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I recently bought a CO detector and was not getting a solid 0 reading like I wanted.  I even pegged a 12 yesterday at 6500 feet with a little cabin heat on here in Florida.  So I was going to let it slide until my March annual, after all a 12 is still well below the safe limit.  I did open the cowling this morning to track down a small dark blue avgas drop on the hangar floor that I will discuss in another thread.

When I opened the cowling I saw a scat tubing clamp on the bottom of the cowl and it had me investigate and I found the following in the video attached.  

A CO detector should be the number one item in your flight bag.  It was letting me know of an issue that I had no idea about and would not have discovered until oil change time or unless I passed out.  

I really mean it when I say FUCK the aircraft engineers that design cowlings you can't open prior to every flight.  You engineer types think you are so smart but you really FUCKED up with a simple item like a cowling.  It is not rocket science,  how many years ago did Beechcraft do it?

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18 minutes ago, Jim Peace said:

I recently bought a CO detector and was not getting a solid 0 reading like I wanted.  I even pegged a 12 yesterday at 6500 feet with a little cabin heat on here in Florida.  So I was going to let it slide until my March annual, after all a 12 is still well below the safe limit.  I did open the cowling this morning to track down a small dark blue avgas drop on the hangar floor that I will discuss in another thread.

When I opened the cowling I saw a scat tubing clamp on the bottom of the cowl and it had me investigate and I found the following in the video attached.  

A CO detector should be the number one item in your flight bag.  It was letting me know of an issue that I had no idea about and would not have discovered until oil change time or unless I passed out.  

I really mean it when I say FUCK the aircraft engineers that design cowlings you can't open prior to every flight.  You engineer types think you are so smart but you really FUCKED up with a simple item like a cowling.  It is not rocket science,  how many years ago did Beechcraft do it?

IMG_9867.mov

Fortunately, that mode of failure wouldn't result in high levels of CO in the cabin, but I would be a little miffed too....

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Getting CO in the cabin is a two step process...

1) releasing CO from its containment... Often a hidden crack under the heat muff. Loose exhaust pipe connections can also be a source of CO, they just aren’t as easily directed to the cabin through the heat muff....

2) delivering the CO to the cabin... this is where the hidden crack dumps exhaust gas right into the hot air supply to the cabin... disaster is just waiting, just a  cabin heat control pull away.... other sources of CO entry to the cabin can be around holes near the firewall, the rudder pedals can allow a fair amount of air in the cabin....

 

3) In Jim’s case, the open air hose will be delivering some air that might not be as clean as expected.... exhaust seals at the engine, and  slip joints in the exhaust system may be leaking something... look for the white dusty stains of escaping exhaust... exhaust is pretty good about leaving trails where it is getting out...

Really PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

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My SensorCon was going off the other day for the first time. It went right past 30, the alarm started beeping. I had just landed but popped open the door, the side window, made sure the heat was off, etc. I pulled up to the hangar and suggested we should pop the cowl as something wasn't right. That had never happened before. We pulled the top of the cowl off and found the top side breather hose had come disconnected. There was a bit of oil everywhere as well. I suspect the breather hose had come disconnected earlier and it wasn't until landing and just the right air flow/speed/etc but it was all coming in the cockpit and setting the CO sensor off.

Good to know the thing works when it needs to.

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