markfoster7700

Yes, there is a very small wire that runs through the baffle at the top/aft of the engine. It is likely broken. Find it, patch it, and you are back in business. Very simple fix, just have to find the wire. Mark

Hi Mark, I had an O3 with TKS and I had a LOT of trouble with my system at one point, so I now consider myself an "amateur/expert" with the system. I spent many days with the boys at CAV Aero troubleshooting, etc. The issues I had have nothing directly to do with your question, but because of my issues, I learned a lot about how the system is supposed to work (and does work, when everything is actually working). The short answer to your question is, what you were seeing is completely normal. You stated that you were running the system in the "Normal" mode, and then you saw the ice as depicted in your pics. I would say two things to this: One, you were apparently in icing conditions that were just a little bit more than "Normal" mode could handle as far as keeping ice from forming at all. And two, the system is designed to actually ALLOW some amount of ice to accumulate, and then let aerodynamic forces peel off the build-up of ice. So the irony is, what you really needed was some more ice! :-) I would be willing to bet you that if you continued to accumulate ice with the system right where you had it (i.e. "Normal") and just allowed the ice to build up more, it would have peeled off with no trouble. You could also try going to the "De-ice" or "Max" mode, and see if that wouldn't clear things faster. It usually does unless you're in really bad icing conditions. I'm not advocating that you should cruise in icing conditions just to see if I am correct or not. I'm just telling you my experience both personally in the plane as well as my discussions with CAV. Bottom line is, the amount of ice that you were showing there is trivial (as icing goes), but not so much so that you should just cruise in it. Hope that helps, (another) Mark

Oh, and how could I forget.....we also have an airline pilot/mechanic/Mooney-owner (C model) on the field. I can look him up for you if you would like. (Jeff at the airport probably already has -- could be the mechanic that he is getting for you.)

Ray, I used to be based at Y47 and I owned an Ovation 3. I still have my hangar there and was just out there yesterday and saw your 231 on the ramp. I'm with the master relay/solenoid group, but Tim (the mechanic who will likely be working on your plane) will figure it out for you. If I can be of any assistance (ground transport, tools, parts runner, anything), please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Cell phone is 248-981-3536. Mark Foster I am available all day, live 6 miles from the airport, and am happy to assist a fellow pilot who is AOG. I've had (more than) my fair share of AOG situations with little to no assistance (not with my Mooney, BTW. :-) ). Call or text if I can help.

I don't have the wiring diagram handy, but I can tell you exactly where your problem is (most likely). The wimpy wire and its equally wimpy connector are at the top center of your engine compartment at the back of the engine. The main baffle that separates the engine from the firewall has a bundle of connections/wires that go through that baffle. You will discover that the wire that feeds your MFD is disconnected probably at that connector or darned close to it.

You just picked up this Ovation when you could have had mine? :-) What type of traffic do you have? Only TIS, or something else?

I can concur with the numbers the others are posting. I can also tell you that I have a great deal for you on an O3 if you are interested. I am selling mine and I am somewhat motivated at the moment. Contact me directly (and soon) if you think you might be interested.

Vne if they are the same as mine.

Jeff, You will never hurt anything by sliding every LRU you have out and back in. I don't know what serial number you have, so I don't know for sure if your transponder is clearly marked or not. I did have one "red X" failure that was the main connector on the G1000 interface (not an LRU, but in the same bay in the back), and the solution to that was to spray contact cleaner on the connectors and place a zip-tie around the unit to ensure that the connector could not back off of its connection. In general, there is really no harm, and mostly only good, from disconnecting and reconnecting electrical connections. Mark

Try sliding the LRU out and sliding it back in. You can even spray some contact cleaner on the connections if you want. This action has been the cure for every red X that I have ever had. It is now just routine maintenance for me, about once every 6 months seems to do the job.

That seems like an outrageous price for this product, even for an Ovation 3 owner (which I am). Why so expensive? How much is a visor without any silk screening on it?

Yes, this is not just a case of "crappy Continental" cylinders. I flew a Debonair IO-470-N. I went through 3 engines, all to TBO and well beyond TBO and never had a cylinder off of the plane, and never had any compression test less than 65/80 -- most were in the 70's for the life of the engine. I now fly an Ovation 3 that I bought new in 2008 and have flown it for 1400+ hours with no removal of any cylinders and compressions all in the upper 60's to mid 70's. It has a lot more to do with how often you fly and at what power settings than whether is is a Continental or a Lycoming. Having said that, this situation was due to the fact that the Acclaim engine started out life with the crank case breather venting into the exhaust, and thus coking up the cylinders from the backside. This caused them to need to be topped at about 400 hours. I understand that there is now a mod for an air/oil separator that fixes the problem. Sorry that I don't have a link handy.

I did this once very early on in the ownership of my Ovation 3. I heard through some posts in the MAPA forum that I may have damaged a roll pin in the gear motor shaft or something to that effect. But when I brought the subject up to Don Maxwell, he shrugged it off as a non-issue. If he doesn't think it is a problem, I would tend to think that it is not a problem. We did, however, put the plane up on jacks and swing the gear both manually and using the motor just to be sure that there were no bad noises or anything. I have had the plane 6.5 years now, and never had an issue with the gear.

Bob, I am working in Milwaukee and Chicago this week, but after this week I am open. I live in Michigan, but both Elmhurst, Illinois and Cleveland are not very far from me. If you need a shuttle service to/from your plane, let me know. I would be happy to give you a ride.