M20 Ogler Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 I must have removed about 5 or 10 pounds worth. Took maybe half hour, idk why avionics shops would be so lazy considering how expensive they are. I wonder how much useful load I’ll gain by switching the generator to alternator then eventually removing the vacuum system some day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cctsurf Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 I put my disconnected wire strewn airplane on a diet recently and removed wires galore... and gained 0.2 lbs of useful load. But at least I know that the wires that exist are in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT20J Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 It depends on the shop and what the owner tells them they want done. If they are pressed for the lowest bid, the shop will often leave stuff in the airplane. Good planning by a savvy owner can get old stuff removed at low cost. When I had my GTX 345 installed I had the shop remove the KR 87 ADF from the panel. But I had them leave the cable and antenna. I had my A&P (who is excellent at sheet metal and has a lower hourly rate than the radio shop) remove the antenna and patch the hole (The ADF antenna leaves about a 3” diameter hole in the belly). Then, when I removed the interior to refurbish it, I took out the cable. If I had had the radio shop remove the cable and antenna, it would have easily cost $500, maybe more. Skip 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor_U Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 I removed a bunch of wires from the old installs as well as AdF and antenna - i gained on useful load. Recently i have removed a generator and old Voltage regular and installed PlanePower alternator kit. I believe i’ve gained 6lb of useful load with this install. My 67 F now has 1954 lb UL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbridges Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 1 hour ago, Igor_U said: I removed a bunch of wires from the old installs as well as AdF and antenna - i gained on useful load. Recently i have removed a generator and old Voltage regular and installed PlanePower alternator kit. I believe i’ve gained 6lb of useful load with this install. My 67 F now has 1954 lb UL sorry to derail the thread, but did you go with a plane power voltage regulator? Both my alternator and voltage regulator need to be replaced (long story), and I'm going to have it done at my annual as soon as a nice VFR day comes along for me to take my plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lloyd Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 Last year had a new PAR200B audio panel/radio and a GNX 375 installed. The shop removed the old radios and their wiring, a MAC1700 with indicator, a DME, audio panel, ADF and an antique GPS. During the year, looking under the panel I was shocked so much old wiring from other stuff remained. There were 5 or 6 wire bundles with cannon plugs, or other multi-connectors, several wires with partial fuse holders, and a couple bundles of cut and tied off wires, all old stuff. Saw all that while I was installing a clock and wondering where I was going to pick up a power source. Noticed a bare dangling wire with a brittle masking tape tag: Clock. Yep, it had 12 volts on it with the master off, crimped an end and it works fine. Just dangling back there! Trip to the shop for more upgrades this year, I paid 8 hours labor to clean up all the old stuff. Shop owner did tell me that some was buried in other bundles and just too time consuming to track down. That's what you get with a 46 year old airplane. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1980Mooney Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, Igor_U said: I removed a bunch of wires…I believe i’ve gained 6lb of useful load with this install. My 67 F now has 1954 lb UL Perhaps a typo? Edited July 29, 2021 by 1980Mooney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmo Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 41 minutes ago, 1980Mooney said: Perhaps a typo? Or a "the lightest F" thread in the making, to compliment "the fastest F" one ;-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooneyMitch Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 Speaking of abandoned wires..............here's a good one! My little Mooney engine would not fire correctly after reinstalling the left magneto that had been out for a condenser failure replacement. Checked, checked and rechecked all mag installation/timing procedures, and then checked again.......... LOL. I say fire correctly, because it would fire with protest, once I released the starter back to "both". WOW! What the heck? What have I done? Long story made short and several hours later. Some years prior to my ownership of the plane, a Slick Start unit was installed to replace the starting vibrator. The Slick Start installation requires some wiring modifications to the start switch..................namely disconnecting a wire from the start switch [ I don't recall which terminal at this point]. As it turned out, the wire that was to be removed from the switch had not been removed, yet the other end of the wire had been disconnected from the former vibrator and left abandoned in a wire bundle. That little abandoned wire end in the bundle, somehow, someway, after many years, suddenly decided to pick up a ground, which in turn, supplied that ground to the start switch, which grounded my left mag during the start procedure. Once this was discovered and the little wire was disconnected from the start switch...............success! All starting was normal once again. All this was such a coincidence with the re-installation of the mag. As they say, timing is everything.................. more LOL! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor_U Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 9 hours ago, rbridges said: sorry to derail the thread, but did you go with a plane power voltage regulator? Both my alternator and voltage regulator need to be replaced (long story), and I'm going to have it done at my annual as soon as a nice VFR day comes along for me to take my plane. Yes i did kit comes with alternator, VR and brackets needed for Lycoming engine. Also alternator warning light. Be sure to have AUX connection between VR and alternator. I didn’t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor_U Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 3 hours ago, 1980Mooney said: Perhaps a typo? Yes, fat fingers and iphone. it’s actually 1054lb. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT20J Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 Even new installs can leave you with a mess. Building cable harnesses takes time. One way I've heard that some shops save money is to order harnesses from companies that sell premade harnesses for standard configurations. But if your configuration doesn't match exactly the configuration the harness was built for, you end up with unused wires and connectors tucked up somewhere. And even if it does match, the cable lengths are probably not optimum. Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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