Maintenance report

[Brandt]

+1 for @jetdriven at KGAI.  Asked for an oil change while I was in the area on business and during the post change runup he noticed a sketchy sounding bearing in my starter.  Juggled his schedule and found a replacement starter that could be overnighted.  Was fixed within an hour of the starter being delivered the next day.   Great service and likely prevented me from being stuck on a tarmac somewhere.

Oh, and allowed me to get out of KGAI before the tornado hit last night….

[mike_elliott]

Well done Byron. Starter adapter or armature bearing, Brandt?

[Brandt]

  On 6/7/2024 at 1:43 AM, mike_elliott said:

Well done Byron. Starter adapter or armature bearing, Brandt?

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Bearing….Skytech

Now it sports an Energizer…..

[LANCECASPER]

  On 6/7/2024 at 1:45 AM, Brandt said:

Bearing….Skytech

Now it sports an Energizer…..

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That's the one to put on. The one Continental puts on - the Iskra is junk. Unless it has Air Conditioning, it's the easiest airplane starter in the world to change.

[jetdriven]

It has air-conditioning, and it still fit great. Thank you for the kind words, Brandt!  We didn’t even know the tornado was coming !

And really a plus one for Aerotech in Kentucky, I called them  at 4:20 in the afternoon and that thing made it out and was in our hands the next morning at 10:30.

[Pinecone]

Does anyone rebuild SkyTech starters?

I understand that the usual failure is the brushes.  Someone on Van's (EAB) found that the motor is a Bosch starter motor and a local shop had brushes for $13 each. 

[LANCECASPER]

  On 6/7/2024 at 2:12 AM, jetdriven said:

It has air-conditioning, and it still fit great. Thank you for the kind words, Brandt!  We didn’t even know the tornado was coming !

And really a plus one for Aerotech in Kentucky, I called them  at 4:20 in the afternoon and that thing made it out and was in our hands the next morning at 10:30.

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It helps that they're in Louisville, KY - main hub for UPS, but they still had to be willing to process it and get it out. I've never ordered anything from them, but I'll save that contact in my phone.  https://www.aerotechlou.com/contact_us.html

[LANCECASPER]

  On 6/8/2024 at 11:58 AM, Pinecone said:

Does anyone rebuild SkyTech starters?

I understand that the usual failure is the brushes.  Someone on Van's (EAB) found that the motor is a Bosch starter motor and a local shop had brushes for $13 each. 

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Not that I've heard of - but maybe a small shop somewhere. They are regarded as "disposable" starters. On the 6 cyl. Continentals the SkyTec ST3 is way too light and doesn't hold up well. The ST5 is better but still not great.

With Continentals, since they have the starter adaptor, I've learned the hard way that the best starter is the older style heavier Energizer (646275 for 28v). They last a long time and no kickback damage on the starter adapter. You may lose a couple pounds of useful load, but not being stranded is well worth it.

On Lycomings (for the Bravo at least) the heavier duty SkyTec 149NL-EC (extended crank) seems to hold up pretty well. 

[Pinecone]

FYI, the SkyTech I am looking to get rebuilt (new is $1300) is for an AEIO-360, not a Continental.

[LANCECASPER]

  On 6/8/2024 at 1:18 PM, Pinecone said:

FYI, the SkyTech I am looking to get rebuilt (new is $1300) is for an AEIO-360, not a Continental.

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SkyTec is now part of Hartzell so their prices have just about tripled since I bought my first one back in the 90's

https://skytec.aero/products/

[jetdriven]

If you call Hartzell, you can ship them your Skytech they’ll rebuild it or repair it for about 3/4 of cost of new, but they said 6 to 8 weeks lead. So essentially, they’re disposable. nobody will rebuild them. Nobody will take them for cores either. And they’re garbage. And by the way that energizer starter I bought for my client cost like 800 bucks not 1300 and it’s gonna last four times longer. It cost him 7 pounds useful load. But having an extra  7 pounds of either batteries or starters or cash in your wallet, is a pretty good thing.  

[Pinecone]

Have you called to get one rebuilt recently?

Now, they just give you back a $200 core charge.

[LANCECASPER]

Skytech is an aircraft sales company on the East Coast     https://www.skytechinc.com/

 

SkyTec is a brand of starter for an airplane   https://skytec.aero/products/

[ArtVandelay]

  On 6/8/2024 at 4:19 PM, jetdriven said:

If you call Hartzell, you can ship them your Skytech they’ll rebuild it or repair it for about 3/4 of cost of new, but they said 6 to 8 weeks lead. So essentially, they’re disposable. nobody will rebuild them. Nobody will take them for cores either. And they’re garbage. And by the way that energizer starter I bought for my client cost like 800 bucks not 1300 and it’s gonna last four times longer. It cost him 7 pounds useful load. But having an extra  7 pounds of either batteries or starters or cash in your wallet, is a pretty good thing.  

For Lycomings (I have A3B6), other than Skytec, what are other options?
Some say the B&C BC315 doesn’t fit?

[jetdriven]

The MZ4222 fits and it’s bulletproof.