Installing a Scat Hose

[T. Peterson]

There is a reason why I hate projects and fully intended to never work on my airplane. But I decowled the airplane to install a new landing light lens.(That’s another story, but in a nutshell I couldn’t fly the plane to my maintainer as the lens would never have stayed on the plane.) Anyway, as depicted in the picture I discovered a hole in the front scat hose. To what does the scat hose attach you may ask? It goes horizontally across the front of the engine from one aluminum thingy to another aluminum thingy. There were only 4 easily accessible clamps so how hard could it be? I got some hose from the Bonanza mechanic on the field who won’t touch a Mooney and went to work. I cut a piece the same length as the one I took off and then the fun began. Getting it over the aluminum thingy was next to impossible and in the attempt the durned end started to unravel forcing me to cut a little off. Eventually I prevailed as depicted in the top picture though the hose was so tight I couldn’t install the 2nd clamp. No big deal as it looked good and was nice and tight……except there was a very good reason for the longer hose and the 2nd clamp. I think the opening it left was to allow space for the right landing light. As you surmise I could not get the cowl on. 
So my plan now, is to go back later this afternoon, take my mess back off and try again. This time I will not pre cut the tube, and I will use dish soap to lubricate the ends. I will also use a vicegrip to pinch the black clamps and wire them closed before putting the little bolt through. My 64 year old fingers are not up to another marathon. After I attach 3 of the clamps moving right to left as looking at the picture, I will then cut the hose and hope I don’t screw it up attaching it to the other aluminum thingy. Of course I will probably get it easily attached only to discover I forgot to put the hose clamp on!

At any rate if any of you have any suggestions or corrections I am all ears. Better yet, if any of you are in Ennis, Texas today I would love to meet you…..at my hangar!

A word for those of you who enjoy working on your own airplane and find it enjoyable and rewarding, “May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits!”

 

[N201MKTurbo]

Did you dress the wire inside the tube?  It is often necessary to remove an inch or so of wire to get it to go over its flange. You have to bend the wire back on its self without un-gluing the wire too much. Sometimes you have to massage the wire because the end of the wire wants to poke through the tube. The string should be dressed under the clamp.

I will usually Ty-wrap or lock wire a piece of baffle seal or fire sleeve where the duct rubs on something.

[T. Peterson]

7 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Did you dress the wire inside the tube?  It is often necessary to remove an inch or so of wire to get it to go over its flange. You have to bend the wire back on its self without un-gluing the wire too much. Sometimes you have to massage the wire because the end of the wire wants to poke through the tube. The string should be dressed under the clamp.

I will usually Ty-wrap or lock wire a piece of baffle seal or fire sleeve where the duct rubs on something.

“dress the inside of the tube”….

 I have no idea what that means. I will ask my Bonanza mechanic friend. Wish he would have said something to me. I’m sure he knows I am over my head.

 I have a couple of trips before it goes to Maxwell in May. Hopefully I can get it rudimentarily fixed until then.

So do you use that bent over piece to pull the rest over the flange? 
What does dressing the string mean?

[rbp]

when I saw "scat hose" I thought of something else

[T. Peterson]

1 minute ago, rbp said:

when I saw "scat hose" I thought of something else

I probably should have said orange rubber tuby thing. 
From your comment I either have the wrong nomenclature or spelling or both!

[T. Peterson]

44 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Did you dress the wire inside the tube?  It is often necessary to remove an inch or so of wire to get it to go over its flange. You have to bend the wire back on its self without un-gluing the wire too much. Sometimes you have to massage the wire because the end of the wire wants to poke through the tube. The string should be dressed under the clamp.

I will usually Ty-wrap or lock wire a piece of baffle seal or fire sleeve where the duct rubs on something.

Okay, I think I get it. Neither the wire in the hose, nor the string is supposed to go over the flange! I had no idea! I assumed both had to go or the rubber would just tear. I guess not. So the wire is cut back and bent to keep it from poking through the rubber. That makes sense since it will be free to vibrate.

By dressing the string is meant to also cut it back.

With this new found information I am about to head to the hangar my head cold notwithstanding!

[N201MKTurbo]

7 minutes ago, rbp said:

when I saw "scat hose" I thought of something else

I’ve tried to figure out what it means. Pretty sure it is an acronym. S = silicon, C = ???, A = aircraft or air, T = tubing.

Help me out guys. What does it mean?

[Andy95W]

14 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I’ve tried to figure out what it means. Pretty sure it is an acronym. S = silicon, C = ???, A = aircraft or air, T = tubing.

Help me out guys. What does it mean?

Semi Contiguous Animal Turds?  
 

Sorry.

[N201MKTurbo]

15 minutes ago, T. Peterson said:

Okay, I think I get it. Neither the wire in the hose, nor the string is supposed to go over the flange! I had no idea! I assumed both had to go or the rubber would just tear. I guess not. So the wire is cut back and bent to keep it from poking through the rubber. That makes sense since it will be free to vibrate.

