Retractable step

[woodman86]

I had to replace tangled cables on my retractable step it seems to only project 6”, did I do that wrong?

[takair]

36 minutes ago, woodman86 said:

I had to replace tangled cables on my retractable step it seems to only project 6”, did I do that wrong?

Is that extended or retracted ?  Electric or vacuum?  One end of the cable should go to a fixed point on the airframe and the other tot he step. If both ends go to to the step you will get half travel going up.  Can you post pictures of the installation?

[woodman86]

It’s a push pull both ends of cable go to step on one side and the other sides are connected to a wheel it’s very specific and the wheel doesn’t look like you can wind more then 1 revaluation 

[takair]

7 hours ago, woodman86 said:

It’s a push pull both ends of cable go to step on one side and the other sides are connected to a wheel it’s very specific and the wheel doesn’t look like you can wind more then 1 revaluation 

Ahh, the crank style.  They are somewhat painful to rig.  Seems like your cable is short.  I replaced mine with electric.

[carusoam]

16 hours ago, woodman86 said:

I had to replace tangled cables on my retractable step it seems to only project 6”, did I do that wrong?

Since you are incurring the cost of maintenance… for this challenge…

 

Other Mooniacs have taken the next step…. (?) 

Pun wasn’t intentional at first….

 

There is an incredible number of these things in the field over the last decade…

http://flightenhancements.com/auto-step.html

Great product…

Great support…

Great pireps…

All around here…

Best regards,

-a-

[hammdo]

Love mine...

-Don

[BobbyH]

10 hours ago, carusoam said:

There is an incredible number of these things in the field over the last decade…

http://flightenhancements.com/auto-step.html

Great product…

@carusoam has a good idea here.  Down the road I'm hoping on replacing the vacuum gauges with electronic ones and while at it plan on changing to the auto-step/electric activated step.  Unless you want to stay original, any time the step needs $$ could be a good time to move to an electric one. 

[Igor_U]

 

Perhaps this will help.

It seems you have a short cable as it's a very simple system. 

[steingar]

I hate mine, pain in the six and always breaks in the winter.  I only use it when flying Mrs. Steingar.

[Andy95W]

15 hours ago, Igor_U said:

 

Perhaps this will help.

It seems you have a short cable as it's a very simple system. 

That’s a different system.  Pre-1965, the step retracted via a crank handle by the pilot’s left knee, where your emergency gear extension crank is.

[47U]

On 6/25/2022 at 7:16 PM, woodman86 said:

I had to replace tangled cables on my retractable step it seems to only project 6”, did I do that wrong?

The cable is pn 840000-11, ‘Cable, galvanized steel.’  Next time you’re at the airport, walk over to LASAR and ask Dan if he has a print that will tell you what the length the cable is supposed to be.  He might even have some in stock.  It takes about 2 1/2 turns to raise/lower the step.  I  would think there needs to be room for three wraps around the pulley as it feeds in and out of the assembly at the same time.  Caveat, I’ve never taken mine apart and hope to never have to.  

If must have been tricky to feed the replacement stranded cable through the Bowden cable housing.  Did you feed both ends from the crank end rearward?  I’m guessing there would be some trimming of excess cable length at the step-tube end.  I hope mine never breaks, but if it does, I’ll probably go electric and put a chart pocket where the crank was.    

[EricJ]

I kinda like that mine is fixed in place.   Evidently that was one of LoPresti's improvements for the J models.   

[Shadrach]

4 hours ago, steingar said:

I hate mine, pain in the six and always breaks in the winter.  I only use it when flying Mrs. Steingar.

Weird how different ownership our experiences can be...Mine has been in service for 55 years without failure and virtually no maintenance other than lubrication. It has hung up on the way down a few times over the years, but a squirt of triflow cures that in short order.

[Andy95W]

Ross- do you have the vacuum step or the old crank step like steingar and me?

I lubricate my crank and cables regularly and it is still noticeably stiffer to crank up in the winter. 

[Fly Boomer]

4 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

noticeably stiffer to crank up in the winter

Curious if you can just leave it down like the later models?  Does it make a difference in your cruise speed?  Some genius removed my fixed step from the airplane -- not good for an old fart like me.

[Shadrach]

2 hours ago, Andy95W said:

Ross- do you have the vacuum step or the old crank step like steingar and me?

I lubricate my crank and cables regularly and it is still noticeably stiffer to crank up in the winter. 

Vacuum. Pretty much trouble free.

[Lionudakis]

Has anyone weighed the removed crank type system vs installed electric actuator ?

[woodman86]

 Thanks to everybody who replied on this thread very informative I did fix it I had to loop the cable around the pulley more than once works great