Raining-inside the cabin

[Philip S]

I fly a '76 C with some J-style mods. I'm a rare poster here, but I really love Mooney, my plane in particular, and fly often for travel. I've noticed some leaks, damp spots on the headliner and on a recent occasion the rear seat carpeting after heavy rains when parked on the ramp while traveling. I keep it hangared so I only notice it on trips when I'm parked out and it rains very heavily- a rare event-but corrosion is the enemy of airplanes so I'd like to find a solution. I inspected my roof, antennas, etc, and I'm fairly convinced the leak is through the windscoop on the roof (which is definitely closed when leaving the plane. I made it a post-flight checklist item when this happened once before). I have a Bruce's Custom cover from the prior owner, but it's kinda bulky, takes up room that I need when I travel (right seater is a lady), and is an annoyance/time sink to set up and take down while dealing with bags, windy ramp, etc. Anyone out there found a nice quick solution? Maybe some clean white rigging tape over the scoop only when rain is forecast? A sticky rubber/silicone mat to lay over the scoop? Or quit being cheap and just pay for the hangar overnight?

[Marauder]

I fly a '76 C with some J-style mods. I'm a rare poster here, but I really love Mooney, my plane in particular, and fly often for travel. I've noticed some leaks, damp spots on the headliner and on a recent occasion the rear seat carpeting after heavy rains when parked on the ramp while traveling. I keep it hangared so I only notice it on trips when I'm parked out and it rains very heavily- a rare event-but corrosion is the enemy of airplanes so I'd like to find a solution. I inspected my roof, antennas, etc, and I'm fairly convinced the leak is through the windscoop on the roof (which is definitely closed when leaving the plane. I made it a post-flight checklist item when this happened once before). I have a Bruce's Custom cover from the prior owner, but it's kinda bulky, takes up room that I need when I travel (right seater is a lady), and is an annoyance/time sink to set up and take down while dealing with bags, windy ramp, etc. Anyone out there found a nice quick solution? Maybe some clean white rigging tape over the scoop only when rain is forecast? A sticky rubber/silicone mat to lay over the scoop? Or quit being cheap and just pay for the hangar overnight?

If you think it is coming from the roof vent, the best thing to do is pull the headliner and see if the tubing that goes from the vent to the belly is intact.


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[WaynePierce]

You might also re-think that bulky waste of space Bruce cover and take it with you when you are going to be on the ramp.

[Marauder]

I’m not sure if the tube is routed the same on C models but my tube runs from the vent down to the pilot’s side and out the bottom under the avionics bay.


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[A64Pilot]

I’d have to see the vent to see, but a silicone mat with weight on it could be a temp solution, a 1gl freezer zip loc bag full of water is 8 lbs of weight and once you empty the water it weighs essentially nothing and takes up no room, but of course just weights would work too, scuba soft weights come to mind, just plastic mesh bags with bird shot in them

My C-140’s fuel vent system is two holes in the top of the fuel caps, if I ever have to leave it out, I put one of the old fashioned red rubber toilet plunger over each one, looks silly buy it keeps rain out of my fuel

[kortopates]

Bruce Covers now makes a light and much less bulky travel cover. I replaced my worn 20 yr old cover with new light travel cover and it’s perfect for trips without all the bulk. Seems much easier than taping. But I’d follow up with[mention=9886]marauder[/mention] suggestion too.


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[N9405V]

Wide painters tape works well


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[47U]

2 hours ago, Philip S said:

I'm fairly convinced the leak is through the windscoop on the roof

When closed, the fresh air scoop on my ‘63C is flush to the skin.  My Dad used to tape the seams with electrical tape when parked outside overnight.  I replaced the headliner two years ago and discovered that the vinyl hose connection between the air box and the drain tube was petrified.  It had been leaking for years.  The aluminum drain tube also had several splits in it from having been plugged up, filled with water, and frozen.  I replaced the aluminum drain tube with a vinyl tube.

If you don’t want to mess around pulling down your headliner, you might get by just taping down a freezer ziplock bag over the top of the vent scoop.

[N201MKTurbo]

There is supposed to be a wad of stuff in the plenum. It is there to coalesce rain drops so they drain out 5he drain instead of dripping on your head. The stuff looks like a bird’s nest. 

[Hank]

48 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

There is supposed to be a wad of stuff in the plenum. It is there to coalesce rain drops so they drain out 5he drain instead of dripping on your head. The stuff looks like a bird’s nest. 

I believe that is horse hair.

[Vance Harral]

32 minutes ago, Hank said:

I believe that is horse hair.

It's hog's hair.  Says so right in the IPC:

As I mentioned in another thread a while back... if you want to replace with original, turns out Wal-Mart has a PMA department!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Natural-Aire-Hogs-Hair-Cut-To-Fit-Filter/16225736

[Philip S]

So there is a vent drain! I always wondered how Mooney expected that to be watertight or deal with rain. All makes sense now. Will pull headliner and inspect. Thanks folks.

[carusoam]

On 3/15/2022 at 8:25 PM, Philip S said:

So there is a vent drain! I always wondered how Mooney expected that to be watertight or deal with rain. All makes sense now. Will pull headliner and inspect. Thanks folks.

Summary…

1) swap out old drain tube… it was a clear PVC tube when it was installed…

2) Put cover on the plane….

3) Get different passenger….

4) Get different plane…

 

Getting behind the ceiling is often a one time opportunity… there are a few things that probably need to be replaced while in there….

Without a good drain tube… you might get rain drops on your precious passenger’s head…

Or the air scoop won’t close very well…

Or the sonalerts don’t work very well….

 

Things to look for while you are in there… 
 

With a little practice… putting the cover on is pretty easy…

Best regards,

-a-

[0TreeLemur]

On 3/15/2022 at 7:25 PM, Philip S said:

So there is a vent drain! I always wondered how Mooney expected that to be watertight or deal with rain. All makes sense now. Will pull headliner and inspect. Thanks folks.

When I wash, rinse and wax, I'll squirt a little water into the overhead vent and watch it run out the drain hose protruding from the belly.  That tells me that it is open.

I have flown through rain heavy enough to overcome the capacity of the drain, resulting in water coming out of the back vents into the cabin.  Maybe its partially blocked, but looks ok to me.  I suspect it is just capacity limited.

[Mooneymite]

On my '74 C, the plenum drain  tube is at the end of the overhead panel just above the back seat.

[BobbyH]

I agree that the first thing to check is the drain tube, is it working correctly?  If there is a leak in the overhead plenum it doesn't matter how good your drain is, it will still get you wet, but can be sealed with a little attention to details.  My short term solution is a simple silicone baking mat over the intake scoop and some painter's tape to keep it from flying away in windy conditions.  It isn't a long term solution, finding the location of the leak and repairing it is.  Until then a temp solution can keep you, and the aft seat/carpet dry. 

I still feel fortunate to fly a Mooney, it fills my joy bucket every time.

[47U]

Just trying to help the water follow gravity…

 

[Jcmtl]

In my opinion, if your carpet is wet it's dripping from the top of the door, mine was doing that and a tightening of the door and a new door seal fixed the problem.  Just pour water on top of the plane and look for leaks.  

Edited March 29, 2022 by Jcmtl