Rotary Engine Compression Testing with an Arduino.
Measuring compression on a Rotary engine can provide insight into its internal health. Typically this is done with an analog gauge meant for reciprocating piston engines. Because we need to individually measure three consecutive faces of a rotor, this means watching the meter bounce as the engine spins; this can be tricky for the inexperienced.
This repo provides the Arduino code for measuring and logging the pressure peaks for each face, so we can more easily see the health of the engine.
- 0 -> 150 PSI Pressure Sensor
- Arduino Nano Every
- Spark Plug Adapter
TwistedRotors Technology sells a very nice DIY kit with the sensor and adapter, and even provides their own OS! If you're not feeling like DIY, they also sell a complete tool.
Full disclosure; this repo has no affiliation with Twisted Rotors, but their kit inspired this work.
The sensor and Arduino should be wired as follows;
- Red sensor lead to Arduino
+5V - Black sensor lead to Arduino
Gnd - Green sensor lead to Arduino
A7
After physical construction, upload this code to the Arduino using the Arduino IDE.
See this article on how to properly measure your rotary engine's compression.
The primary difference is we'll be using our sensor, Arduino, and a laptop.
- After following the article's directions, install the pressure sensor in the leading spark plug of the rotor to test.
- Connect the arduino and launch the serial monitor on your computer. It will zero out the current pressure.
- Proceed to crank the engine, and collect your compression data.