By dressing the string is meant to also cut it back.

With this new found information I am about to head to the hangar my head cold notwithstanding!

If the string comes loose, wrap it back where it went and put it under the clamp to keep it from unraveling. If it is still stuck on the duct leave it be.

[T. Peterson]

40 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

If the string comes loose, wrap it back where it went and put it under the clamp to keep it from unraveling. If it is still stuck on the duct leave it be.

Thank you so much! My wife and I worked our fingers to the bone forcing the hose wire and all over the flange! I just thought clamping the rubber would not be near strong enough and would just tear.

Yes, you may all call me a doofus! I worked very hard yesterday to earn that title!

 I am back at the hangar to give it another whirl.

[Shadrach]

52 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

If the string comes loose, wrap it back where it went and put it under the clamp to keep it from unraveling. If it is still stuck on the duct leave it be.

Red RTV. A little dab will do ya. It adheres surprisingly well to SCAT tubing.

[Shadrach]

9 minutes ago, T. Peterson said:

Thank you so much! My wife and I worked our fingers to the bone forcing the hose wire and all over the flange! I just thought clamping the rubber would not be near strong enough and would just tear.

Yes, you may all call me a doofus! I worked very hard yesterday to earn that title!

 I am back at the hangar to give it another whirl.

I use safety wire pliers to loop the wire back against itself to prevent it from poking through.  Even the simplest job can seem overwhelming if you have limited experience.  If you despised this, take a look at the vent tubing behind the panel. It will make you feel grateful again.

[T. Peterson]

2 hours ago, Shadrach said:

I use safety wire pliers to loop the wire back against itself to prevent it from poking through.  Even the simplest job can seem overwhelming if you have limited experience.  If you despised this, take a look at the vent tubing behind the panel. It will make you feel grateful again.

 

2 hours ago, Shadrach said:

I use safety wire pliers to loop the wire back against itself to prevent it from poking through.  Even the simplest job can seem overwhelming if you have limited experience.  If you despised this, take a look at the vent tubing behind the panel. It will make you feel grateful again.

Andy face timed me and showed me exactly how to do it which mirrors exactly what you say.

 I am grateful for all you guys and the job went much easier. It was still a bear attaching those black clamps, but at least I don’t have one left over!

Proof of the pudding will be if the cowl fits. Wife is on her way to help me.

As far as vent tubes behind the panel, that will be left to the pros!

[Guest]

5 hours ago, T. Peterson said:

There is a reason why I hate projects and fully intended to never work on my airplane. But I decowled the airplane to install a new landing light lens.(That’s another story, but in a nutshell I couldn’t fly the plane to my maintainer as the lens would never have stayed on the plane.) Anyway, as depicted in the picture I discovered a hole in the front scat hose. To what does the scat hose attach you may ask? It goes horizontally across the front of the engine from one aluminum thingy to another aluminum thingy. There were only 4 easily accessible clamps so how hard could it be? I got some hose from the Bonanza mechanic on the field who won’t touch a Mooney and went to work. I cut a piece the same length as the one I took off and then the fun began. Getting it over the aluminum thingy was next to impossible and in the attempt the durned end started to unravel forcing me to cut a little off. Eventually I prevailed as depicted in the top picture though the hose was so tight I couldn’t install the 2nd clamp. No big deal as it looked good and was nice and tight……except there was a very good reason for the longer hose and the 2nd clamp. I think the opening it left was to allow space for the right landing light. As you surmise I could not get the cowl on. 
So my plan now, is to go back later this afternoon, take my mess back off and try again. This time I will not pre cut the tube, and I will use dish soap to lubricate the ends. I will also use a vicegrip to pinch the black clamps and wire them closed before putting the little bolt through. My 64 year old fingers are not up to another marathon. After I attach 3 of the clamps moving right to left as looking at the picture, I will then cut the hose and hope I don’t screw it up attaching it to the other aluminum thingy. Of course I will probably get it easily attached only to discover I forgot to put the hose clamp on!

At any rate if any of you have any suggestions or corrections I am all ears. Better yet, if any of you are in Ennis, Texas today I would love to meet you…..at my hangar!

A word for those of you who enjoy working on your own airplane and find it enjoyable and rewarding, “May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits!”

 

If I’m not mistaken, the original duct was rectangular in cross section.  Squeezing the Scat duct to an oval may be helpful.

[T. Peterson]

55 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

If I’m not mistaken, the original duct was rectangular in cross section.  Squeezing the Scat duct to an oval may be helpful.

That’s beyond my pay grade. I put back what I took off, and once I learned how to “dress” a Scat Tube it went together much easier. I was able to put it back exactly how it came off and voila the cowling went back on correctly….or I think it did!! Lol!

