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Cloudmirth

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    ‘69 M20C
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    2B2

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  1. Recently had the panel light controller on my '69 M20C fail. Don Maxwell repaired it and all is well and good. However considering that my previous Mooney (also a '69) had the dimmer crap out twice I'm expecting no better service on my current Mooney. So, what I'd like to do is find a rebuildable core dimmer so that I can have a spare on hand. Doing so will, of course, guarantee that I never have another failure and that's just fine. So, does anyone have a beat up worn out generally unserviceable dimmer that is taking up space in their shop? If so, let me know. Again, condition is unimportant as it will likely be rebuilt.
  2. For those who may have been following this topic, a solution. My thanks to Minnesota Mooney Guy for his suggestion of Don Maxwell Aviation in Texas. They were, indeed, capable of, and willing to, repair my dimmer module and repairs were completed in just over a week. Excellent service and good people. So, if you have a '69 or '70 C, E or F with a dimmer module problem Don Maxwell is where to go.
  3. See photo attached. Note there is also a version of this dimmer with only two transistor but the unit is interchangeable with the 3 transistor version.
  4. Has anyone done business with an outfit called Private Accessories? They claim to have a dimmer available but I've never heard of them.
  5. If I cannot source a replacement (and yes, this is a request to anyone who has or knows where a replacement might be obtained) repairing my existing unit is a possibility. However, I now have two different schematics for the dimmer and neither one matches the unit in my plane. Why on earth did Mooney need to have multiple iterations of basically a simple item. In any event, my dimmer has only two transistors, one is a 2n442 and the second is a 2n2016 and there is only one fuse. Anybody got a schematic fit this one.
  6. A detailed inspection revealed that it was most certainly a coronary so a transplant (or at the very least major surgery) is required. Now is I could just find a surgeon....
  7. I'm sending out a Mayday. The panel light controller in my '69 M20C has suffered heart failure. Does anyone know anyone who can repair these modules or where I might find a replacement. Controllers from '69 and '70 C's and E's are the same I believe so any leads would be appreciated.
  8. The suggestion regarding bad ground is a good one and I will look into that. As regards the "iris type dimmers" 1969 models did not use lamps with iris dimmers, rather there is a central "press to test" button that should illuminate all of the indicator lamps and in my case does so with the exception of the gear up lamp. Anyhow, keep those cards and letters coming in!
  9. For those of you who may have followed this thread (or not) an update. After a considerable amount of head scratching and investigation my friendly local IA had something of a brainstorm. He asked me if the fuel caps (Shaw Aero) were vented. I replied that I really did not know but I suspected they were not. He then suggested that if the caps were not vented and the tank vent was plugged (I have O&N bladders) then perhaps as fuel was consumed the bladder was compressing forcing fuel out somewhere. While there did seem to be a certain logic to his suggestion I was dubious. Nonetheless, we checked the tank vent and indeed, a mud dauber or some such insect had set up housekeeping in the vent. After clearing vent of debris, the problem has not reappeared through a number of tank fills. So there we are, take it for what it's worth.
  10. O.K. folks I need the benefit of your wisdom. The electric landing gear on my '69 C works perfectly but the gear up light does not illuminate. It also does not illuminate when the push to test switch is pushed (all other indicator lamps do light). I've changed the bulb but no dice. The service manual suggests that the gear up limit switch may have a problem but it would seem that even if it does, the PTT switch should illuminate the indicator lamp. Any thoughts you might care to share? The alleged wiring diagrams for the 69 models is a hopeless mess so tracing the problem is turning out to be harder than it should.
  11. I had my kx155 overhauled by kx155.com last year. Cost was around $1,000. The radio came back looking and working like new. Ed only works on kx155’s and really knows his stuff. He even sends videos of the radio as he works on it to give you a better sense of what he’s doing and how the radio is performing. I would use his services again without reservation and, when he’s finished you have a radio you can trust
  12. All of the comments to this question are interesting and perhaps even plausible. The question that remains in my mind, however, is that to the best of my knowledge when the bladders were installed none of the old tank sealant was removed. Therefore, any fuel which may have leaked from the bladders should probably remain in the confines of the old tank space or leak out of the bottom thus leaving stains on the bottom of the wing. However, what we are seeing are fuel streaks well aft of the fuel tank area far removed from the original containment space. I would agree that if fuel had somehow migrated from the original tank space to wing bays at the aft edge of the wing then negative pressure in that area could pull fuel up through the seams. Seems (no pun intended) a little unlikely to me. I like the idea of fuel possibly leaking from between the bladder and the wing skin at the filler cap but it also would seem that if fuel was leaking from that source there would be streaks on the wing surface leading from the filler cap area back to the aft portion of the wing. In this case there are no such streaks. The evidence of fuel we have seen is at the very aft edge of the wing just before the flap and extending perhaps 3 feet in length from about a foot out from the fuselage. So while all of the comments so far have merit and are much appreciated, I believe I will apply the principle of occams razor and start with the simplest proposal first, i.e. look closely at the filler cap area. Nonetheless, keeps those cards and letters coming in folks as I am always open to new suggestions!
  13. So here is where I call on your collective wisdom to solve a mystery. My '69 C has O&N bladders. Several times over the past year after returning from a flight I have found streaks of blue fuel on the top of the right wing directly behind the tank location, about 3 inches forward of the flap and stretching spanwise across a distance of a couple of feet. There has never been any evidence of fuel leakage on the underside of the aircraft nor is there any indication of fuel leakage in the cabin. A conversation with Mike at Griggs left him at a loss to explain this situation. As he stated, "fuel does not leak up". So, the question is how is the fuel getting there? Obviously where the stains are being found is well aft of the actual bladder location and lacking any evidence of tank leakage, the question is simply how is it getting there. Is Bernoulli's principle somehow involved. Note also that we have never seen any apparent fuel package past the fuel caps. OK, I'm at a loss so over to you!
  14. In response to James M, the game plan is to determine, if in fact, the servos are leaking and if so, replace them to get the PC system back in operation. However, given the onerous nature of the task the juice may not be worth the squeeze. Next plan is to break the hose connections at the wing juncture and run a vacuum test from there. If it holds vacuum at leak I'll know that the wing servos are tight (but after 50 years you know what the odds of that are).
  15. After reading the responses so far I have come to a few conclusions. First, the person who designed the layout for the wing servo installation obviously gave no thought to servicing same. Second, said person may actually have been a sadist. Third, after said person presented the plans for the servo installation to his boss, he should have been taken aside, given a polite but firm lecture on design criteria with later servicing in mind and then taken out and shot! Seriously, if you are going to go the the effort to put an access hole behind the aileron would it not make sense to have it line up with the servo retaining bolt? It also occurs to me that if you are lucky enough to actually get the servo out, how in Gods green earth would you ever get the retaining nut and washer back on? I truly appreciate the input so far and agree with Joe M that nailing down whether or not the wing servos are actually leaking before trying to pull them out is absolutely mandatory. Maybe I should just ditch flying and just take up needlework!
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