GeeBee

If it really bothers you, run your system on the ground, open the panel, if the back is dry, not to worry, if it is wet, trace the puddle.

IMHO as long as you have good flow out of all protected surfaces I would not worry.

Ok, tried it on grey plastic on my Garmin marine radio. Lots of silicon goop in there and it did not craze or deform.

Cannot speak to plastic, the lens was glass. I am going to do some tests on plastic.

Had to remove a glass lens from a nav light held in with clear RTV. I was afraid of breaking the lens so I was hunting for something that dissolved RTV/Silicon. There is a lot of expensive stuff, around 40 dollars for 16 ounces. Then I discovered this stuff from Motorcraft. It is on Amazon for 20 dollars a can. It really works. It usually takes 2 applications let it sit for about a day and the silicon will be weakened enough to easily pull off the part. I heard WD-40 works but not really and not as good as this stuff.

They are not riveted. They are held on by adhesive. What looks like rivets are actually anodes.

For Textron I think the Bonanza/Baron line is a lot like how refiners view 100LL. Nice little profitable business but no one is going to ramp up for economies of scale. Textron is not going to have a dozen TIO-550's laying around or Garmin G1000 NXI kits. They're going to build to order, make money on each one. If it were clothing the Bonanza/Baron line would be couture shop. There is no ROI in ramping up.

I think you have to differentiate under what conditions the alternator operates. An alternator on a C-172 is not going to take the beating that one on a Bravo does and not even close to an Ovation. Cooling is different, current demand is different. Just look at their ratings in amps. Equally so where they are mounted for cooling and how they are mounted makes a huge difference. The alternators on Continentals for instance take a huge beating and worse the consequences of failure of the drive coupling can be engine failure, so they deserve attention and care.

There was a thread about this on Beechtalk. A Textron engineer (at least he claimed to be) said the problem is insufficient parts pipeline to meet the demand, so they are not taking orders until the pipeline is either filled or they catch up. Given the issues we see with engines, and avionics backlogs, I think that may be have some veracity.

The electric Aero Creeper is really interesting because it uses the same batteries as the Sidewinder tow unit. Extra batteries!

I use two creepers. One is the AC unit for wings and tail. Another cheepie for the belly.

In my case Anthony, I found the short right at the jack because on the PA-18 the jacks are in the wing root panel. Easy to see the dangling wire. Yours I cannot say. If you removed the jacks and the wiring was in place and secure and the jack insulators (they are the round insulators on the jack receiver) look good, then you have to go spline.

Once you understand how fast an alternator spins, a 500 hour inspection is always a good idea. On the Continentals, I generally like to pull it off and replace the coupler.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1421822/iridium-mined-production-worldwide-by-country/#:~:text=Between 2018 to 2022%2C South,6.16 metric tons in 2022.

Just make sure you have an out. Some times the system may quit. Tubes and fittings blow out from time to time and the icing forecast sometimes turns to doo-doo. In a Mooney you don't have the thrust to get clear quickly.

Thank you!

As I said, I would not worry about what the tank levels show. There are really only two levels for me for dispatch. Full and empty. Full because I want to dispatch with a full tank into icing conditions because you don't know how much you will need. You can make a good wag of how much remains by time you run the system. Empty because in non-icing conditions where you need the payload, you want it all out. Beyond that is IMHO a waste of time and technology.

Appears like the word is out on the value of these panels.

I drop the belly panels all the time. The forward panel requires you to loosen the screws on the boot cowl. Makes it easier to re~insert the forward edge. Other than those they are all cam-locks. Easy peesy. I use a creeper and let the panel drop onto me, that way they don’t get scratched.

It has caps at both ends so you can put it away in your airplane "wet" after using it. No need to wipe it out.

As long as it leaks into a clean container. Here is the funnel by the way. Cut the tube to about 6 inches to fit in the fill https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/flotool/tools---equipment/oil---lube-tools/funnels/9227a0a2bf37/hopkins-flotool-clear-black-blue-plastic-funnel/hop5/10704 Here is what I use to collect TKS spilled fluid from the vent. It is only used for that event. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/flotool/hopkins-flotool-drain-pan/hop5/42004/v/a/5340/automotive-truck-2002-ford-f-250-super-duty?q=oil+change+pan&pos=3

I bought it at WalMart but can't find it now. I will look at it today when I go to the airport and find a model number.

Welcome to TKS! After a while you get pretty good at knowing when the tank is full by the rate at which the filler accepts fluid. You don't want to fill it until the vent tube on the belly starts flowing because once it gets going, it creates a siphon action that dumps out a lot of fluid and creates a less than full tank. When I service my fluid, I usually put one of those oil drain pan/tank you purchase at an auto supply store under it just in case. I use it for only TKS so if some does dump out, I can recover it un-contaminated. I also use a Flo Tool funnel with a screen in it to protect the system from particle contamination and it has a valve on the bottom to regulate the flow in. Finally it has a removable lid so I can cap the top, close the bottom valve and stow it in the airplane. The gauge has two readings. On the ground and in the air. On the ground is lower than in the air. I find my in the air, the most accurate. I have tried numerous times to make the gauge more accurate and you can get close but it never really holds. For me, there is only two dispatch conditions. Full or empty. I say this because who wants to dispatch into possible icing conditions with less than a full tank? Equally so, on a summer CAVU day who needs fluid that weighs 9lb/gallon?

You might save weight.....until you have to add Charlie weights to maintain CG.

I have heard from very good physicians, cardiologists from this very board who say it does not affect Oxygen levels. Then I have heard from my mountain climbing friends (Everest climbers) who say it does. All I know is when I take it the day of a flight my O2 saturation decreases about 2%. So I don't know what to say, only relying on what I experience.