preciseflight speed brakes

[R4dpilot]

5 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I do mine every few years. Clean the mud and crud off them and put a drop of light oil on the bearings and lubriplate on the worm gear.

I have owned the plane since 2001 and to my knowledge they have never been done at the annuals.

[carusoam]

Since this was a one time occurrence.... expect something has altered the way the clutches engage....

They may be worn... and today was the day they started to slip...

Or something got on them that exacerbated the worn status by cleaning them and lubricating them...

Checking the status of the clutches can be done... or cleaning them can be done...

Do whatever it takes to make them work again...  if they are worn, have them OH’d...

I tend to use my brakes often.  I maintain extra energy coming in over a few buildings before the runway.  Using the brakes to dissipate what is left... because they are there...

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

[N201MKTurbo]

45 minutes ago, R4dpilot said:

I have owned the plane since 2001 and to my knowledge they have never been done at the annuals.

It’s not like the plane will fall out of the sky if they malfunction. The ICA does say to clean and lube every year.

[Releew]

Speed brakes work great to descend with MP....  Other than that, they're an expensive novelty.....

Pull the nose back....  It will slow down!

 

Rick

[MATTS875]

Just had to have mine sent to preciseflight. Now ready to go. Had to do a rebuild on them. Mine would try to raise and shutter

[MikeOH]

Been happy with mine. Nice tool to have, but I wouldn’t spend the money to install.  Glad the PO did, though

[BigD]

I love my speed brakes. When I first bought my Mooney last Spring, the left speed brake failed to deploy, and after reading these forums, I found a suggestion to simply open and close it with my fingers and try it again.  Sure enough, that worked.  I would suggest trying that! Save you a bundle! 

[gsxrpilot]

My whole airplane is an expensive novelty... and as such is properly outfitted with speed brakes that I like and use whenever and wherever it suits me.

[R4dpilot]

17 hours ago, BigD said:

I love my speed brakes. When I first bought my Mooney last Spring, the left speed brake failed to deploy, and after reading these forums, I found a suggestion to simply open and close it with my fingers and try it again.  Sure enough, that worked.  I would suggest trying that! Save you a bundle! 

I tried that after pulling the breaker. It is jammed and won't move. I don't want to try and pry it open for fear of further damage.

[Bryan]

17 minutes ago, R4dpilot said:

I tried that after pulling the breaker. It is jammed and won't move. I don't want to try and pry it open for fear of further damage.

They are pretty easy to remove.  There is a series of screws on the top and then the bottom has a panel that is removed and two more screws that allow them to drop off.  I have a 1998 version which has the electric speedbrakes but later models (ovations and bravos) seem to have a newer style which are loaded and removed from the top of the wing.  There is one last twist screw connector to disconnect the electrics.

My speedbrakes had the same issue as you are describing but one of mine would not go down after the preflight test.  I had to pull the breaker and force it down to continue the flight.  I had my speedbreaks removed, sent to Precise Flight, and literally were just delivered back hours ago to my door.  I just opened them up and it appears all the clutches were replaced and most (if not all) of the internal hardware was replaced or cleaned and lubed to look new.  Cannot wait to try them.

I have not had them installed in my M20K for about the past 3-4 weeks but it was not an issue that I needed them.  I did *want* them a couple of times just so I could stay a little faster, longer but knowing your airplane did not prevent me from *needing* them.

[R4dpilot]

25 minutes ago, Bryan said:

They are pretty easy to remove.  There is a series of screws on the top and then the bottom has a panel that is removed and two more screws that allow them to drop off.  I have a 1998 version which has the electric speedbrakes but later models (ovations and bravos) seem to have a newer style which are loaded and removed from the top of the wing.  There is one last twist screw connector to disconnect the electrics.

My speedbrakes had the same issue as you are describing but one of mine would not go down after the preflight test.  I had to pull the breaker and force it down to continue the flight.  I had my speedbreaks removed, sent to Precise Flight, and literally were just delivered back hours ago to my door.  I just opened them up and it appears all the clutches were replaced and most (if not all) of the internal hardware was replaced or cleaned and lubed to look new.  Cannot wait to try them.

I have not had them installed in my M20K for about the past 3-4 weeks but it was not an issue that I needed them.  I did *want* them a couple of times just so I could stay a little faster, longer but knowing your airplane did not prevent me from *needing* them.

What did they charge you to repair them?

[thinwing]

On 12/30/2018 at 6:40 AM, N201MKTurbo said:

I have the electric speed brakes. There is no harm raising them manually as long as the clutch is disengaged. They should move easily. You should only be working against the clock spring that retracts them on a power failure. 

The problem with removing them is you will ruin your new paint job. 

I hope they didn’t fill them with paint stripper residue when they were stripping the plane.

Bingo!....they should have been removed during paint stripping...mine are anodized and shouldn’t be painted 

[LANCECASPER]

3 hours ago, Bryan said:

They are pretty easy to remove.  There is a series of screws on the top and then the bottom has a panel that is removed and two more screws that allow them to drop off.  I have a 1998 version which has the electric speedbrakes but later models (ovations and bravos) seem to have a newer style which are loaded and removed from the top of the wing.  There is one last twist screw connector to disconnect the electrics.

My speedbrakes had the same issue as you are describing but one of mine would not go down after the preflight test.  I had to pull the breaker and force it down to continue the flight.  I had my speedbreaks removed, sent to Precise Flight, and literally were just delivered back hours ago to my door.  I just opened them up and it appears all the clutches were replaced and most (if not all) of the internal hardware was replaced or cleaned and lubed to look new.  Cannot wait to try them.

I have not had them installed in my M20K for about the past 3-4 weeks but it was not an issue that I needed them.  I did *want* them a couple of times just so I could stay a little faster, longer but knowing your airplane did not prevent me from *needing* them.

Would you mind sharing what a rebuild on your speed brakes cost?

[Bryan]

6 hours ago, R4dpilot said:

What did they charge you to repair them?

 

3 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Would you mind sharing what a rebuild on your speed brakes cost?

Not at all. They asked that I send both in to them, even though the other was working fine.

$1.4 AMU total for both of them back to my door.  Both look completely new with all new wiring and internal components. New harness wires, springs, clutches, and drain tubes.

[N131MA]

I suggest to call Precise support. They were very friendly and helpful with finding the root cause when I had issues with mine.

https://www.preciseflight.com/

I had to send in mine in for overhaul. Be prepared to send in the control box as well. As mentioned above: Removing and installing the brakes and control box is an easy job. It took 3 hrs or so. They work perfectly now ... and hopefully for the next 10 years.

[Richie the C]

Send it to Precise Flight. Plan on getting hosed for big money in the process. You can't fix it yourself.

[MATTS875]

Mine were about $1900 with shipping. Working great now.