Oil Suction Screen - Non Metal Pick Up?

[d0tnet]

Hi all-

Had prop overhauled proactively based on calendar time, not hours 2 years ago.  Recently developed a minor oil seep and sent it to prop shop for inspection.  They noted scoring on cylinder and completed a reseal.  So because I presumed potential for metal in oil system that would have caused the prop cylinder to score, I pulled the oil suction screen tonight as part of oil change and noted some small items present.  See attached image.

Magnet doesn't pick it up and it feels almost like the same material used to seal new oil quarts.

Not sure last time this screen was inspected, almost seems like it was overlooked at annual, as the nut barely showed wear.  

Any one else have anything similar happen?  Should this be a cause for concern?

 

[N201MKTurbo]

I would be happy the screen is doing its job. Check it again in 100 hours or next annual and see if any more is in there. Are they magnetic?

[OR75]

the oil screen is overlooked because it is a pain to get to, remove and safety wire 

[ArtVandelay]

I would be happy the screen is doing its job. Check it again in 100 hours or next annual and see if any more is in there. Are they magnetic?

He said a magnet doesn’t pick it up, looks to me like solder?

[N201MKTurbo]

33 minutes ago, teejayevans said:

He said a magnet doesn’t pick it up, looks to me like solder?

Weird, I can't think of anywhere there is solder in the engine. The oil screens on the old engines had the ends soldered on. Maybe someone was soldering with the oil fill cap off and a blob flew in. Come to think of it, isn't the seam on that screen soldered? Maybe it came from the screen itself. It is hard to imagine that it would be made with blobs like that on it.

[d0tnet]

You guys are spot on with the solder comment.  That is exactly what the texture feels like, but after scratching my head for a bit I figured it was the result from heat applied to the metal foil from the Phillips oil quarts.

Definitely going to be adding this extra effort to the 50 hour regime as part of the oil change.  Still need to do the safety wire this evening, but so far not a huge deal to R&R.

And correct, the particles cleaned from the screen were not magnetic which is a relief.  Also the oil filter was normal.

This all leads me back to feeling like I got a huge runaround from the prop shop and them not wanting to do the right thing and warranty a 2 year overhaul ultimately blaming 'metal' on causing the prop to need a premature seal.  This of course was after initially telling my maintenance shop that the prop was fine, leading to me having a crankshaft seal replaced probably for no reason.

So, in summary a small prop oil seepage which started the whole fiasco turns into 3.5AMU unscheduled maintenance event... wish I would have provided more oversight on this process.

Somewhat off topic - is the logic sound that metal in the oil would pass a clean filter and screens to then score the prop cylinder?