You'll notice that if you have a modern EFIS installed in your airplane, you will be amazed at how much information it provides at your fingertips. Its easy to get in the mode of, forget everything else, I have my EFIS. But what if the EFIS craps out? Sure, there is a backup battery...but computers do take a dump from time to time.
I don't plan to have every scenario covered, but one that is easy to do is an independent, simple pressure switch hooked up to a panel mounted LED to let me know if I have lost oil pressure. That is a $30,000 engine that I would like to protect. Yes, in an emergency situation I realize protecting the engine and the airplane are not the priority. But what if you are 200 miles from home, the EFIS goes tits up and you need to ferry the plane back under VFR conditions to your home base? An oil pressure light would be a nice security blanket. I got this idea from Paul Dye on VAF...and liked it. It also gives me redundancy for the EFIS.
Looking at my manifold, I realized I had a problem. The firewall penetration was not placed very well by me (don't do that). It was right where I wanted to mount my pressure switch. After some debate (i.e., head scratching), I decided to swap the Dynon fuel pressure sensor with the oil pressure sensor. The hose routing wasn't ideal, but it worked.
Here it is installed...I need to hook my MAP hoses back up, but this should work out ok. I did a test of the system and the LED did illuminate (which its supposed to do under 4 psi). When I do the first engine start, I'll see if it goes out when it gets over 4 psi. Of course, this is just a backup, the EFIS will give me real time information on this. Until now, another task complete....next!
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