendix-type (centrifugal) starter drives.

Woe to starters for they’re caught in a whipsaw — pilots expect action when they turn the key. Rain, shine, sleet, hail, or snow, the propeller must rotate. Yet starting systems need to be as light as possible, especially since they slip into the dead-weight category after a few seconds of hard work at the beginning of each flight. A starter that doesn’t kick an engine into action is likely to be the target of abuse, but a starter motor that won’t stop turning can really raise havoc.

Despite the divergence of these requirements, starter motors are up to the task. Starter problems are more often traceable to starting system problems, or battery problems, or starter drive problems than motor problems.

Within the past 10 years permanent magnet technology has been incorporated into GA starters. These starters have more power, and are lighter than the Delco Remy and Prestolite starters of yesteryear. These permanent-magnet starters have another thing the old-style starters didn’t have a large initial starting current draw that causes electrical system voltages to sag momentarily.

The traditional starter gets its power from a high-torque, series-wound, direct current electric motor. Current flow through heavy field windings creates magnetic lines of flux that cause motor rotation. The new lightweight starters don’t have field windings high-strength permanent magnets are used instead.

Electricity 101

Current is the flow of energy (measured in amperes, or amps) through a circuit. Voltage is the amount of force that causes energy flow in a circuit. Devices that produce work, such as motors, light bulbs, and radios, are called loads, or conductors, and have resistance to current flow, which is measured in ohms. A handy reminder is: A volt pushes an amp through an ohm.

Ohm’s law, which states that the current in an electrical circuit is directly proportional to the voltage and inversely proportional to the resistance, helps define these values in any circuit. The values in series circuits, since they only have one path for current flow, are simple to derive if two of the three values are known. Starter circuits are series-type circuits.

The other common type of circuit is a parallel circuit, in which there is more than one path for current flow to the load. Christmas tree lights illustrate the two circuit differences perfectly. Older light sets were wired in series; if one light burned out (opened the circuit) then all the lights were out. Modern light sets are wired in parallel so when a single light burns out, the current flow to the other lights (loads) in the circuit isn’t interrupted. This concept is important because any unwanted resistance in the series-type starter circuit reduces current flow through the remainder of the circuit.

When the starter motor is called to action, a tremendous amount of current is needed. It’s not unusual for the old-design Delco Remy or Prestolite series-wound starter motors to draw 150 to 200 amps. Permanent magnet starters draw even more current because they’re more powerful they produce one-third more starting power and develop more than two horsepower.

Starter circuits that restrict the full flow of current because of corrosion or poor contacts, or starter motors that can’t effectively utilize the available current because of dirty brushes or resistive commutator segments, draw much more current than clean, well-maintained systems. So poorly maintained circuits are doubly frustrating because they can’t crank the engine vigorously, and because the battery’s cranking power is soon depleted.

A typical starter circuit

The typical lightplane starter circuit doesn’t have circuit protection devices such as fuses or circuit breakers. These circuits require thick wire because of the high current flows required during starting.

The starter circuit in the Mooney M20K is typical since number-2 wire carries the current from the battery contactor to the starter contactor, then on to the starter motor. Number-2 wire is thick it’s the diameter of a crayon.

Because the resistance of wire increases directly with its length, and inversely with its cross-sectional area, in an ideal starter system the starter and battery would be inches apart.

Yet for weight and balance purposes many GA airplanes have the battery in the tail cone this requires thicker wire than the ideal side-by-side layout. Resistance over the length of a long battery-to-starter circuit often contributes to starter problems.

Contactors

The bulky starter wire runs from the battery contactor to the starter motor contactor. Contactors are used because it’s impractical to route these large, bulky, stiff wires into the cockpit. In addition, the switches required to handle the current flows would be large — probably not quite as large as the switch Igor flipped to bring Frankenstein’s monster to life, but you get the idea.

Contactors are remote-control switches that are designed to handle large current flows. The circuits that turn the contactors on and off are controlled with light-duty instrument panel-mounted switches. Contactors are relatively inexpensive and they shouldn’t be ignored.

Here’s what happened to a Cessna 185 I once worked on. The starter contactor welded itself shut and couldn’t open after the engine started. The starter continued to draw a lot of current, resulting in a high-amperage battery discharge. The voltage regulator detected low system voltage and told the alternator to increase its output. The pilot finally shut the engine down when he smelled electrolyte boiling off the overheated battery. The battery, starter motor, alternator, battery contactor, and starter contactor were ruined. The battery box and surrounding aluminum structure had to be thoroughly flushed with baking soda and water to neutralize the battery acid.

This all could have been avoided with a simple “starter engaged” warning light. The new Lancair 300s have one in their annunciator panel, as does the Robinson R44 helicopter.

A very simple one-wire circuit to an instrument panel warning light is all that’s required. Since I’m not aware of an STC covering this, a starter-engaged warning light circuit installation would depend on the willingness of the local FAA flight standards district office to provide a field approval. In the meantime, if the starter contactor on your airplane has been in service longer than 20 years, I’d replace it.

