Contact at Century Flight Systems re: NSD-1000 HSI

[Moonbat]

I was wondering... do any of you have a contact (like the name of a real person, not Support@CenturyFlight.com!) ) at Century Flight Systems in Mineral Wells, TX? The reason is simple. I have an NSD1000 HSI and it is terrific - until it isn't. Had to send one in for a repair. Estimate was ~$3K. Ended up significantly higher, but the real injustice was the 90 day warranty. Seems to me if you put that much work and that many new parts into a unit, you might be a little more confident in your work and warranty it for, say, a year. The repair cost about 33% of a new unit. So, I've written 5 emails to various people and titles who I thought *might* care, but not one of them has deigned to reply. That is why I am looking for the name of an actual human being there - president and CEO included. I am in a similar-but-not-related business in terms of the cost of our systems, federal government oversight, regulation, liability, etc., and we wouldn't consider treating a customer so poorly both in terms of the warranty issue and the simple common courtesy of a response. Even a polite "go pound sand" would have struck a better chord...

[KSMooniac]

Time for an Aspen IMO...

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[Moonbat]

Oh no! Please don't go there. That is a completely different thread, and one that I assiduously intended to avoid. I should have specifically said "no looking backwards, please!" 

[Andy95W]

25 minutes ago, Moonbat said:

Oh no! Please don't go there. That is a completely different thread, and one that I assiduously intended to avoid. I should have specifically said "no looking backwards, please!" 

You said it was 33% of a new unit.  It's also about 33% of a new Aspen.  Just sayin'.

[Moonbat]

(You folks know this already, but...)  It is never just the cost of the unit which is a fair comparison. The cost of the unit is the tip of the iceberg. There are all the panel mods, all the interface wiring to the other avionics, and before you know it you've spent double the cost of the unit and you're considering upgrading more stuff as well. Not interested at all... but thanks for taking the time to respond.  

[Andy95W]

Hey, you ask us to spend your money, we'll spend your money,

[Marauder]

Ah come on moonbat, you know down deep you want one. On my weekly pilgrimage to the avionics shop during my recent upgrades, I saw 3 planes in for Aspen installs. Those owners look like they were waiting for Christmas morning.

And the one who was getting a familiarization was periodically letting out a "I didn't know it did that, WOW!"


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[Moonbat]

You're all incorrigible! Entertaining, nevertheless..Clearly I'm in the wrong forum.

Edited June 17, 2017 by Moonbat

[carusoam]

Moon,

Our most staunch CBs have lost their strict financial control when it comes to updating instrument panels...

The equipment suppliers are in a constant war to eliminate the weaker competition...

stuff I found while looking around... expect a human to answer the phone in the sales department.... ask to speak with one of their knowledgeable staff of engineers....

1) ... and compatible flight instruments, are available upon order.   Contact: Century Flight Systems Sales at (940) 325-2517 ext. 610 www.centuryflight.com

2) Century Service Center offers the aircraft operator a complete spectrum of design engineering, avionics planning, manufacturing, and support services. From our knowledgeable staff of engineers to our experienced installation and service teams, CSC is capable of meeting any challenge.

3) do your best to stay positive while bouncing around their customer service routine... 

 

Know when it is time for a change...

1) That guy with a fancy new panel, used to be a strong supporter of Narco radios.

2) Narco who?

 

Plan the next 20 years...

1) is this your forever plane?

 

Just some PP ideas that come to mind...

Best regards,

-a-

Edited June 17, 2017 by carusoam

[whiskytango]

On 6/17/2017 at 11:56 AM, Moonbat said:

You're all incorrigible! Entertaining, nevertheless..Clearly I'm in the wrong forum.

Moonbat,

 I had my NSD-360A HSI repaired IRAN for 0.4 AMU (I opted to not have a full overhaul done due to the 4 AMU+ cost estimate), but the next thing that goes wrong with it, it gets replaced with an Aspen.  What I am really waiting for is a Mooney STC for a TruTrak autopilot to replace the C31.  The Aspen and TruTrak should nicely deplete my bank account.

[Moonbat]

To complete the circle on this topic AND to give a few of you the opportunity to gloat, I am scheduling the Aspen upgrade. Less than 2 years after spending the first $4500 on repairs with Century, the NSD1000 HSI, failed again. I sent it in to the Century for an estimate/repair, and when the virtually identical list of failed items came back (almost like it is their cut-and-paste knee-jerk response to any failure in an HSI of this type) and another estimate of $4500 with a ridiculous 30 day warranty. Once again, I foolishly tried to appeal to their better angels. Failure as before. 

Now I am very excited to be preparing for removal of all things vacuum-related and the installation of the Evolution PRO MAX glass. Can’t wait. Okay, this is where you get to gloat with an, “I told you so.” 

