Key Locks -- Part II

RST Engineering wrote:

It only cost you a couple of bucks to try.

A couple of bucks and a nice dinner for Mary.

George Patterson
"Naked" means you ain't got no clothes on; "nekkid" means you ain't got
no clothes on - and are up to somethin'.

Take the mag switch out of the panel. Get Mary to do it. A little person
wriggling around under the panel is a WHOLE LOT more comfortable than you
or I.

Hey -- I'm only 89.9% of the guy I was a year ago! (177 pounds, as of
yesterday...)

;-)

But you're still right -- I HATE climbing around under that panel....

Put a rag under the switch. Squirt a liberal amount of cleaner into the
switch through the key hole. Key rotate it fast from stop to stop.
Repeat cleaner. Repeat rotate.

Is there any reason I have to remove the switch from the panel to try this?
Can I put a rag behind it in the panel, and try cleaning it?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Sorry. I left out something that I took for granted. You hold the switch
terminals down, keyhole up and squirt/rotate. That means that the cleaner
goop (that's a technical term, you'll get used to it) has to travel through
the switch mechanisms and out the back end before it gives up. If you
squirt it with the switch in the normal horizontal position, all you clean
is the bottom end and most of it will run back out the keyhole. Most
switches won't let you get the little nozzle straw far enough into the
keyhole to really spray the innards.

As to the AD on that switch, the owner can do the AD and sign it off. It is
REALLY HARD to do. You fire the airplane up. You take it to the runup
area. You turn the switch "off" with some reasonable force. If the engine
stops, the AD passes. Ten seconds at the outside. And that is worth a $150
switch to get rid of the AD? $150 buys more beer than even JAY can drink in
a day.

I teach a similar trick to my students for computer 12 volt fans that start
howling. Two small bowls or coffee cans. Half-fill one with paint thinner
and one with a 50-50 solution of MMO and paint thinner. Run the fan for an
hour submerged in the paint thinner (cleans all the crap out of the
innards). Run it for an hour submerged in the MMO solution. Run it for
thirty seconds in the thinner again to get the surface oil off. Set it on a
paper towel to drain. In 95% of the cases you have pretty much a new fan.

Of course, I would NEVER EVER suggest that trick to something that goes on a
certificated blessed stamped and exonerated aircraft. The fact that it
works has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with it.

BTW, gang, those computer 12 volt fans are just the trick for avionics that
need a bit of extra cooling. In a homebuilt, of course.

Jim




Is there any reason I have to remove the switch from the panel to try
this? Can I put a rag behind it in the panel, and try cleaning it?

When it was demonstrated to me by the local CRS, the beyond-off force
(moment) capability was maybe "reasonable" - at least it didn't go so
far as needing a pliars on the key - but it was substantial. I took it
apart & fixed it. Otherwise we had to replace it on the 172.

I'm saving the old one for a homebuilt.

RST Engineering wrote:

As to the AD on that switch, the owner can do the AD and sign it off. It is
REALLY HARD to do. You fire the airplane up. You take it to the runup
area. You turn the switch "off" with some reasonable force. If the engine
stops, the AD passes. Ten seconds at the outside. And that is worth a $150
switch to get rid of the AD? $150 buys more beer than even JAY can drink in
a day.

While it's probably obvious to most people, I just want to make sure
people understand this is to be done with the throttle at IDLE. Do
not crank it up to $1700 and do something that might cycle both mags
off and on again. You'll do what Rod Machado refers to as his
student's click-click-click-BANG mag check. Not good for the
exhaust.

Ron Natalie wrote:
While it's probably obvious to most people, I just want to make sure
people understand this is to be done with the throttle at IDLE. Do
not crank it up to $1700
snip

$1700? Freudian slip, or were you subliminally describing the end
result of the explosion on the exhaust system? ;-)

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

Sorry. I left out something that I took for granted.

Thanks for the clarification, Jim.

Always remember you're dealing with the electronically impaired here. Even
the most basic concepts should never be taken for granted!

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Take the mag switch out of the panel. Get Mary to do it. A little person
wriggling around under the panel is a WHOLE LOT more comfortable than you
or I.


Hey -- I'm only 89.9% of the guy I was a year ago! (177 pounds, as of
yesterday...)

I was down to 183 as of this morning, down to about 85%.

Hey -- I'm only 89.9% of the guy I was a year ago! (177 pounds, as of
yesterday...)

I was down to 183 as of this morning, down to about 85%.

Wow -- we just keep gaining more useful load by the day!

Of course, arguably, you and I own the two singles with the highest useful
loads on the group, so our efforts are obviously solely for health and
vanity reasons...

:-)

So what's your secret?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

So what's your secret?

Margy is doing weight watchers, I'm just following along./