Interesting gear warning horn issue

[RobertGary1]

I have a throttle quadrant and I’ve been having occasional issues with the gear horn occasionally failing the ground test but working in flight. But when I’d go to diagnose it, it always worked. Well I finally figured this out!

Turns out that if you loosen the tension on the quadrant the throttle can miss the micro switch which of course disables the horn. With normal amounts of tension the throttle never misses it. It’s a peculiarly of how the tension works on the quadrant. Basically it squeezes the controls which causes the throttle to align with the micro switch. But if you loosen the tension there is considerable lateral movement of all the engine controls. 
 

Not sure why after 20 years Of ownership I figured this out but hopefully it helps others.
 

-Robert  

[Mcstealth]

Nice write up. Thanks for sharing an issue I don't believe has been covered on the forum before. 

[larrynimmo]

Mine is adjusted so if you are all the way back, and the gear is up, the beeper will kick in regardless of tension

[N201MKTurbo]

23 minutes ago, larrynimmo said:

Mine is adjusted so if you are all the way back, and the gear is up, the beeper will kick in regardless of tension

But yours's is not a quadrant. Apples to Oranges.

The quadrant has a cam like feature on the plate that forms the throttle arm. As you change the friction with the knob on the left, the pressure on the plates and washers relaxes and allows the throttle lever plate to move sideways a bit and fall off the switch roller.

We should be quiet about this or there will be an AD...