New preflight item

[PT20J]

Somewhere over central Texas, one of my elevator static wicks departed. I just purchased a replacement from LASAR ($47.14!). I notice that the new one comes with a #4 split lock washer. These are not installed on my other 14 wicks an not called out in the IPC. I'm aware that there is test data showing that split lock washers don't perform well in high vibration environments, but I'm going to install them on all the wicks under the assumption that they can't hurt and may help. Also, I'm checking that the wicks are screwed in tightly on my preflights from now on.

Skip 

[Yetti]

3 minutes ago, PT20J said:

Somewhere over central Texas, one of my elevator static wicks departed. I just purchased a replacement from LASAR ($47.14!). I notice that the new one comes with a #4 split lock washer. These are not installed on my other 14 wicks an not called out in the IPC. I'm aware that there is test data showing that split lock washers don't perform well in high vibration environments, but I'm going to install them on all the wicks under the assumption that they can't hurt and may help. Also, I'm checking that the wicks are screwed in tightly on my preflights from now on.

Skip 

Very few mooneys have static wicks.  Some say the plane is faster than the static electricity build up.

[Yetti]

 

[smwash02]

9 minutes ago, PT20J said:

Somewhere over central Texas, one of my elevator static wicks departed. I just purchased a replacement from LASAR ($47.14!). I notice that the new one comes with a #4 split lock washer. These are not installed on my other 14 wicks an not called out in the IPC. I'm aware that there is test data showing that split lock washers don't perform well in high vibration environments, but I'm going to install them on all the wicks under the assumption that they can't hurt and may help. Also, I'm checking that the wicks are screwed in tightly on my preflights from now on.

Skip 

I wonder how much vibration is seen at the tip of the wing, but my thoughts mirror yours on the split lock in our environments.

Mine are riveted in.

[PT20J]

9 minutes ago, smwash02 said:

I wonder how much vibration is seen at the tip of the wing, but my thoughts mirror yours on the split lock in our environments.

Mine are riveted in.

The mounting bases on the TCO wicks are riveted onto the control surfaces, but the wicks themselves screw into the base.

[smwash02]

I guess I've never looked that carefully. I'll add this to my checklist too, I appreciate the heads up!

[rbridges]

I was recently enjoying a sunny day in central Texas.  I was admiring the clouds when this static wick jabbed me in the eye.  Now I know who to sue.

[0TreeLemur]

1 minute ago, rbridges said:

I was recently enjoying a sunny day in central Texas.  I was admiring the clouds when this static wick jabbed me in the eye.  Now I know who to sue.

IF that is all it did, you should just pop a cold one and consider yourself lucky.  Buy a lottery ticket.

[rbridges]

1 minute ago, 0TreeLemur said:

IF that is all it did, you should just pop a cold one and consider yourself lucky.  Buy a lottery ticket.

I think it's worth $250,000,000 for my anguish.

[Mark89114]

15 minutes ago, rbridges said:

I think it's worth $250,000,000 for my anguish.

And we just found somebody willing to buy the mooney factory.  

[kortopates]

My K never had static wicks and I have never had any p-static in the radios or any noise for that matter. I got rid of the most susceptible radio - the ADF when I got the plane. Although some airframes may need them, mine has been in all kinds of weather at all altitudes with never any static issues. 

[MooneyMitch]

My former Ovation was fitted with static wicks.   I don’t if they were effective or not.   

[Bryan]

My factory M20K Encore (1998) has three of them on every surface; 15 total.  None of mine are loose enough to unscrew, I do check them at each oil change but not on every flight.

[Amelia]

What a timely topic. As of last week, I now have 2.5 static wicks on my vertical stab. The top one just spontaneously broke in half. It is too tight to unscrew, even with vise grips. I might be able to convince it with enough WD-40 or something. All the others seem ok. I am half inclined to feign surprise. Oh, that’s not how the top one is supposed to look? I, um, didn’t notice it. The radios seem fine.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Amelia

[GDGR]

1 hour ago, Mark89114 said:

And we just found somebody willing to buy the mooney factory.  

First order of business.... Permanently fastening static wicks 

[carusoam]

Expect that...

• the wicks get a fair amount of uneven forces on them.... 
• Vibration is very low that far from the engine...
• they show wear when their white plastic jacket splits and slides off...
• They might benefit from the blue thread lock, not the red thread lock...

PP thoughts as usual, still not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

[1964-M20E]

On 11/18/2019 at 3:29 PM, rbridges said:

I think it's worth $250,000,000 for my anguish.

Well too bad Mooney closed or you could get a cool $1M and get you a new Ultra.

You can't forget the lawyer's cut.