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Gear Breaker Pops


dfgreene61

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Sound like a high resistance popping, since I assume that the only time it is happening is right before the gear is fully up.

My guess is that there is either 1) a binding of the mechanical system right at that point in the swing that causes the gear motor to struggle enough to cause a high current and thus popping the breaker, or 2) you have a getting-bad gear motor.  I tend to go to the former as a hypothesis based on your comment that it only happens in cold weather. The cold will tighten everything up and if the articulating points are dirty and have old grease, they can get very reluctant to move in the cold.

 

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When were your pucks changed last? In my C, in cold weather the gear would often not raise the last little bit, and the squall in my headset was terrible. The next summer, everything was great, then the next winter it started again, worse than before. Replaced pucks in December, everything worked like it was supposed to, my landings improved and taxiing was more pleasant.

FYI, the month and year that the landing gear pucks were made is molded into the edge. If they're over ten or twelve years old, think about replacing tbem.

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Very timely post.  Last weekend a friend experienced a similar situation with his 84 J.  IIRC it was the gear relay breaker that would open whenever gear up was selected.

In his case, the plane was in for annual and on jacks in a warm climate.  After scouring the gear bay for obvious faults and finding none, he accidentally discovered that the condition only happened when the glare shield was installed.  After some detective work and consultation with a knowledgeable Mooney A&P they narrowed the search to instrument panel.  Yes, the panel.

Generally speaking, there are two "panels" where instruments and radios are mounted - I don't know the technical name so let's refer to them as the subpanel and the façade that faces the pilot positions.  In his case, the façade is mounted to the subpanel using rubber mounts that dampen vibration.  I think of them like very small engine mounts.  Over time, these mounts lose their flexibility and allow the façade to sag.  In my friend's case, when the glare shield was removed, the gear behaved perfectly.  However, when the glare shield was installed, it exerted just enough downward pressure on the metal façade that it came in contact with electrical components (I think around the switch bus).  When gear up was selected, there was a spike in amperage as would be expected with a direct short and the breaker opened.

This may or may not be helpful in your case but I certainly found it to be a learning experience and hope others do to.

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