Hi everyone,

Well, ran into another small problem that is balooning into a major
outlay of cash!

Somehow, the little plastic float in the right hand tank snapped in
two. And no, there haven't been any crash/hard landings lately.
Don't know what the cause was.

Well, after digging the pieces out -- I started calling around to find
a replacement. Of course, no luck. The local Piper dealer wanted to
sell me a whole new sending unit -- I didn't even ask the price on
that. I just couldn't see replacing the whole sender unit to get a
new plastic float (besides, I think my wallet would have a heart
attack at the quote!).

A couple of used parts dealers offered to sell me a used one for $125
plus shipping. Again, replacing the whole unit to get a new float.

Last thing I found -- Airparts of Lock Haven, Pa. They claim that the
FAA requires that the sender unit be sent to them. They will replace
the float, certify the unit, and ship it back -- all for $65. Well,
with no other better choice -- that's the option I took (after
verifying the sender unit really was working correctly).

But I am kinda irked! The FAA "requires" them to replace the float
and certify the unit -- that sound awfully convient !! Here we have a
plastic piece that should cost all of 50 cents. But to get a
replacement, I have to spend $65 for the repair and enough on shipping
to push the repair up to a hundred dollars. This is the kind of
stupidity that is killing GA!

I was wondering if anyone on the list knows about this FAA
"requirement". Or were they just using it as an excuse to get the
work (and not sell direct). And secondly, does anyone know a source
to get these little pieces of plastic???

You see, what irks me the most was the sticker on the back of the fuel
sender unit when it was pulled. A sticker showing Airparts of Lock
Haven, 5/30/02. That means that float came from the same company and
was only 2.5 years old. And when I called the company back about this
little item -- I was told that I'm lucky. The supervisor who talked
to me said that some floats only last a year while others last five
years. Either way, I don't hold out hope that these floats will last
long!

Thanks for any information you might share guys....


Chuck
N7398W