Remote control

When the master switch is turned on, a path for the battery-contactor control circuit is completed. This closes the high-current-capacity points in the contactor and completes the battery-to-aircraft electrical connection. A very simple starter circuit and troubleshooting diagram is online (www.skytecair.com).

A similar looking control circuit closes the starter contactor. Despite being similar in appearance, the two contactors are different — the battery contactor is rated for constant duty while the starter contactor is for intermittent duty. Since opening and closing can cause arcing across the high-capacity points, resistance to current flow through contactors does increase as contactors age.

Typically, the control circuit for the battery contactor is at the airplane master switch, and the control circuit for the starter is in the magneto key circuit, although there may be a separate starter button, or even a manual pull-start T-handle like the one used on low-horsepower Continental engines.

When the starter contactor closes, the starter is connected directly to the battery, resulting in instantaneous motor rotation. How to connect, and disconnect, the high-torque starter to the engine without any damage is the next piece of the puzzle.

Starter clutches

Starters for Lycoming engines are mounted on the lower-left-front part of the engine. These starters have a pinion gear that engages a series of teeth that are cut into a circular ring gear. This ring gear has a set of specially designed teeth and is shrunk onto the outer circumference of the ring-gear support assembly, which also has a pulley groove for the alternator or generator drive belt. The support assembly is sandwiched between the propeller mounting flange and the crankshaft flange. Rotation of the starter motor is transferred to the crankshaft through this arrangement.

The standard connection between the starter motor and the engine on Lycoming installations has been a centrifugal, or Bendix, starter drive. The Bendix drive extends to mesh its pinion-gear teeth with the ring-gear teeth when the starter motor begins to rotate, and retracts as the teeth on the ring gear accelerate during engine start. One of the drawbacks of the Bendix-type drive is that it’s more exposed to weather and dirt than the system used on Continental engines. Preventive maintenance in the form of keeping the shaft clean and lubricated by the regular application of silicon spray will smooth Bendix operation.

Although Bendix drives were phased out of the automotive world in the mid-1950s, they are still standard equipment on some new airplane starters. However, the B&C Specialty Products starter uses a linear actuator, and the Sky-Tec starter uses an electromechanical actuator to replace the Bendix drive. If the engine doesn’t start, the Bendix stays extended, meshing tooth-to-tooth with the ring gear. An extended Bendix can create problems if hand-propping is required.

Continental clutches

The starters on smaller Continental engines (early 145-horsepower and smaller models) are mounted on the back of the engine accessory case. Between the starter and the engine is a clutch assembly. There are two types of these starters — the pull type and the key-start type. The pinion gear on a pull-type clutch is mechanically moved into engagement with a gear in the engine accessory section by pulling on a T-handle. If the T-handle pull cable is rigged correctly, after full gear engagement, additional pulling depresses a switch that completes the electrical circuit from the battery to the motor, and the engine rotates.

When the engine starts, the T-handle is released and the pinion gear retracts. The key to this type of system is to ensure that the rigging is correct and that the T-handle and cable move smoothly. Rigging instructions are in the aircraft service manual.

The key-start clutch assembly has a one-way clutch that engages when the starter is driving the airplane engine and freewheels when the engine is running. Neither of these clutches is regarded as a starter part, and both are sold separately. Neither of these systems uses a starter contactor.

Starters for big-bore Continental starter motors also have a clutchlike arrangement to absorb and transfer the torque from the starter to the engine. Starting with 145-hp six-cylinder O-300D engines, a 90-degree starter adapter was installed on the upper-right-rear quarter of all TCM engines. A spring between the starter motor and an accessory gear tightens up as the starter rotates. After a couple of revolutions, the spring tightens its grip on a drumlike section of a shaft and this transfers rotation to the engine.

These starter adapters are very dependable but there is some evidence that some of the new permanent magnet starters, especially the starters that achieve their power through internal planetary gear-reduction devices, don’t rotate freely after electrical power has been removed. This inability of these starters to “unwind” prevents or delays the complete release of the spring-drum connection. This can cause damage that ranges from broken starter-adapter springs (bad noises and zero rotation) to rapid wear of the adapter components with accompanying metal contamination of the oil system.

For more information on starter and starter-adapter compatibility, visit the Niagara Air Parts Web site (www.niagaraairparts.com).

The new starters

Within the past five years, TCM, Electrosystems, Lamar, and Sky-Tec have introduced new starters that substitute powerful rare-earth permanent magnets for the heavy field windings.

Electrosystems (MagnaFlite), Teledyne Continental (Iskra), and Sky-Tec are selling permanent magnet, reduction-gear-type starters. The Sky-Tec HT starter is a reduction-gear, series-wound starter. Lamar uses permanent-magnet technology in a direct-drive application (with a Bendix drive). B&C Specialty Products also makes a lightweight starter but continues to use series-wound construction. The weight reduction in the B&C starter is accomplished through modern close-tolerance manufacturing techniques.

Starter-system woes

Whenever slow engine rotation occurs during starting, the primary suspects are a weak battery, resistance in the wiring or contactors, or dirty or worn starter internal components.

