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Persistent horn alarm on take-off after gear retraction?


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This happens consistently every time for the last couple of months. When I raise/retract the gear during take-off, moving the J-bar from vertical to horizontal on the floor, the alarm horn begins to sound. I can make it stop it by gently pushing up with my finger the little metal arm in the now vacant capture collar on the bottom of the panel where the J-bar goes when the gear is lowered. Generally the noise persists until I level off. When I level off, I pull the throttle way back to 12-13” ever so briefly, the horn stops. Then I go back to a normal setting (20” or more) for cruise, and the horn never is a problem again for the rest of the flight.
 
Is there a “throttle sensor relay” or the like that is failing? If so, where exactly is it located? ( I’ve got to solve this one, as it is very loud and annoying and really bothers any passengers.)
 
 
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The microswitch in the hole is exquisitely responsive. The slightest touch upward, horn stops. Let it down, horn starts. What stops the horn is pulling back the throttle... way back to 12” or 13” . That is why I am asking, is there another microswitch “looking” at the throttle position somewhere / somehow?

 

 

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If the alarm circuit was working correctly, what is the condition about which the circuit and alarm are trying to warn me?
Is it trying to warn me when there is a low power setting AND the gear is up / retracted / J- bar on the floor in the horizontal position? 
If so, and there’s a high power setting, i.e. throttle pushed well in, the throttle microswitch should be OPEN, so as not to ground the alarm buzzer, right? 
I think once I understand the “logic” the circuit is trying to implement, I’ll be able to trouble shoot it. 

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Will increasing airspeed in the climb silence the buzzer?  IOW, is the alarm perhaps triggered not by throttle position, but by airspeed (which might be read wrong, triggering the false alarm)?

If you don't have airspeed sensing, then the squat switch that detects weight on the wheels serves the same function, check that.

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Two switches in the simple system...

One in the Jbar hole...

Other in the Throttle behind the panel...

If the gear isn’t sensed as being down... then the throttle gets pulled out...

the two switches complete the circuit... to sound the horn...

 

Now... gear is up, and throttle is in... the plane is flying... while the horn is sounding...

Expect the throttle switch isn’t behaving properly... it is acting as if the throttle is pulled out still...

when you poke the switch in the Jbar hole... it is confirming the gear down... so... it goes silent again...

 

Sounds like two things are pointing to the switch on the throttle...

There are lots of pics of that switch and it’s adjustment around here...

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

best regards,

-a-

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7 hours ago, tmo said:

Will increasing airspeed in the climb silence the buzzer?  IOW, is the alarm perhaps triggered not by throttle position, but by airspeed (which might be read wrong, triggering the false alarm)?

If you don't have airspeed sensing, then the squat switch that detects weight on the wheels serves the same function, check that.

Manual gear Mooneys have 2 switches in the gear system.  One on the throttle cable set to around 11-12”Hg, the second is on the gear down latch at the base of the instrument panel to say that the handle is latched.

Clarence

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I was able to crawl upside down under the panel to find, loosen, slightly re-position ever-so-slightly closer to the shaft of the throttle cable, and then re-tighten the position mounting screws for the switch. I now understand EXACTLY how this thing works. I could hear the micro-switch make and break contact each time. Flight tested it today, too - a very nice but cold day - and when I tucked the gear into the wheel wells after take-off, a blissful, horn-free, silence followed - except for the sound of Casper's engine carrying me higher and higher. Success! 

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