Modified ECU test on Williams WR24-7 Target Drone Jet Engine Gas Turbine.
In a nutshell.
This was the first run of this particular unit.
The ECU for this WR24-7 was un-serviceable like many others, however replacement ECU's are available in the US, but cannot be shipped to the UK for what ever reason.
The HP Valve on the ECU will not respond to telemetry commands, so I electronically bypassed the ECU so that the HP Valve will energise with the ECU power ON switch.
It starts and runs which is a result, but the EGT Gauge sticks (I think) and the Tacho Gauge is erratic, the circuit used to drive the Tacho maybe interfering with the part of the ECU that does work, the governor electronics, which of course are very important.
Lots of surging, up and downs and flame outs, really fighting to keep it going, so much to figure out with this.
And last, but not least, as the HP valve seal was separated from the piston and split in to multiple pieces, a reliable seal was not in effect, though it was good enough to stop the engine when turned off. As a note, the fuel tank remains pressurised for a short time when the engine is shut down, due to the poor HP Valve seal, a small amount of fuel leaks in to the combustion chamber and all though the video ends before you see this, fuel vapor is seen coming out of both ends of the engine at the very end of the run.
I do have a plan, so when done, I will film the run and post the results here.
I wouldn't say I was scared, but I was certainly very concerned, I hate to change the parameters on pre-configured ECU's as anything could happen, even the Barbie Car went for a drive.