You know you own an airplane when...

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

He could craft you a replacement part that would better than original
for far less than $700. And it would be perfectly legal.

A friends AP/IA just patched his C150's with fiberglass, inplace...

The battery box is rivited to the firewall, a real headache to remove for
repair...

On Mar 10, 8:09 pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
...you're actually glad to get the news that a battery box will cost you
ONLY $700.

I remember getting the estimate for a stall indicator switch for my
old Warrior, and just about dying when I heard it was $1300! We took
it apart and discovered that it was a simple five dollar Rat Shack
switch.

We ended up finding a "serviceable" used certified part for "only"
$375. I thought I'd won the lottery! :-)

Those switches often use an industrial microswitch. They
quit because dust or water or soap or airplane polish gets into them
and fouls the contacts. Take the microswitch off, immerse it in laquer
thinner or brake & parts cleaner, work it a few times while wet, and
blow it out. Really good chance it will work just fine.

Dan

Those switches often use an industrial microswitch. They
quit because dust or water or soap or airplane polish gets into them
and fouls the contacts. Take the microswitch off, immerse it in laquer
thinner or brake & parts cleaner, work it a few times while wet, and
blow it out. Really good chance it will work just fine.

Wish I'd thought of that. I was a fairly new owner, back when that
switch failed on my old Warrior, and I simply went along with the
shop's recommendations.

I wonder what percentage of any corporate shop's income can be
attributed to new owners? I shudder to think of the money I left on
the table, back then -- largely unnecessarily.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
(Presently in Memphis, TN)
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Because if you had immersed that switch in lacquer (sic) thinner or brake
cleaner you would have been out the same money. Either of these solvents
will dissolve the plastic case of the switch quite nicely.

Jim


Take the microswitch off, immerse it in laquer
thinner or brake & parts cleaner, work it a few times while wet, and
blow it out. Really good chance it will work just fine.

Wish I'd thought of that. I was a fairly new owner, back when that
switch failed on my old Warrior, and I simply went along with the
shop's recommendations.

RST Engineering wrote:
Because if you had immersed that switch in lacquer (sic) thinner or brake
cleaner you would have been out the same money. Either of these solvents
will dissolve the plastic case of the switch quite nicely.

Jim


Take the microswitch off, immerse it in laquer

thinner or brake & parts cleaner, work it a few times while wet, and
blow it out. Really good chance it will work just fine.

Wish I'd thought of that. I was a fairly new owner, back when that
switch failed on my old Warrior, and I simply went along with the
shop's recommendations.



I used plain alcohol to clean mine about 4 years ago and it has worked
fine ever since. I put the switch in a small jar with the alcohol and
slosh it around some and repeated it a couple of more times.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

On Mar 15, 9:54 am, "RST Engineering" wrote:
Because if you had immersed that switch in lacquer (sic) thinner or brake
cleaner you would have been out the same money. Either of these solvents
will dissolve the plastic case of the switch quite nicely.

Jim

Not the old ones. They had phenolic (urea-formaldehyde) cases
that tolerated laquer thinner. I suppose the newer switches with cases
made of ABS or something similar might not appreciate it. Isopropyl or
the brake & parts cleaner would be OK. The Brake & parts cleaner is
pretty much the same stuff as no-flash contact cleaner. We haven't had
it attack any plastics.

Dan

On 2007-03-15, Jay Honeck wrote:
Wish I'd thought of that. I was a fairly new owner, back when that
switch failed on my old Warrior, and I simply went along with the
shop's recommendations.

When I was a new owner, one of the early problems we had was the flap
handle not staying put on the C140 - you'd stick the flaps down, and
then usually on short final, the ratchet would disengage and they would
completely retract (even with the rather pathetic flaps on the C140, it
was still disconcerting). Fortunately, the A&P we used wasn't interested
in making us pay for anything unnecessarily. Thinking we'd end up having
to get a new ratchet assembly, I went to him, and he gave me a can of
LPS-2 and said, "Give it a good soaking with this".

The flap handle worked perfectly ever afterwards.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

When I was a new owner, one of the early problems we had was the flap
handle not staying put on the C140 - you'd stick the flaps down, and
then usually on short final, the ratchet would disengage and they would
completely retract (even with the rather pathetic flaps on the C140, it
was still disconcerting). Fortunately, the A&P we used wasn't interested
in making us pay for anything unnecessarily. Thinking we'd end up having
to get a new ratchet assembly, I went to him, and he gave me a can of
LPS-2 and said, "Give it a good soaking with this".

