Airplane Owner Maintenance

A Maintenance Oriented Podcast For Airplane Owners, Pilots, and Mechanics

Tag: pipercomanche

232 – A Piper, A Pineapple, and a Motorcycle

August 30, 2023 /

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Be sure to scroll down to see how my Maui Gold Pineapple plant turned out! (It’s been growing in a pot here at our house for a very long time 🙂

Now for this week’s podcast:

I had the opportunity to do an annual inspection on Ben’s Piper Comanche, and he sent me this photo after he flew home when the work was completed… thanks Ben!

Ben and his wife, along with their A&P, had recently put a ton of work into the engine change. Just looking at the engine, you can see the great attention to details that makes it look amazing:

In this episode, I talked about some highlights from the inspection, and also included a voice message from another listener who also has a Piper Comanche. Be sure to listen to the audio for the details.

One issue Ben had was that a couple times, his starter would not turn at all… like there was an issue with the electrical system.

I found 2 things:

One, the battery ground cable connection to the airframe was suspect, so I installed a bigger ring terminal on the ground cable and moved it to a better airframe ground location.

Secondly, the battery positive cable connection to the battery contactor was not tight enough, and I could wiggle the cable back and forth… I noticed this because the split lock washer was not pressed flat and it was obvious it was not tight enough. Check it out:

Ben’s airplane was already very nice, and after we fixed a few more things during the annual inspection, I’m confident it’s even nicer!

Next up is my Maui Gold Pineapple…

Note: Thank you John and Leslie Caubble, for making this whole story possible!

Listen to the audio for the full story, but here’s a little about it:

I’ve been growing this little pineapple for a long time here at our house, and it finally grew a pineapple.

This little plant survived a few winter seasons here, being moved in and out of the house… it was a great day when it began to bloom, and that’s a whole story in itself:

Over time, the little pineapple grew.

… and grew.

Then one day, a thunderstorm hit our area and broke the stalk:

Thankfully, it was nearly ripe and I put it on the kitchen counter among other things Maria had there:

When the day came to cut open the pineapple, I was very pleasantly surprised… it was the sweetest and best tasting pineapple we’d ever eaten!

Now here’s an opportunity:

You can taste the awesomeness of Maui Gold Pineapples, and help the people of Maui at the same time:

This pineapple plantation lost a store front in the terrible fire, and one way to help during this very difficult time is to order pineapples… I ordered a case of them yesterday, and I’m inviting you to join me. Here’s the link:

https://mauipineapplestore.com/

Thanks for helping… they will appreciate it!

And lastly for today… the motorcycle… listen to the audio to find out what happened to my truck, and why I quickly got my motorcycle re-registered so I could ride it while my truck is being repaired. (I’ve been trying to sell the motorcycle, and now I’m glad I still have it for now!)

Have a great day everyone!

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231 – Piper Comanche Weird Electrical Problem and Seeping Oil Drain Valve

July 31, 2023 /

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In this week’s podcast episode, you’ll hear about:

  • King Air flying.
  • Listener feedback from the last episode on “Phantom Cylinder Cracks.”
  • The latest annual inspection I’m involved in.
  • … and a few other things!

I’m in the midst of an annual inspection on a Piper Comanche. I might talk more about this one in a future episode, but for now, I mentioned two strange things about this airplane in this week’s podcast:

The first strange thing was the oil quick drain kept seeping after I drained the oil and closed the drain valve.

I was perplexed when oil was collecting on the bottom cowling and seeping down over the nose tire.

Finally, I had to cut the safety wire and remove the Saf-Air P5000 drain valve to take a look.

Here’s what I found:

I removed the drain valve and put a temporary plug in the oil sump to prevent any further seepage. If you look closely, you can see a portion of the black o-ring holding the valve slightly open.

Here’s a closer view:

After opening the valve, I noticed the top o-ring had been pushed up off the valve, and it was the second o-ring that was holding the valve open. (Don’t worry, the other o-ring fell out of the hole when I removed the valve, so it’s not stuck somewhere in the oil sump.)

We will install new O-rings on the valve before reinstalling it in the oil sump. It actually has 3 total o-rings… the top 2 keep the oil from draining out of the sump, and the lower o-ring (that you can’t see in the photo) is slightly larger and it keeps oil from seeping out around the drain nipple during the oil draining process. McFarlane sells a kit that includes the three new o-rings and a new snap ring.

You can listen to the audio to hear more about this story.

… and hopefully, in a future episode, I’ll be able to update you on the weird electrical problem on this same airplane.

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