The average 25- or 35-amp-hour lead-acid flooded-cell aircraft battery must be kept clean and serviced with distilled water for good service. A better alternative to the old flooded-cell technology can be found in recombinant gas, or RG, batteries. In addition to being able to supply more cranking power, the batteries don’t leak and won’t off-gas, so the possibility of corrosion around the battery box is greatly reduced.

Voltage measurements are simple and help locate corrosion in the connections, cables, and contactors between the battery and starter. A well-maintained system delivers more than 10 volts to the starter with the starter energized. Taking the time to find and remove resistance in the system helps to keep the starter performing.

Resistance to current flow occurs between the crimped or soldered terminals and the wires, especially the aluminum battery cables used on some light airplanes. Often, cutting or sawing off the old terminals, cleaning the wires, and crimping on new terminals eliminates high-resistance connections. Bogert Aviation (www.bogert-av.com), of Kennewick, Washington, sells ready-to-install STCed copper replacement cables.

High resistance occurs within contactors. The high-voltage contacts arc every time the contactors open and close. Over the years this lessens the point contact area, increasing resistance. A test comparing the voltage at one side of the contactor to the voltage at the other side (with the starter engaged) is a good test of contactor internal resistance. If the voltages vary by more than one volt, replace the contactor.

If the cable connections are resistance-free, the contactors don’t cause an excessive voltage drop, the battery is healthy, and the starter is still weak or slows to a stop when each piston moves up on the compression stroke, it’s time to get a new or rebuilt starter.

Proper preventive maintenance of the storage battery, the wires that connect the starter and the battery, and the contactors make your starting system work with vigor and cut down on the anxiety of wondering if your airplane will start when you turn the key.

Gas Turbine Engine Starters

Gas turbine engines are started by rotating the high-pressure compressor. On dual-spool, axial flow engines, the high pressure compressor and N1 turbine system is only rotated by the starter. To start a gas turbine engine, it is necessary to accelerate the compressor to provide sufficient air to support combustion in the combustion section, or burners. Once ignition and fuel has been introduced and the lite-off has occured, the starter must continue to assist the engine until the engine reaches a self sustaining speed. The torque supplied by the starter must be in excess of the torque required to overcome compressor inertia and the friction loads of the engine’s compressor.

Figure 5-14 illustrates a typical starting sequence for a gas turbine engine, regardless of the type of starter employed. As soon as the starter has accelerated the compressor sufficiently to establish airflow through the engine, the ignition is turned on followed by the fuel. The exact sequence of the starting procedure is important since there must be sufficient airflow through the engine to support combustion before the fuel-air mixture is ignited. At low engine cranking speeds, the fuel flow rate is not sufficient to enable the engine to accelerate; for this reason, the starter continues to crank the engine until after self-accelerating speed has been attained. If assistance from the starter were cut off below the self-accelerating speed, the engine would either fail to accelerate to idle speed or might even decelerate because it could not produce sufficient energy to sustain rotation or to accelerate during the initial phase of the starting cycle. The starter must continue to assist the engine considerably above the self-accelerating speed to avoid a delay in the starting cycle, which would result in a hot or hung false start or a combination of both. At the proper points in the sequence, the starter and ignition are automatically cut off. The basic types of starters that are in current use for gas turbine engines are direct current (DC) electric motor, starter/ generators, and the air turbine type of starters.

Many types of turbine starters have included several different methods for turning the engine for starting. Several methods have been used but most of these have given way to electric or air turbine starters. An air impingement starting system, which is sometimes used on small engines, consists of jets of compressed air piped to the inside of the compressor or turbine case so that the jet air blast is directed onto the compressor or turbine rotor blades, causing them to rotate.

A typical cartridge/pneumatic turbine engine starter may be operated as an ordinary air turbine starter from a ground operated air supply or an engine cross-bleed source. It may also be operated as a cartridge starter. [Figure 5-15] To accomplish a cartridge start, a cartridge is first placed in the breech cap. The breech is then closed on the breech chamber by means of the breech handle and then rotated a partial turn to engage the lugs between the two breech sections. The cartridge is ignited by applying voltage through the connector at the end of the breech handle. Upon ignition, the cartridge begins to generate gas. The gas is forced out of the breech to the hot gas nozzles that are directed toward the buckets on the turbine rotor, and rotation is produced via the overboard exhaust collector. Before reaching the nozzle, the hot gas passes an outlet leading to the relief valve. This valve directs hot gas to the turbine, bypassing the hot gas nozzle, as the pressure rises above the preset maximum. Thus, the pressure of the gas within the hot gas circuit is maintained at the optimum level.

The fuel/air combustion starter was used to start gas turbine engines by using the combustion energy of jet A fuel and compressed air. The starter consists of a turbine-driven power unit and auxiliary fuel, air, and ignition systems. Operation of this type starter is, in most installations, fully automatic; actuation of a single switch causes the starter to fire and accelerate the engine from rest to starter cutoff speed.

Hydraulic pumps and motors have also been used for some smaller engines. Many of these systems are not often used on modern commercial aircraft because of the high power demands required to turn the large turbofan engines during the starting cycle on transport aircraft.

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