My first maintenance signoff.

[Jetpilot86]

I’m overcome with the emotion of it all. 

Installed some of the goodies from @OSUAV8TER today. Only took me 45 minutes to install and 2 hours to figure out how to install them in 45 minutes. 

Huge difference with the new LED’s!

Hopefully, I can get the right side done faster now. Then on to the LED recognition lights!

[OSUAV8TER]

@Jetpilot86 that looks really good! It can be fun, and frustrating working on your airplane :). I just installed my right hand aileron after sending it out for reskinning. It is 8 screws and then two bonding straps. The bonding straps are frustrating to install because they are in such a tight space! Aviation maintenance is a good lesson in patience.

[Fly Boomer]

7 hours ago, OSUAV8TER said:

Aviation maintenance is a good lesson in patience.

And, it's educational -- it teaches you how to swear.

[OSUAV8TER]

14 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

And, it's educational -- it teaches you how to swear.

I've gotten to this resigned point in aircraft ownership where it will get done, when it gets done. I'm done asking for mechanics to have it done by XX date, I set low expectations and when it turned out better, I'm happy!

[Greg Ellis]

20 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

And, it's educational -- it teaches you how to swear.

And when working on a Mooney, it teaches you proper wound care….

[MikeOH]

29 minutes ago, Greg Ellis said:

And when working on a Mooney, it teaches you proper wound care….

Permatex 

[Jetpilot86]

38 minutes ago, Greg Ellis said:

And when working on a Mooney, it teaches you proper wound care….

I left out that I even managed not to draw blood!  

[LANCECASPER]

17 hours ago, Jetpilot86 said:

I left out that I even managed not to draw blood!  

You obviously left out a step. . lol

Only half kidding. In 2014 when I changed out the Landing and Taxi lights in an Encore I scraped up the back of my hand which left an open sore for a few hours (no neosporin or bandaids in the hangar back then) in which I later got a staph infection which settled in my left arm, which took months to heal. Not a fun ordeal.

Every time I’ve changed Landing and Taxi lights since (to LED so I never had to do it again) in other airplanes, I’ve used nitrile gloves and long sleeves to minimize the chances of scraping up my hand or arm.

[amillet]

I changed the wing mounted landing/taxi lights once.  Let the MSC install the LEDs

[daytonabch04]

Any tips on the install?  I've got a landing light out I need to replace and looks more difficult than unscrewing out and then in... 

[Jetpilot86]

Ok. Here ya go. 

Not hard, but not straightforward for a shadetree like me. I’ve got medium sized hands and had little trouble with the space available, but larger hands might. The opening edges are sharp enough to cut, but I worked slow and probably just got lucky. 
 

The light assembly is basically the same as any car from the 60’s & 70’s. Round clamps with the bulbs in between. I thought I’d just pull the lens, loosen the clamps, change wires, swap, and go. Close. 

The red X photo is what I found when I went in the front like I did with my original car. I’ll have a couple of stripped out screws to deal with when I change lenses later. 

A reclining creeper makes this job a lot easier, glad my buddy had one  

You actually access the lights through a panel behind and underneath the lights on the lower wing skin. You’ll only need a #2 PH, flathead and Torx20 to do all of this. The second pic shows the area with the panel off. The bigger bundle of wires are the grounds. If you are swapping to LED’s where polarity matters, the smaller Blue one, the +. 
Inside the PH screws are for attaching the front of the mounting to the wing, DON’T mess with them unless you are adjusting the beam aim point.
For the 2nd/3rd try, I set a small led flashlight in the access and it worked great. 
The TORX screws are for the clamp. There are 3, not quite evenly spaced around the edge of the clamp, loosen them a few turns each, rotate the clamp roughly 1/4” Counterclockwise and it pulls out. In mine, there was enough excess wire to pull the light through the access hole and unscrew the contacts. The hardest part was dealing with the loose clamp until I found a way to hang it on the wires in the hole. 
If you are replacing with OEM, swap out, swap the leads and reverse the process. Make sure you have the clamp back up the wires before you screw on the leads, or stick it to the new light somehow. The hardest part is getting the clamp to reseat on the torx screws, the higher one you can’t see is the harder one to seat. For the left light, the biggest gap between screws is to the middle. The aluminum is easy to bend so don’t force it and try to slide back in evenly. Once all are seated, rotate 1/4” clockwise and tighten the Torx and you are done. 
If you are upgrading to the Whelen LED’s there is a rubber gasket that the instructions probably mention, but who reads those.   In this case it’s much easier to put the gasket on, then put that in the back clamp, put the wires on, then remount the whole thing. If you forget, there is a LOT of play inside the tightened clamp. (Attempt #1) When doing this if you want the logo, that no one will see to be perfect, <looks in mirror>, you will have to account for that when you put the assembly into the rear clamp, (4th attempt). I had to loosen the Torx as much as possible to accommodate the extra space because of the rubber gasket. 
 

I ops checked the lights after first tightening the screws for an LED polarity check, after I clamped it back in, and after I buttoned it all back up. 
 

The other side should go in quick, especially since I can do it by touch now sitting in front of the lights. 
 

Let me know if you have any questions. 

[LANCECASPER]

6 hours ago, daytonabch04 said:

Any tips on the install?  I've got a landing light out I need to replace and looks more difficult than unscrewing out and then in... 

How many Mooney pilots does it take to change a  . . . . .?  

[PT20J]

After changing the bulbs, it’s a good idea to check the alignment. The procedure is in the manual. Basically, you measure the aim points at the specified distance and mark with tape on the inside of the hangar door. Mine were off quite a bit.

[cliffy]

After 60  years as an A&P no one can come close to me in matching scars on the hands!  :-) :-)

Its a woosie job if you don't walk away dripping some blood. 

[Jetpilot86]

I keep forgetting to ask, how many kts do the new LED’s get me?

[cliffy]

16 hours ago, Jetpilot86 said:

I keep forgetting to ask, how many kts do the new LED’s get me?

If you wash and wax them probably @ 10kts!!!

[Jetpilot86]

I did the other side yesterday ,they went in in about 45 minutes. The only difference on that side was that the ground wire attaches to the clamp for the light, which is both easier and harder to deal with. 
Next, Recognition Lights. 

[PT20J]

33 minutes ago, Jetpilot86 said:

Next, Recognition Lights. 

They’re a lot easier