Manual gear extension -- now what?

[Jlocke]

All,

I had the unfortunate experience of having to manually extend the gear on my M20K earlier today to land.  It took about 20 pulls to get it down and the green bars to align.  Flew by the tower just to confirm that they saw wheels.

So, now what?  I read in the manual that it will need to go in for an inspection and to not electrically retract/extend the gear until it is inspected.  What happens during the inspection process?  What gets "re-set" so the gear is usable again?  Any thoughts on cost?

Lastly, this was due to an electrical failure.  Second one within a year.  I'm guessing alternator (again).  The power drained so fast once I noticed the flickering of the transponder display lights I didn't even have time to get it slowed enough to extend the gear normally.  Does that sound like alternator?  Something else?  Just replaced the battery last month.  This is getting old.  Not to mention, expensive.

Many thanks in advance for replies and thoughts!  Love the Mooney...but dual alternators would be great!

[Cris]

Jim -You handeled the emergency properly & no damage to you or the A/C Congrats!! As to a reset of the gear by maintenance that should not be necessary. I used to practice that manual extension in my 231 regularly. The cautioary  statement is IF you continue to pull on the T handle after the gear down light illuminates it MAY bind the actuator & electrical retraction MAY not be possible until the binding is eleimated by ground maintenance. Also do not operate the gear electrically with the manual extension system engaged. In other words allow the handle to retract & put the lever back in place & reset the circuit breakers. Even if you forgot typically the circuit breaker simply pops tp prevent damage. Assuming you are going to maintenace anyway a simple gear retraction test on jacks should suffice. In terms of the alternator it might be as simple as a bad replacement alternator. Might be time for a PlanePower alternator.Or it could be a bad battery, voltage regulator, wiring etc. Let maintenance work their way thru it. I have the B & C backup alternator in my A/C just in case. Let us know what you find. 

[Hank]

I always thought the caution about not raising the gear after a real emergency extension was just to make sure nothing had happened to cause the emergency. Get it checked out--retracting and extending on jacks shouldn't hurt anything, especially if the fault was a general electrical system issue and not a gear-specific issue.

When I practice emergency extensions, I always fold & stow the handle, move my headset cord out of the way [learned that the hard way the first time!], push in the breaker and retract. Had to crank it down once in-flight due to sudden electrical failure, and kept her on the ground until we found out what caused it.

Good luck with your trouble-shooting!

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: Jlocke

I'm guessing alternator (again).  

[flyboy0681]

During my transition training my instructor had me do two emergency extensions. Based upon what's been written here, was that a no-no?

[Hank]

Practicing is one thing, needing to is another. If you NEED to crank it down, stop and find out why, then verify on jacks that it's all fixed.

At least, that's my understanding.

If half your engine oil was gone after a flight, would you just top off and go, or try to find the leak?

[Jlocke]

UPDATE:

It's a Kelly Aerospace alternator.  Looks like it is still in warranty.  But I guess I'll need a lawyer to interpret the warranty; looks like from a quick read they pro-rate the thing.  So it may be nearly useless since it's been almost a year since it was purchased and installed.  If that's the case, and it is indeed the alternator, then I'm changing brands.

To be fair it may not be the alternator.  Could be the drive coupling.  Or voltage regulator.  Or other things.  Charging up the battery now to take it to the mechanic.

When I called my mechanic he didn't seem concerned at all about using the manual gear extender.  Said he'll check it but all that stuff is likely Ok.

Will keep y'all posted.

[MooneyMitch]

Quote: Parker_Woodruff

 What kind of alternator do you have?  If it's a Kelly alternator, find an alternative.  You wouldn't believe how many Kelly alternators and starters I went through on my Cessna 172...

[KSMooniac]

What kind of battery do you have?  You could have the worst of all combos... a Kelly alternator and  a Gill battery!  I don't think you have any other choice for alternators with the TSIO-360 engine, unfortunately.  I would still call Plane Power though and ask if they have one, and maybe one of these years they'll develop one for that application.  

Zeftronics makes great voltage regulators, and they have some great troubleshooting documents:  http://www.zeftronics.com/documents/pit/R1510N-PIT.pdf

(there may be a 24V version, but I can't use their site at work due to Java problems)

The drive coupling could be a likely suspect too, so make sure that is functioning properly.

[Jlocke]

Just got a new battery.  It may be a Gill; just can't remember.  But it has been very strong.  Will be looking at the coupling as well.

Would like to go to PlanePower alternator as I understand they do make one for my Mooney: http://www.plane-power.com/ER14-50.htm and would like to go to the Zeftronics voltage regulator as well.

Thanks!

Quote: KSMooniac

What kind of battery do you have?  You could have the worst of all combos... a Kelly alternator and  a Gill battery!  I don't think you have any other choice for alternators with the TSIO-360 engine, unfortunately.  I would still call Plane Power though and ask if they have one, and maybe one of these years they'll develop one for that application.  

Zeftronics makes great voltage regulators, and they have some great troubleshooting documents:  http://www.zeftronics.com/documents/pit/R1510N-PIT.pdf

(there may be a 24V version, but I can't use their site at work due to Java problems)

The drive coupling could be a likely suspect too, so make sure that is functioning properly.

[KSMooniac]

There have been a LOT of anecdotal stories over the last few years (also hinted at in Aviation Consumer) related to Gill batteries and infant mortality.  Find out what you have, and do not assume that just because it is a month old that it is good.  I wouldn't necessarily replace the alternator and voltage regulator until you're sure they need to be... following the trouble shooting steps and find the problem.  It could be as easy as a wiring issue, which is cheap to fix but difficult to find.

EDIT:  That PP alternator sounds good, but there is conflicting info on their site.  One STC list doesn't show Mooneys as approved: http://www.plane-power.com/images/Fit%20Guide%20ER14-50.pdf, but another one does:  http://www.plane-power.com/Fit%20Guide%20Transition.htm  Hopefully it will work!  (I have one of their Lycoming versions and it is great.)

[jetdriven]

Our first year and 200 hours we had 3 electrical failures.   The first was outright failure of the Kelly reman alternator.  The second was the new plane power that the installing mechanic forgot to torque the output post and melted that.  The third was the 2 year old gill battery.   Beech talk guys are going 7 years on concordes.  

[Jlocke]

SOLVED.  Or, at least 99% solved.

Helped the mechanic remove the alternator.  Looks like the drive coupler was improperly installed.  The sleeve was left off and, over the 90 hours since installation, the little key was worn down due to wobble and finally it was worn to the level of the shaft and the alternator would not turn.

After fixing all of this he'll put it all back together, re-install it, and make sure the coupler itself and the alternator itself are functioning.

[KSMooniac]

Sounds like good news to me.  Was the coupling damaged or worn, or reusable?  Those are expensive!

 

[Jlocke]

Quote: KSMooniac

Sounds like good news to me.  Was the coupling damaged or worn, or reusable?  Those are expensive!

 

[KSMooniac]

Cycling the gear on jacks is indeed no problem at all.  Just make sure the manual system is disengaged prior to doing so!