So far there's one vote for aluminum, one for stainless, and one for tin, eh?
I'm sure it depends on which aircraft and model year, but I'm sure hoping I can get
away with some form of solder. A friend of mine had to fix his '65 Cherokee 150's
box... probably the same as my '69. He got some funky solder/brazing rod that
apparently worked on his. What I see on min is not magnetic, but doesn't look like
aluminum either. Seems too heavy to be aluminum, although I haven't removed the
solenoid from the side of the box yet, either.

Speaking of that, anyone figured out the purpose of the diode and resistor
back there on that vintage PA-28? As near as I can tell from the schematic, it allows
the alternator to slowly charge a completely dead battery with the master off.
Then will allow the alternator/partially charged battery to close the master and
charge it properly. Of course all this would require the alternator to self-excite...
something I didn't think they were typically set up to do. Thoughts?

I just figured I'd ping the collective wisdom here since I'm sure lots of
folks have dealt with it. I just didn't like the idea of weeping battery acid on the
airframe. Since I broke it further upon removal, now I *have* to fix it.

-Cory

Aaron Coolidge wrote:
: wrote:
: : Hey all... I've got the plane down for an annual and have discovered a small
: : weeping leak in the bottom of the battery box (where the drain nozzle attaches). Am I
: : correct in recalling that the box is made of tin and the nozzle of copper? Will
: : regular Lead/Tin (60/40) solder this, or do I need some special solder for it? It
: : seems like it should be repairable, since it looks like it was *made* by soldering.

: My Cherokee's battery box is made of stainless steel. It also had a little
: seepage at the drain tube. Someone had brazed (!) a galvanized (!) pipe
: flange onto it, and threaded a little 1/8" pipe nipple into it. The braze
: broke off the battery box (go figure).

: I TIG welded a patch onto the bottom, and TIG welded a little length of
: 316 stainless pipe to the bottom of the box. All is now well.

: --
: Aaron C.

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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