201 MSE Wing Sight Gauge Departed The Premises

[Derek]

... somewhere around the Catskills on a nice chilly MLK Day flight.

After the flight I was too cold to hang around and do much troubleshooting, and it didn't cross my mind to look for fuel staining (as recommended by @carusoam on another related thread from a few years back), so I didn't do any other investigation beyond snapping a photo.

The errant gauge is the right sight gauge, 1995 J 201 MSE. I have the maintenance manual at the hangar (too cold to think to bring it home), but if anyone knows the part number...

Is the recommended replacement one of these from LASAR?
https://lasar.com/gauges

 

[N201MKTurbo]

Find the one that matches your other capsule.

Mask around the hole in the wing.

Mask the top of the capsule.

clean out the cavity.

fill the cavity with RTV.

With a gloved hand, push the capsule into the cavity. Then go home. Come back the next day and peel off the extruded bead of RTV and remove the masking tape. Clean any remaining RTV. With your fingernail.

[Guest]

This should help.

Clarence

[Mark89114]

I left one somewhere west of Roanoke Virginia.....  they arent cheap, seems like $100 plus.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Mark89114

[carusoam]

They are expensive enough to be disappointing...

Fortunately, there is a magnet that connects the internal workings to gauge on top... this way, it is unlikely to have any blue juice weeping through...

When doing the silicone work... check the temperature limitations on the tube’s label...

You may need to heat the hangar a bit for it to cure. Or find a warmer hangar...

Good to see that my writing was helpful for somebody else... not just me.   

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

[N201MKTurbo]

40 minutes ago, carusoam said:

You may need to heat the hangar a bit for it to cure. Or find a warmer Hangar

Huh, that’s just something we just don’t consider around here....

The weather was horrible and gloomy today, I don’t think it got above 65

[carusoam]

We are at 20°F this evening... the RTV is more likely to freeeeze than it is to cure...

Derek is further North from here...

Best regards,

-a-

[Gagarin]

Looks like someone borrow it.

[exM20K]

Mine set itself free a few weeks ago.  Local shop had no problem finding one:

880024-003  $78.55

If you'd like to know where they got it, PM me.

-dan

[Yetti]

A google search revealed

in 2010 they were $30.00

In 2011 they were $35.00

In 2017 they were $70-80

Don Maxwell's shop and Weep no more came up as sources.

[EricJ]

You're not going to go back and look for the one that fell off?

 

[N201MKTurbo]

I believe they were made by Tempo Marine. They went out of business about 10 years ago. That probably had a negative effect on the price.

[ZuluZulu]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

You're not going to go back and look for the one that fell off?

 

That would earn him his Lifetime CB Platinum Elite card.

[N201MKTurbo]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

You're not going to go back and look for the one that fell off?

 

Back in the 80s I has a roommate with a Harley. We went out riding in the country one day. I was riding behind him and saw something fall off his bike and bounce out into a field. (Can you imagine parts falling off a Harley?) It was his shifter peddle. A few miles later he discovered it was missing, pulled over and was mad as hell! I told him I think I can find it. I saw it come off. He said I was nuts and didn't even want to go back and look. 

When we got home he parked the bike and didn't touch it for years. 

About 4 years later he had moved out and was living with his future wife. His birthday was coming up, so I thought "I remember where that thing is" I drove out to the country and stopped where I thought it was, I looked for about two minuets before I found it in the tall grass. It was a little dirty and a bit rusty, but perfectly serviceable.

I put it in a nice box with a bow on it and brought it over for his B-day. He opened it and his jaw dropped! I said "I told you I knew where it was"

[carusoam]

That’s multi-tasking..!     ^^^^

... and memory!

... and a sense of humor!

Amazing human brain skills!

Thanks for sharing the details...

best regards,

-a-

[DonMuncy]

6 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I believe they were made by Tempo Marine. They went out of business about 10 years ago. That probably had a negative effect on the price.

The ones on my plane were made by Rochester.

[Derek]

15 hours ago, ZuluZulu said:

That would earn him his Lifetime CB Platinum Elite card.

Haha. Def not going on that hunt...

[Derek]

15 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Back in the 80s I has a roommate with a Harley. We went out riding in the country one day. I was riding behind him and saw something fall off his bike and bounce out into a field. (Can you imagine parts falling off a Harley?) It was his shifter peddle. A few miles later he discovered it was missing, pulled over and was mad as hell! I told him I think I can find it. I saw it come off. He said I was nuts and didn't even want to go back and look. 

When we got home he parked the bike and didn't touch it for years. 

About 4 years later he had moved out and was living with his future wife. His birthday was coming up, so I thought "I remember where that thing is" I drove out to the country and stopped where I thought it was, I looked for about two minuets before I found it in the tall grass. It was a little dirty and a bit rusty, but perfectly serviceable.

I put it in a nice box with a bow on it and brought it over for his B-day. He opened it and his jaw dropped! I said "I told you I knew where it was"

What a story. I'm not so romantic about the fuel gauge!

[jkarch]

I had Weep No More redo my tanks and somehow they removed the RTV holding the sight gauge in place.  When I flew away after the fuel tank repair I had noticed the fuel gauge had popped up into the slipstream and threatened to fly off the plane.  I added some tape to hold it in place till I got home and added RTV.  Seems they forgot to RTV in the gauge in time for me to pick the plane up as the RTV was still wet when I went to inspect the reason the gauge almost fell out!