Bravo exhaust transition

[Robg]

During a routine inspection on my '92 TLS Bravo, my mechanic used his smoke machine on the exhaust system after looking for an induction leak.  We discovered a small hole on the back side of the exhaust transition part #47C19818, which attaches to the turbocharger (Picture attached).  Its almost completely hidden behind the exhaust I don't think it would have been found visually without the smoke.

I know very bad things happen if this thing fails in flight so I'm very glad to have found it, but finding a replacement is, well, almost impossible.  The list on this thing new is over $5k, and even to get mine "overhauled"/repaired, its over $3,800 (assuming its repairable).  Does anyone know of a reliable source, either new, overhauled, or removed-as is?  Five grand for this part almost takes your breath away.  Thanks.

[Daniel]

Rob,

Ive had similar issue with an Acclaim.  Repair work done by a shop in Canada.  I think it is called Acorn.  Seems to be very well known and well respected.  Price?  Well, it is an airplane . . . .

Dan

[Skywarrior]

Had mine sent to a company in Canada. It had a lot of pitting on the interior surface. They welded over the cracks, and blessed it.

I've asked around, and another Bravo owner had a similar problem.

BTW, if you have a burn-through in the transition, you should also check the wastegate butterfly valve. Mine was almost completely destroyed by heat.

Spoke with Bruce Jaeger about this - he said it's predictable if you run your engine hard, then don't increase the richness of the mixture to compensate. He said that, at altitude, if you're trying to get 75%-85% power, you've gotta be running around 200 ROP.

Solution? Slow down, reduce power, stay 100-150 ROP.

Chuck M.

'91 Bravo

[thinwing]

Knisley welding

[Robg]

A quick follow-up on this, I went with Planexhaust in Fort Lauderdale, who quoted $1600 and a 3-5 day turnaround.  FYI

[randypugh]

My right side had a split in it and is out for repair now. I'll let you know what I learn in a few days.

[FlyDave]

During a routine inspection on my '92 TLS Bravo, my mechanic used his smoke machine on the exhaust system after looking for an induction leak.  We discovered a small hole on the back side of the exhaust transition part #47C19818, which attaches to the turbocharger (Picture attached).  Its almost completely hidden behind the exhaust I don't think it would have been found visually without the smoke.

I know very bad things happen if this thing fails in flight so I'm very glad to have found it, but finding a replacement is, well, almost impossible.  The list on this thing new is over $5k, and even to get mine "overhauled"/repaired, its over $3,800 (assuming its repairable).  Does anyone know of a reliable source, either new, overhauled, or removed-as is?  Five grand for this part almost takes your breath away.  Thanks.

 

Anyone know where to get a "smoke machine" and how much they cost? During annual we hooked up a vacuum cleaner pressure end to the exhaust pipe. Then we sprayed soapy water on all slip joints, wastegate valve, etc. and looked for bubbles. But I think a smoke machine would make it much easier to spot a leak.

 

Thanks,

 

Dave

[carusoam]

Dave,

Back in the day...

I used smoke generators to visually inspect air flows in clean rooms for pharma production.

For additional ideas... Try a search on something like these if nothing else....

clean room smoke generator

[Awful_Charlie]

I got a plumbers leak tool - http://www.hvpsupplies.com/_-Smoke-Stick-Kit-3--cw-Smoke-Pen-dispenser-_/product/?pid=29887 but I guess you can find something similar a bit closer to home. There's plenty of other smoke generation kits in that trade (including 'smoke bombs' ) but I wanted one to use internally too for cabin leak testing, and was advised that the stink of the bombs was rather unpleasant and difficult to remove. and any corrosion effects were unknown