The flap handle worked perfectly ever afterwards.

That's the way my A&P is now. When I bought my Warrior in '98,
however, I was dealing with a corporate shop. They would have
insisted on dismantling the entire aircraft to "inspect" the flap
mechanism, and THEN soaked it with LPS-2.

The bill would've been in the hundreds, at least.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Doug Vetter" wrote in message
...
We'd known for some time that our A&P/IA has been cleaning & repairing our
172's battery box every year. Usually it's just amounted to pulling the
battery, rinsing the box to neutralize the acid and sanding / painting any
areas where corrosion has gotten the better of it. The last few years,
however, the aluminum has been getting thinner, the holes and cracks
larger.
snip

All my partner (increasingly the miser) could say was "I could have built
it myself and welded the seams, etc. Would have been 10X better looking &
stronger than anything Cessna would build...and it would have cost me
maybe $50. I mean, it's a BOX for crying out loud!" I agreed, but
quickly pointed out that when I last checked we don't have any
"EXPERIMENTAL" stickers on the airplane and the feds wouldn't take kindly
to our "playing Cessna".

snip
-Doug


If *any* part of the original box was re-usable (I think a platenut would
qualify), your partner could have built a new box, included the single
salvagable part, and gotten your IA to sign it off as a repair.

That's how the repair game works for exhaust systems or mufflers. If they
save a single slip joint or flange, it's a repair. Otherwise, you need to
replace the entire unit. "Repairs" are far cheaper than new units, because
the repair shop doesn't have to ammortize the cost of their STC, PMA, or
whatever other overhead the manufacturer has.

KB

.stuff snipped
That was a couple weeks ago. Just got the call. A new battery box for
a 1971 Cessna 172L retails for (drumroll....) $1500.
.other stuff snipped

Doug,

An increasing number of owners don't often go for new factory parts.
With a wrench who knows the rules (and hence will sign off on things)
there is an alternative approach.

Many of us scour e-bay and the Internet searching out used parts. There
are MANY after market PMA parts sources, however, it may take a bit of
searching to find some things.

Finally, you can fabricate your own parts. The rub is that you have to
get a wrench to sign off on them. There are some rules around what you
MAY need to provide as far as documentation. I saw your wrench's reply
about the CAR3 cert. I don't believe that is true, however, it is HIS
ticket. He can refuse to sign off if he believes that the tooth fairy
has something to do with it (in other words, for any reason).

The boneyards also are great sources. However, they can at times be
wildly "optimistic" with their prices.

That all said, I have been pleasantly shocked about a few factory parts
I have purchased. For example, I purchased NEW wheel fairing bracket
plates for $40 from a Piper parts distributor. I figured these would be
$300 easy. I have also purchased NEW Piper electrical switches and other
bits of stuff for what I would call "reasonable" prices. So, it is
generally a good idea to check before making life difficult chasing
alternative sources.

The metal ram's horn yokes that replace my original plastic ones were
$1290 each from Piper (and that does not include labor to swap them). I
found ones with the plastic coating peeling off and bent control shafts
for $150 (for the pair). After refinishing them, replacing their bent
shafts with my straight ones, installing them (under my wrench's eye),
and adding pre made leather wraps, I have them both installed. Total
cost was about $500 (the leather wraps were $300 and completely optional
- they looked great painted). BUT, I have about 25 hours of my labor in
the deal.

So, if you have the tools and skills to do the work, you have a
cooperative wrench, and you are willing to do the research, this can all
be quite affordable.

Remember, your wrench has got to make a living. He/she cannot do so by
waiting for you to source parts. In addition, they need to make some
money on parts too. So, I have absolutely no problem paying the wrench
for inspection, research, repair, overhaul, signoff, and even some
profit money on parts that I bring in (insurance, rent, supplies, heat,
etc. ain't free). I usually try to make their lives a bit easier by
bringing in all the necessary paperwork (Work Orders, shop invoices,
ADs, Service Bulletins and Letters, engineering/manufacturing data,
installation sheets and guides, etc.). I also do the shipping and /or
running around to get outside inspections/repairs/overhauls done that
the wrench may not want to fool with.

The trouble is, many wrenches have been soured by goofball owners who
want to buy critical parts at a fly in swap meet (read: Oshkosh) and
have their wrench put them in at $0 with no questions asked. They want
to bring in a beat up prop that they bought for $200 and get it put on
for an hour's labor. When the wrench says he would feel more comfortable
sending it out to the prop shop for inspection and overhaul, the owner
flips out at the additional cost.

Go figure.

Hope this helps,
Mike