[carusoam]

Moon,

you made me re-read the whole thread...

That’s funny!

You have dragged your feet long enough...

Now you have been rewarded...   the Aspen Max has arrived...

Better than before...

Go for it.

Best regards,

-a-

[pwnel]

16 hours ago, Moonbat said:

To complete the circle on this topic AND to give a few of you the opportunity to gloat, I am scheduling the Aspen upgrade. Less than 2 years after spending the first $4500 on repairs with Century, the NSD1000 HSI, failed again. I sent it in to the Century for an estimate/repair, and when the virtually identical list of failed items came back (almost like it is their cut-and-paste knee-jerk response to any failure in an HSI of this type) and another estimate of $4500 with a ridiculous 30 day warranty. Once again, I foolishly tried to appeal to their better angels. Failure as before. 

Now I am very excited to be preparing for removal of all things vacuum-related and the installation of the Evolution PRO MAX glass. Can’t wait. Okay, this is where you get to gloat with an, “I told you so.” 

Just out of interest - why not send it to flyaqi.com or or aerospacecompi.com ?  For my NSD360A they overhaul at $1500 and $1000 respectively with a 1 year guarantee. I'm genuinely interested in your choice originally since I have a 360 that I would like to keep alive for a while longer.

[ArtVandelay]

I was told that certain parts are not manufactured anymore for the 360.


Tom

[pwnel]

8 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

I was told that certain parts are not manufactured anymore for the 360.


Tom

Well at least two reputable shops (listed above) are still overhauling them as of yesterday.  

[Aerodon]

Some of us are slow to figure this out, myself included.  The whole product life cycle and maintenance philosophy has changed, and the best thing is to get on board by pre-thinking your maintenance strategy along with an upgrade path.

My friend paid $4500 flat rate to fix a TRC899 traffic system.  Then 18 months later it failed again.  So rather than $5500 for another repair, he put that towards a $10k Garmin traffic system.  IMO, Garmin have a more reasonable flat rate repair, warranty, and future 'plug and play' options (not always).

There is quite a glut of as removed components - KCS55A compassions stems, radios, autopilot components etc.  And sometimes you can get some very high serial number units, or recently overhauled units for 1/3rd of an overhaul price.  Just like I keep spare tires, starters, turbo, alternator, magneto on the shelf, I now have a spare KG102A, KI525A HSI etc.  A fair amount of capital tied up, but at least I have them ready to go, and don't have to worry about availability, overnight shipping etc.  Not perfect, but I think it works.

I don't plan on overhauling any more gyroscopic or mechanical instruments - if they fail, either find a good used one, or upgrade with new alternative products.  

Aerodon

 

 

 

[Moonbat]

Project "Aspen Evolution" is completed. I couldn't be happier. No more vacuum anything. No more WSI weather. No more slaving gyro magnetometer. Gained 15+ lbs more useful load in the process. I uploaded a photo of the new panel and an annotated version of the new panel. See attachments. 

N3215F Panel_v5.pdf

[carusoam]

Nice detailed job, Moonbat!

What’s next on the list?

Best regards,

-a-

[MikeOH]

22 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Nice detailed job, Moonbat!

What’s next on the list?

Best regards,

-a-

Replace/rebuild bank balance would be my guess!

[Moonbat]

Next on the list is the fun part, which is to figure out how to use this stuff! I’m working my way through the Operational Checks given to the pilot (that’s me) and I haven’t yet completed them. Thus I can’t legally fly with anyone else in the plane yet. In the process I actually uncovered a problem that might be addressed with a configuration change to the Aspen Evolution. I can do that in my hangar and then continue the Operational Checks in the air. If that isn’t the complete fix, then a wiring change may be needed, and for that, it is back to the avionics shop for a day... or so. 

For anyone interested, the part of the test that failed was not tested by the avionics shop because they said the plane had to be moving 40+ kts in order to check this particular mode, and that was not possible while in the avionics hangar. Of course, that is the precise mode that failed in the air.

My thinking is that the navigator (GNS480) has a very robust simulator mode, in which it outputs all the necessary signals to the A/P and on the ARINC 429 bus to the Aspen Evolution. One can set a location, an altitude, and A SPEED! Editorial comment: the shop should have tried that method before they turned the plane over to me. That’s what I’ll do when I push the plane out into the 0F temperature and before launching. 

After all this fun, and while the bank account is in recovery, I plan to figure out why the GAMI spread is so large (2.5 gph) preventing me from flying anything LOP. But that is another entire thread! 

[carusoam]

Expect a partial blockage, the JPI will probably show you where to look...  

Great extra details!

Best regards,

-a-