Posted In: MAINTENANCE
Hi Christopher;
Yep, always trying to get ahead of “insidious blight” as my friend Billy used to say.
There are products that I’m told will help insure electrical connectivity. One used by avionics installers is Stabilant 22; it’s expensive.
Another are the DeOxit products–D-series contact cleaner and rejuvenator and the G-series contact enhancer, conditioner and protector. One source is Edmo.com.
Thanks for sharing this with me and the rest of the PF readers.
Steve
It was a fun first project and I am glad it was both relatively easy *and* within the powers of owner maintenance. 🙂
Aircraft janitor sounds about right. I do enjoy cleaning though–maybe I should consider a 2nd career as an A&P? 🙂
Yeah, my wife (Redhead with a mechanic mind-set) suggested looking at the ground as well…spraying the ground connection with QD got me intermittent connectivity which is why I went further.
I even made myself a little template for inserting owner maintenance entries into my aircraft logs to satisfy future A&Ps, the Feds and DPEs.
I’m an IT guy by trade, so I tend to get a bit OCD. Apologies in advance!
If I could figure out how to post videos I’d post the final product. She’s bright and ready for me to get my night currency back! 🙂
Great job! My only suggestion would have been to check the ground wires and of course you did that and way more. Always nice to be able to fix it yourself. And you did an upgrade as well!
Hi Christopher,
Very well done. I’ve said before that all airplane mechanics are is airplane janitors–keep stuff clean that the systems usually work.
Thanks for sharing this with the forum.
I will use your post to provide some troubleshooting and “janitorial” type tips to other owners.
Best,
Steve
The beacon was a bit of a different animal.
First, I had to break out the ladder, obviously. There’s a metal collar that secures the lens to the top of the tail and presumably seals the wiring at the top from the elements. Well, that 60 year old collar and screw were rusted beyond belief. Multiple applications of WD40 and I was able to wrestle the screw out and remove the collar. This is when my heart sank.
My Cherokee 235 has Whelen old-style strobes in the beacon and on the belly for anti-collision. The belly is a clear dome lens. The beacon strobe is a split white/red lens. The beacon split lens was compromised years ago–I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did. After I got it off, I found the strobe moist, covered in mold and nastiness and some corrosion on the metal plate. I disconnected the strobe (3-pin plastic connector) and the connectors did not look too bad.
First, cleaning. Again, QD contact cleaner sprayed on every exposed electrical connection (both the strobe and upper eletrical “bay” in the tail) with a light wipe down to ensure dryness. With the strobe, I spent some time with WD40 and QD doused pads cleaning all the mold and corrosion from every nook and cranny I could get into with small tools. The strobe cleaned up very well.
Next, I tested continuity with a multimeter to see if the strobe connector would pass electricity. Multimeter gave me a PASS for continity. Alright! Plugged the strobe back in and tested. Beacon strobe was operational again!
But the old lens and collar screw were just too far gone to restore. They’re almost 60, see how *YOU* compare to your younger self. 🙂 Fortunately, not only does Aircraft Spruce sell the entire assembly, they seel the individual pieces. Even better, I’m based out of KAJO, Aircraft Spruce is 5 mins away. Ordered a new split lens, gasket(!–there wasn’t one when I disassembled), and collar (which included a new screw). Reassembled my beacon using the new parts and tested. Brighter than ever!
I hope this helps someone down the road. These were my first maintenance items on my first airplane–so I was nervoud and frustrated but came out the other end excited and proud of my bird’s new lights!
Extended troubleshooting session went well! The Piper Service Manual wasn’t much help unfortunately, but I was able to figure out 1960s electrical wiring.
Started by opening the maintenance port underneath and closest to the tip tank and disassembled the nav light on the left wing tip.
One screw on the outside and removed the lens and cover
Removed the bulb
Removed the three screws to liberate the nav light mount (had to break paint for this)
Inside the maintenance port, sprayed QD contact cleaner inside the positive terminal and all over the ground connection
Needed to use WD40 to free-up the corrosion-seized screw-on retainer for the spring-loaded bulb contact
Cleaned all components with QD and light wiped all visible corrosion
Coated all contact points (ground & ground contact to mount, positive contact and area) with dielectric grease
Reassembled all components (the ground contact plate on the inside is tricky!)
Coated the bulb contact area and reinstalled.
Test with ship power and nav lights selected–cycled power multiple times to confirm operation
SUCCESS!
After all that , I installed the new LED bulbs (NavStrobe Sextant 45W). They are bright and have an option to strobe (red/green, not white) if you cycle power to them.
Next reply is about the inop beacon…
Hey all got a nav light problem that has me confuzzled.
I fully intended to enjoy my new-to-me 1965 PA-28-235 and not get into mods. But after the first flight I noticed the left (red) nav light was inop. Simple bulb change I thought, but then why not swap to the LED bulb replacements while I’m at it. Started with the working nav light and in less than five minutes a new shiny bright LED green nav light. Moved over to the left and…no bueno. I also noticed that the rotating beacon was also inop as well. Hmm, right nav and tail light (TailBeacon) are working, but left nav and rotating beacon are not.
I tried resetting the breakers. I cleaned out the left nav bulb recess and contact. I slathered the bulb contact area (original and new) with dielectric grease, all no bueno.
I played with the spring-loaded contact a bit and I was able to get the right nav to function for a minute or so. But after cycling power, back to inop.
I popped open the maintenance port next to the tip tank and can see the wires for the light, but nothing seems bad at first glance.
And I haven’t gotten a ladder to my hangar to look at the beacon yet…
I took a video of this plane taking off before pre-buy and both the beacon and nav lights were functional. So maybe something during pre-buy inspection jostled something?
Any ideas of where I should look next? It *seems* like this should be a simple fix, but it’s eluding me.
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