I paid $550 for a replacement switch for my Seneca1 five years ago. Glad I
had it replaced then. Same part (mfg. by Consolidated Controls)

"George Sconyers" wrote in message
...
Sure hope my problem is the same as yours. I just ordered the $672 switch
from Piper! Hopefully, my mechanic's discount he has setup with them will
bring the price down 30%. Do you remember what you payed for the pressure
limit switch (Piper part number 587-847)?

-George

"The Visitor" wrote in message
...
I have a seneca 3. My problem started out like that, easy to sort of fly
with. Then it got worse. Sometimes wouldn't at all retract, or just
partially then pump would go off.

We, flushed out and changed fluid, swaped up and down relays(they are
the
same), measured pump pressure, changed pump/motor, gear was in no way
binding. The last thing checked was an over pressure limit switch that
was
going faulty and shutting the pump off.

2000 Saratoga? Mmmmm, nice.

Our gear is probably similar in design?? Good Luck.

John

Yahoo! News wrote:
During day one of my 2000 Saratoga's annual today my mechanic and I
observed the following problem. If anyone has some experience with
this
or they have a mechanic that has experience with this I would love to
hear about it:

Here is a description of what we are observing:

1) Gear retraction is initiated with handle being placed into the
gear up position

2) Nose gear and main gear unlock and start retraction

3) Gear Unsafe light illuminates simultaneously with gear unlocks

4) In about 1-2 seconds, nose gear completes retraction first
(this
is normal as far as what I have observed in the past both on my plane
on
jacks and on observing others from the ground departing from airports)

5) Main gear comes up part way but hesitates until nose gear
completes retraction - again I believe this is normal

6) Main gear almost completes retraction in about 2 seconds after
nose gear - a few inches from being completely retracted - this is
where
something has changed.

7) Pump Motor shuts off for approximately ¼ second

8) Pump Motor starts again for approximately ¼ second and gear
moves up a little more (maybe ½ inch to 1 inch)

9) Pump Motor shuts off again and restarts again 3-5 times in the
same pattern of quick off and ons before gear is completely retracted
and
pump motor remains off

10) Gear warning light extinguishes about the time or slightly before
the pump motor shuts off for the last time


This process is very repeatable. Only the number of quick off-on
cycles
of the pump varies slightly. The pump almost always remains off for
many
minutes once the gear is completely retracted. The gear was left in
the
up position for at least 5+ minutes at one point and we did not observe
any restart of the pump. We did observe a quick on-off cycle of the
pump
perhaps 5 seconds after retraction during just one of 15-20 retraction
tests performed, but again, normally the pump would shut off after the
last cycle and remain off for many minutes during our testing.


Everything seems normal compared to what I have observed when we did
the
annuals before except for the pump cycling off and on near the end of
the
main gear retraction cycle. We have studied the hydraulic and
electrical
schematics for the system and looks like there is a pressure limit
switch
that is responsible for stopping the pump motor when the pressure
reaches
approximately 1800 psi. This should occur after all the gear is
retracted
and against the physical stops. We are theorizing that this switch or
the contactor that it operates could be faulty and prematurely stopping
the pump prior to the gear being completely retracted. If the switch
opened at a lower pressure for instance or cycled between opened and
closed in a lower pressure range then it was supposed to we are
thinking
that the symptoms we are seeing would result. According to the
maintenance manual the switch is supposed to close at 200 to 400 psi
and
open at 1800 +/- 100 psi. We have looked all over for anything
impeding
the main gear retraction and were not able to identify any hang-ups
there. We have also verified that adequate 5606 is available in the
reservoir of the pump.


Again if anyone has some insights on my gear retract symptoms I would
sure like to hear about it. If you believe our theory about the
pressure
limit switch being bad is unlikely and that it would be wiser to go
down
another path I would also like to hear about that too. My mechanic and
I
will be all over this tomorrow so if you know anything about this post
what you know.

- George