BillyT0020 Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 On 10/15/2025 at 3:20 PM, takair said: If you have questions about the electric conversion let me know. Over 400 kits sold to date. We have an occasional failure, but in many cases we trace it back to an alignment issue with the cable and step, and we have instructions on how to rectify that. Mooneys being hand built, there are small variations in each. I have your electric step and it works well. If I could make one change it would be the ability to keep it always stored in the up position. I have it wired to a switch on the panel, but when power is cut via the master, it defaults down. Anyway to achieve this via wiring schematic? Billy
47U Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 3 hours ago, DCarlton said: Any tips for fabricating and attaching a new one; seems like it'll get stepped on and mangled again; not the best design to begin with. The fairing would be pretty easy to fabricate. Make a template out of a paper grocery bag and trim until you like the fit. It wouldn’t need to be aircraft aluminum, Home Depot sells some .020” 2’ square aluminum pretty cheap (I think). I don’t think my step fairing is original, based on the practice hole on the bottom side. My fairing looked pretty rough so I took it off and hit it with a rattle can.
takair Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 58 minutes ago, BillyT0020 said: I have your electric step and it works well. If I could make one change it would be the ability to keep it always stored in the up position. I have it wired to a switch on the panel, but when power is cut via the master, it defaults down. Anyway to achieve this via wiring schematic? Billy Hi Billy Looks like you have a G model…hmm…I’m not sure where your battery is, nose or tail. Either way, you need to move the red wire from the hot battery bus to the normal power buss. If you are tied on at the battery, the easiest way to do this is to move power to the side of the master relay that comes alive when the master is on. This would make it work the way you desire. Just make sure you move the fuse to protect the wiring. Rob
TaildraggerPilot Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 3 hours ago, DCarlton said: The fairing on the bottom of my F step was mangled when I bought the airplane and poorly attached with very small screws (if I remember correctly). It's long since been removed. Without that fairing, I assume you loose some of the benefit of the retracting step. Any tips for fabricating and attaching a new one; seems like it'll get stepped on and mangled again; not the best design to begin with. Do most people just leave them off? My vac step still works but I've considered the electric step. I removed the fragile step seal faring when cracks and edge chips started to occur. I replaced it with baffling material that is rigid, yet flexible. It provides a great seal.
BillyT0020 Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 5 minutes ago, takair said: Hi Billy Looks like you have a G model…hmm…I’m not sure where your battery is, nose or tail. Either way, you need to move the red wire from the hot battery bus to the normal power buss. If you are tied on at the battery, the easiest way to do this is to move power to the side of the master relay that comes alive when the master is on. This would make it work the way you desire. Just make sure you move the fuse to protect the wiring. Rob F Model but same airframe with the battery in the tail. I’ll have a look at the red wire location, can’t remember if we wired it to the battery directly or thru the solenoid. Thanks for the suggestion. Billy
DCarlton Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 3 hours ago, 47U said: The fairing would be pretty easy to fabricate. Make a template out of a paper grocery bag and trim until you like the fit. It wouldn’t need to be aircraft aluminum, Home Depot sells some .020” 2’ square aluminum pretty cheap (I think). I don’t think my step fairing is original, based on the practice hole on the bottom side. My fairing looked pretty rough so I took it off and hit it with a rattle can. Yours looks good. I could make one I was just never impressed with the design and hardware. Seems like it would be so prone to damage it wouldn't be worth replacing. Might do it one day.
bixmooney Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 I had a C model with the crank on the pilot side. crank it up crank it down Pretty cool actually.
AdamJD Posted October 18 Report Posted October 18 I have a 67 F with the electronic step. I put a switch in the cockpit. I love it. And yeah, it may be only a few knots. But this is one of the cool features of this vintage plane!! Its not that expensive to buy the electronic conversion and I have never had any problems with it. 1
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