Do You Pull Obsolete Equipment or Leave it Be?

[bigmo]

I’ve got a little avionics work happening in a week. I’m going to pull the old fuel flow (obsolete when the EDM930 went in). It’s a personal thing but the INOP label makes me crazy.

it got me thinking. A previous owner spent a ton of $ and installed a Pulslite system which I’ve yet to use - and now with an LES landing light…never will. That Pulslite is on a 20 amp breaker. 
I can ignore it as it’s just a switch…but got me thinking a) am I weird about not wanting to look at INOP in my scan and b) should I remove equipment that is rendered valueless by technology?

[Rick Junkin]

I wouldn't take the airplane to the avionics shop specifically for the purpose of removing the gear, but I would have the gear removed while I had it in for something else. I had an electric attitude indicator labeled inop that drove me nuts, but I didn't have it removed until I put in a new transponder for the ADS-B mandate.

[Ragsf15e]

For some reason you have to be pretty specific with avionics shops about removing old equipment and especially wiring.  Sometimes there’s 20lbs of old wires between the panel and the tail!  You aren’t crazy to have it removed, but expect it to take a while if you want the remaining wiring and circuit breakers sorted out.

[EricJ]

One consideration is whether removing an item affects WnB or not.    I've left most of my inop autopilot in place just because there's no way to know exactly how it affects WnB because the arm is essentially unkown because there are pieces all over the airplane.   Other than that, taking out old stuff that won't be used seems like a good idea to me.

Once I replace the autopilot I'll do some other stuff and then re-weigh the airplane.   

[Will.iam]

32 minutes ago, bigmo said:

I’ve got a little avionics work happening in a week. I’m going to pull the old fuel flow (obsolete when the EDM930 went in). It’s a personal thing but the INOP label makes me crazy.

it got me thinking. A previous owner spent a ton of $ and installed a Pulslite system which I’ve yet to use - and now with an LES landing light…never will. That Pulslite is on a 20 amp breaker. 
I can ignore it as it’s just a switch…but got me thinking a) am I weird about not wanting to look at INOP in my scan and b) should I remove equipment that is rendered valueless by technology?

Why would LES landing light not work with the pulslite? I have LED landing and taxi light that it works on but i would really like to change the pulslite to work with the recon lights that are on my wingtips. 1) it would greatly improve wigwag effect being at each wingtip but more importantly if i forgot them on they would not melt the wingtip plexiglas around the halogen bulbs yes i have not sprung for the Welen LED recog lights yet. 

[ArtVandelay]

Why would LES landing light not work with the pulslite? I have LED landing and taxi light that it works on but i would really like to change the pulslite to work with the recon lights that are on my wingtips. 1) it would greatly improve wigwag effect being at each wingtip but more importantly if i forgot them on they would not melt the wingtip plexiglas around the halogen bulbs yes i have not sprung for the Welen LED recog lights yet. 

I use Pulselite with LED lights with no issues.

[1980Mooney]

54 minutes ago, bigmo said:

I’ve got a little avionics work happening in a week. I’m going to pull the old fuel flow (obsolete when the EDM930 went in). It’s a personal thing but the INOP label makes me crazy.

it got me thinking. A previous owner spent a ton of $ and installed a Pulslite system which I’ve yet to use - and now with an LES landing light…never will. That Pulslite is on a 20 amp breaker. 
I can ignore it as it’s just a switch…but got me thinking a) am I weird about not wanting to look at INOP in my scan and b) should I remove equipment that is rendered valueless by technology?

Does your LED landing light have a built in flashing feature?  Thereby making your built-in Pulselite redundant ?  Is that the issue?

About 25 years ago I had a Pulselite installed due to the heavy wattage load and short life of the 12 volt GE incandescents. Eventually went with LED when they got better. Power consumption no longer an issue. But know I use the Pulselite with the LED landing lights practically all the time for recognition in and around Houston airspace. 
 

You might think twice before ripping the Pulselite and wiring out. Also your new LED’s are on that same breaker and rely on that wiring most likely. 

[bigmo]

It works fine with my LED, but I have a single light (no wing lights). I do believe the Pulselite is very effective with a multiple light setup, but with a single light, my personal observation is that the steady on of the VERY bright LED is actually more noticeable. I actually turned it on today in the hangar, walked about 1/4 mile away and observed both. The steady on was impossible to miss…it’s like a freaking UFO light.

Leaving it be is fine…at least it’s not a distraction to me. I have to think the control module is over a pound, so I’ll wait until I do something that triggers a new W&B I guess.

 

[1980Mooney]

Just now, bigmo said:

It works fine with my LED, but I have a single light (no wing lights). I do believe the Pulselite is very effective with a multiple light setup, but with a single light, my personal observation is that the steady on of the VERY bright LED is actually more noticeable. I actually turned it on today in the hangar, walked about 1/4 mile away and observed both. The steady on was impossible to miss…it’s like a freaking UFO light.

Leaving it be is fine…at least it’s not a distraction to me. I have to think the control module is over a pound, so I’ll wait until I do something that triggers a new W&B I guess.

 

When looking dead on you may be right. But it is the flashing on and off that catches your attention peripherally when scanning off center. Also if at night with bright stars/planet or also over a city with a lot of light pollution, the flashing better separates you from all that. 

