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Annual adventures - cracked tail pipe

jaylw314

By jaylw314
in General Mooney Talk

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kortopates Grand Master

kortopates

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A welder can replace as much of that section of tubing as needed (from being too thin), including the entire section and any others sections for that matter. My experience is even if most of the exhaust is replaced with new tubing, its still much cheaper to repair than replace with new. But I am fortunate to have local access to a great shop that specializes in this work.

jaylw314 Grand Master

jaylw314

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Aaaaand, they found a second hole in the tailpipe next to the flange after they removed it.  I forgot to get pictures of that, though.  The shop cautioned me the muffler was probably on its last legs too.  No holes yet, but he said the whole exhaust system looks to be on its last legs.  We had to replace one of the exhaust downpipes last year, so he suspected I'd have to be replacing the other components within the next year or two.  They were probably the original exhaust components from the factory 35 years ago.

While I could probably replace the downpipes on condition, I figured the muffler wasn't something I'd want to mess around with CO problems.  If I was going to get a new muffler, I figured I may as well get a new tailpipe instead of trying to repair it.

Interestingly, my IA discouraged me from the Powerflow exhaust, he said he has yet to see a setup yet where he has seen any significant increase in power, so he didn't believe it was worth the cost.  He said he thought the tailpipe was about $450 new and the muffler was about $800 new so I gave him the OK on that.

Immelman Mentor

Immelman

Posted
Posted (edited)

Give Knisley welding a call.

They (legally) repaired my tailpipe. It came back looking brand new.. which for the most part it was. I don't remember the exact price but it was less than what you're talking.

Edited by Immelman
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DXB Grand Master

DXB

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On 9/27/2019 at 2:21 PM, jaylw314 said:

Crud.  The shop was doubtful this could be repaired. How much will this set me back?

IMG_20190927_111413_HDR.jpg

IMG_20190927_111409_HDR.jpg

That looks like the Knisley exhaust? I think the rest have a straight tail pipe. My 22 year old exhaust with ~2500hrs on it had the tail pipe disintegrate last year in similar fashion - I think the new part was about 400 from Knisley.  Given the age of the exhaust and the failure of a component, I decided to replace it entirely at annual later this year so I don't find myself puffing on CO or blowing exhaust from a riser one day soon.  However, I'm not sure what the best maintenance philosophy is for old exhausts (i.e. repair incrementally or replace based on some combination of age, use, condition).  

jaylw314 Grand Master

jaylw314

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2 hours ago, DXB said:

That looks like the Knisley exhaust? I think the rest have a straight tail pipe. My 22 year old exhaust with ~2500hrs on it had the tail pipe disintegrate last year in similar fashion - I think the new part was about 400 from Knisley.  Given the age of the exhaust and the failure of a component, I decided to replace it entirely at annual later this year so I don't find myself puffing on CO or blowing exhaust from a riser one day soon.  However, I'm not sure what the best maintenance philosophy is for old exhausts (i.e. repair incrementally or replace based on some combination of age, use, condition).  

I ended up going with new.  I was offered a serviceable used exhaust over the weekend, but my shop had already ordered the two parts on Friday and the shipped this morning, so bad timing.  On the other hand, with new I won't have to worry about replacing it again as long as I own the plane.

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kortopates Grand Master

kortopates

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3 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

I ended up going with new.  I was offered a serviceable used exhaust over the weekend, but my shop had already ordered the two parts on Friday and the shipped this morning, so bad timing.  On the other hand, with new I won't have to worry about replacing it again as long as I own the plane.

So you hope, but the new exhaust could just as easily crack at a joint or the flange just as easily as an old exhaust could. But we hope not! 

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jaylw314 Grand Master

jaylw314

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Just now, kortopates said:

So you hope, but the new exhaust could just as easily crack at a joint or the flange just as easily as an old exhaust could. But we hope not! 

<groan>  Thanks for bursting my bubble :rolleyes:

Guest

Guest

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It’s highly unlikely that your new tail pipe will fail anytime soon.  Your old one displays classic thinning on the inside radius leading to eventual failure.

Clarence

WilliamR Community Regular

WilliamR

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Btw, my recent turnaround time with dawley was not great.  Took them 10 days to look at the exhaust.  Then was told it would be a month before they could get it back to me.  After telling them to ship it elsewhere for repair, I got it about a week later nicely repaired.  smh

 

William

AGL Aviation Collaborator

AGL Aviation

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Replaced my muffler two annuals ago.  [mention=14357]AGL Aviation[/mention] found a good price but I can’t remember the supplier
 

You could try Aerospace Welding (AWI). We typically use them or Dawley


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N9434V Explorer

N9434V

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I just had my Muffler and Risers overhauled by AWI.    The turn around was quick, they received my exhaust on a Wednesday  and shipped it back the following Monday.   

All for a price less than worst case scenario quoted.

Very pleased with their service.

 

 

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carusoam Grand Master

carusoam

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Posted

pseudo summary....


1) AWI aerospace welding inc...

2) Knisely...

3) Dawley...

4) PowerFlow...

OH of muffler systems... often comes completely rebuilt with nothing left of the old system... a technicality that seems to work...

Thinning of tubes that far from the exhaust valve is a strong sign that things upstream have some high heat experience as well...

This is why inspection of the flame tubes and inner surface of the muffler is so important....

Check on the health of the flame tubes to see they are still there.... in their original shape....

Got a CO monitor with all that?

Best regards,

-a-

thinwing Grand Master

thinwing

Posted
Posted
On 9/28/2019 at 1:54 PM, Immelman said:

Give Knisley welding a call.

They (legally) repaired my tailpipe. It came back looking brand new.. which for the most part it was. I don't remember the exact price but it was less than what you're talking.

knisely has changed policy...believe it or not it was cheaper to buy new exaust sections from AirPower (lycoming factory)Than the quote I got to repair plus they wanted 3 weeks.

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