[EricJ]

5 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I’ve tried to figure out what it means. Pretty sure it is an acronym. S = silicon, C = ???, A = aircraft or air, T = tubing.

Help me out guys. What does it mean?

Silicon Collapsible Air Tube.

I've never been able to find out what SCEET stands for, though.

[T. Peterson]

I finally finished my project. I did not start with any intention of replacing a Scat hose. My original intention was to replace the landing light lens and since I was going to do that I decided to change out the landing lights also. I would never have attempted it on my own but two things forced my hand: first the lens was so cracked that it was only held on by a couple of screws. Second, new one was quoted as 458 dollars and 493 respectively. I determined I was not paying that for a piece of plastic. So with the help of my dear wife we went to work and the pictures are the finished product. 
I had never even taken my cowl off as I was so afraid I would mess something up!…. And I haven’t flown it yet but hopefully the cowl doesn’t end up in someone’s backyard this coming Thursday!!

Anyway, the pictures below are the finished product.

[EricJ]

Looks good!   Owner maintenance FTW!

[PT20J]

The best way to do it is to measure the length and order a piece with finished ends. 

[Shadrach]

5 hours ago, PT20J said:

The best way to do it is to measure the length and order a piece with finished ends. 

This is true. However, in a pinch I’ve had good success folding the end back over the tube. It does not look as nice but creates a “double wall” at the end under the clamp and encapsulates the cut end of the string.

[A64Pilot]

5 hours ago, PT20J said:

The best way to do it is to measure the length and order a piece with finished ends. 

I didn’t know you could do that. I’ve always cut it from a roll. I need to investigate that.

Yes certainly bend the wire in a little or it WILL poke through the hose over time. I’ve used cork gasket material as an anti-chafe on the hose to good effect.

Yes high temp silicone adheres very well to scat hose, maybe because that’s what the hose is made from? But if the hose is clean it glues to the hose better than anything else.

[T. Peterson]

7 hours ago, PT20J said:

The best way to do it is to measure the length and order a piece with finished ends. 

No doubt, but we have to be in Huntsville Alabama tomorrow for a family event and I don’t have time to drive.

The very astute and kind hearted folks on this forum showed me how to properly accomplish the task.

 I had to laugh at my own ignorance and if you folks could have seen my wife and me valiantly struggling to get that tube, wire and all forced over the flanges I am quite sure you would have found it highly entertaining!

[Shadrach]

On 4/19/2023 at 7:12 AM, A64Pilot said:

I didn’t know you could do that. I’ve always cut it from a roll. I need to investigate that.

Yes certainly bend the wire in a little or it WILL poke through the hose over time. I’ve used cork gasket material as an anti-chafe on the hose to good effect.

Yes high temp silicone adheres very well to scat hose, maybe because that’s what the hose is made from? But if the hose is clean it glues to the hose better than anything else.

This is the place: https://customductsaircraftsceetandscat.com/contact-custom-ducts/

I could not remember the name of the place that is well known so I clumsily searched "Precut SCAT tube" without really thinking about.  As it turns out, that was a bad idea... The Microsoft Bing search algorithm is way less sophisticated than Google which yielded the much more palatable results above.

[N201MKTurbo]

15 minutes ago, Shadrach said:

This is the place: https://customductsaircraftsceetandscat.com/contact-custom-ducts/

I could not remember the name of the place that is well known so I clumsily searched "Precut SCAT tube" without really thinking about.  As it turns, that was a bad idea... The Microsoft Bing search algorithm is way less sophisticated than Google which yielded much more palatable results.

I have used these guys for years. Their prices are reasonable and they deliver quickly.

FWIW Gee Bee says he does better ducts. I have never used them, but it may be worth a call.

[Shadrach]

12 hours ago, T. Peterson said:

I finally finished my project. I did not start with any intention of replacing a Scat hose. My original intention was to replace the landing light lens and since I was going to do that I decided to change out the landing lights also. I would never have attempted it on my own but two things forced my hand: first the lens was so cracked that it was only held on by a couple of screws. Second, new one was quoted as 458 dollars and 493 respectively. I determined I was not paying that for a piece of plastic. So with the help of my dear wife we went to work and the pictures are the finished product. 
I had never even taken my cowl off as I was so afraid I would mess something up!…. And I haven’t flown it yet but hopefully the cowl doesn’t end up in someone’s backyard this coming Thursday!!

Anyway, the pictures below are the finished product.

Those large cushioned loop clamps that hold the duct in position (under your engine) can be a real PITA to hold in place while trying to fish a fastener through in a tight space/awkward position. If you ever have to deal with them again, ask your friend for some safety wire and pliers. I often wire the ends together so that I can position the clamp as needed and then place the fastener. Once the fastener is threaded, I cut the wire away.