You know you own an airplane when...

Personally, if I were an A&P, I wouldn't sign off on any hand-made parts
if I knew I could get one from Cessna, et. al. Just too much risk.

Thank goodness there are still A&Ps who don't think this way, or GA
would be dead already.

It's a friggin' battery box, Doug! My A&P/IA would take a 1-square-
inch piece of your old battery box, use it as a starting point, and
whip out a "repaired" version from parts laying around his shop in
about an hour.

Cost: *maybe* $100, probably less.

An A&P who charges you $700 for a battery box, after telling you he
can't "repair" it anymore, is no friend of GA.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
An A&P who charges you $700 for a battery box, after telling you he
can't "repair" it anymore, is no friend of GA.

I saw the old battery box today, and its condition really surprised me.
I'm amazed the battery stayed with the airplane, as two corners were
nearly completely rotted out and several cracks were forming between the
weak spots. It definitely needed to be replaced.

Say what you want about my A&P, but I've been flying behind his work for
almost 20 years now and have come to appreciate his attention to detail
and safety. While it may be legally possible to bend the rules and
fabricate a new box using a "1-square-inch piece" to represent the
existing box, that's certainly in violation of the spirit of the rule
and does represent a significant liability risk to the mechanic.

-Doug

--
--------------------
Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI

http://www.dvatp.com
--------------------

Doug Vetter wrote:
While it may be legally possible to bend the rules and
fabricate a new box using a "1-square-inch piece" to represent the
existing box, that's certainly in violation of the spirit of the rule
and does represent a significant liability risk to the mechanic.

Wrong. It's perfectly legal for your mechanic to fabricate a whole new
box. No need to scavenge a piece off the old box. I had a similar
situation on my Bo. Bo's have dual exhaust and thus dual tail pipes.
Each tail pipe is supported from the firewall by a bracket. Mine broke
and part of it departed the airplane. Mechanic fabricated a new one
from supplies he had on hand and logged it as such.

.stuff snipped
I saw the old battery box today, and its condition really surprised me.
I'm amazed the battery stayed with the airplane, as two corners were
nearly completely rotted out and several cracks were forming between the
weak spots. It definitely needed to be replaced.
.other stuff snipped


Like I said in my other post (and Doug is in the middle of this), the
wrench has the ticket, the risk, and the decision. What is "legal" does
not matter. What the guy will actually agree to and do is what matters.

That said, if you have any doubt about what is possible with a "repair",
go no further than Dawley exhaust. They take 1 small original baffle
plate (or other usable component) from your muffler, and "overhaul" it.
Actually, they manufacture an entire new muffler around your original
piece. Been doing it for years. Will likely be doing it for years to come.

I think folks are trying to convince the original poster that it is
legal, possible, and safe to do a like "repair" on a battery box. The
poster is trying to convince the group that he and/or his wrench are not
willing to do this.

No right or wrong answer in either case I think.

Ah... diversity.

Good Luck,
Mike

No right or wrong answer in either case I think.

Ah... diversity.

You call it diversity -- I call it a rip-off.

A&Ps who charge $700 for a battery box -- rather than "take the
risk" (gimme a break!) of doing some simple sheet metal work -- are a
root cause of why general aviation as we have known it is dying.

Luckily there are still plenty of A&Ps out there who are ready,
willing and able to do this sort of work at a reasonable cost.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
(Presently in Memphis, TN)
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"