[bigmo]

You guys have given me the curiosity to at least pull out the Pulselite manual and see if I have any other modes. I think mine is on 45 pulses per minute (and that might be all I get with one light). I'll have a few folks compare from a distance and see what they think.

My main tester (my wife) is closed for light testing business after I tested my new Aerolite in the garage powered by my motorcycle's battery. She was probably 75 ft away and said she couldn't see right for 10 mins. I was pleased to know it was REALLY bright....and a wee bit concerned I damaged her vision.

[gevertex]

3 hours ago, bigmo said:

I’ve got a little avionics work happening in a week. I’m going to pull the old fuel flow (obsolete when the EDM930 went in). It’s a personal thing but the INOP label makes me crazy.

it got me thinking. A previous owner spent a ton of $ and installed a Pulslite system which I’ve yet to use - and now with an LES landing light…never will. That Pulslite is on a 20 amp breaker. 
I can ignore it as it’s just a switch…but got me thinking a) am I weird about not wanting to look at INOP in my scan and b) should I remove equipment that is rendered valueless by technology?

Anything you remove goes toward your useful load. So yeah, I’d remove all the things you do not need. 

[M20F-1968]

Weight is always a concern. Old wiring complicates future repairs.  Unneeded wiring and equipment, should always be pulled before adding new stuff.  It does make more work but it is proper to keep the plane current without complications.  

John Breda

[Z W]

Do future you, future avionics shops, and future caretakers of your plane a favor - pull everything unused and inop out of the plane, or fix it.

Our Pulselight was inop.  A while back, asked the avionics shop to either fix it or remove it during some work, whichever was cheaper.  It came back without the Pulselight.  Haven't missed it.  Extra system, extra maintenance, extra weight, and in my opinion, of little value with LED lights all around.  Your opinion may vary of course.

[hubcap]

I had the avionics shop pull all the obsolete wires and equipment completely out when we upgraded. There were 40 years worth of obsolete stuff behind the panel. Much cleaner now.

[Fly Boomer]

I wonder if it would be legal to redo a panel with a hinge at the bottom.  I have seen some amateur-built airplanes with this arrangement.  I guess every wire and hose has a service loop.  To work on the panel they remove a couple of screws at the top, and fold the panel down into their lap.  No more upside-down (on the floor) gymnastics.

[AndreiC]

My plane came with PulseLite, and I have it on all the time (on the main landing light). Even after I installed a super powerful LED landing light, I thing the pulsing thing is better for being seen. 

Regarding removing unused stuff, I did remove from my plane the marker beacon and ADF, which I knew I would never use. Saved like 3 lbs, according to my avionics shop. 

[M20F-1968]

3 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

I wonder if it would be legal to redo a panel with a hinge at the bottom.  I have seen some amateur-built airplanes with this arrangement.  I guess every wire and hose has a service loop.  To work on the panel they remove a couple of screws at the top, and fold the panel down into their lap.  No more upside-down (on the floor) gymnastics.

All you need to do is build the panel supports with 1/4" aluminum bars into which screws could be placed to hold the trays, etc... in place.  When you need to get back there, just disassemble what you need to gain access.  That is how my panel was designed.  The panel itself uses an instrument panel bow taken from an Ovation.

John Breda

[Pinecone]

I have been a fan of pulsing lights since I was flying a CAP aircraft with a simple pulsed landing light.  Airplane waiting for us to land called to tell us our light was flashing.  I told it was supposed to.  His comment was it was VERY eye catching.  Exactly what I want.

As for removing old wiring, if it is a major upgrade, it is easy to do, you remove pretty much everything.  BUT, if you are talking about removing one or two items, you might be paying a lot of money for them to figure out what exactly can be removed versus what has to stay for the remaining items to work.

[A64Pilot]

As a mechanic it’s the wiring left behind that drives me crazy, and in truth very often it’s not realistically removable as it’s hopefully laced and not zip tied into bundles that go through pretty much inaccessible places.

The other thing that’s annoying as an IA is most older aircraft according to the records have all kinds of equipment installed that isn't, by that I mean most everything is installed via a 337, but as it’s removed there is no 337 removing it, so records wise you still have that ADF, DME etc. That is a minor annoyance sure but it’s just sloppy records keeping, and if your paper work is sloppy, is your work also?

[KSMooniac]

10 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

As a mechanic it’s the wiring left behind that drives me crazy, and in truth very often it’s not realistically removable as it’s hopefully laced and not zip tied into bundles that go through pretty much inaccessible places.

Truth.  I do as much of my own supervised work as I can, and currently have some abandoned wires and connectors behind my panel since i just cannot extricate them with the current equipment installed.  I just weighed my plane too and lost a lot of useful load (no surprise) so I made an effort to get rid of much dead weight as I could, but some of it just has to wait until a major panel overhaul/scratch build.  Working on/behind a Mooney panel in a J or later without backside access is truly the worst part of owning a Mooney.

[Yetti]

I removed a couple of antennas and such and was all excited to make some patches and rivet them in.   The Grumpy IA said "Why don't you just put the bolts back in the holes"   It made lots of sense I just walked off dejected and did the work.