TGreen Posted January 29 Report Posted January 29 Recently had the left wing root repainted. This resulted in the pitot drain plunger getting painted over and sealed shut. Will try to get it moving but is this something worth worrying about? In 8 years or so of flying this plane, I have never had moisture come out of that valve in my preflight check.
EricJ Posted January 29 Report Posted January 29 IMHO it should be working, at least at your next annual. It shouldn't be too tough to clean the paint off of it to get it working again. 3
Ragsf15e Posted January 30 Report Posted January 30 54 minutes ago, TGreen said: Recently had the left wing root repainted. This resulted in the pitot drain plunger getting painted over and sealed shut. Will try to get it moving but is this something worth worrying about? In 8 years or so of flying this plane, I have never had moisture come out of that valve in my preflight check. Id also start working it. If you can’t clean it from below, it’s very hard to get at from above… 1
N201MKTurbo Posted January 30 Report Posted January 30 It’s not that tough to get to on my plane. But I realize there are all kinds of stuff installed back there. All you have to do is remove the two static lines and screw off the Tee.
Ragsf15e Posted January 30 Report Posted January 30 1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said: It’s not that tough to get to on my plane. But I realize there are all kinds of stuff installed back there. All you have to do is remove the two static lines and screw off the Tee. He said the pitot drain. That one is in the left wing root and was a pia to get to on my F. You can kind of see it if you remove the interior panel at the pilots left foot and look through the hole into the wing. The static one would be easy, yes!
N201MKTurbo Posted January 30 Report Posted January 30 49 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said: He said the pitot drain. That one is in the left wing root and was a pia to get to on my F. You can kind of see it if you remove the interior panel at the pilots left foot and look through the hole into the wing. The static one would be easy, yes! Oh, right.
TGreen Posted January 30 Author Report Posted January 30 Thanks all. Well, I worked it some more, scraped off some paint, and got the plunger to retract. Now it is stuck in the retracted (valve open) position. 1
PT20J Posted January 30 Report Posted January 30 I'd take a sewing needle and work it around the perimeter of the plunger (which is a common clevis pin) and the body of the valve. When I got it free, I'd leak check the pitot system per the service manual to be sure that the o-ring was sealing. 4
Will.iam Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 My avionics instrument check guy that get to check and certify my altimeter and pitot system said go ahead and press those drain valves he gets more repair work and money as the system will more likely get leaks from those valves not seating correctly. He said being in a hanger he wouldn’t check them unless you had issues as you are far more likely to make leaks in your system. I checked mine before he started his test as i would know if any where stuck not sealed after i had pressed them. Which i have never seen any water come out of mine when i did test them.
TGreen Posted February 1 Author Report Posted February 1 13 hours ago, Will.iam said: My avionics instrument check guy that get to check and certify my altimeter and pitot system said go ahead and press those drain valves he gets more repair work and money as the system will more likely get leaks from those valves not seating correctly. He said being in a hanger he wouldn’t check them unless you had issues as you are far more likely to make leaks in your system. I checked mine before he started his test as i would know if any where stuck not sealed after i had pressed them. Which i have never seen any water come out of mine when i did test them. Would water actually come out of the wing? It looks to me like that plunger (clevis pin) is opening a valve in the pitot line that would just drain inside the wing root.
PT20J Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 3 hours ago, TGreen said: Would water actually come out of the wing? It looks to me like that plunger (clevis pin) is opening a valve in the pitot line that would just drain inside the wing root. Water drains out around the clevis pin. There are no openings inside the wing root. 2
Bartman Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 In 20 years of ownership I have never seen water come from the pitot drain and I quit checking it a long time ago. I do occasionally get a few drops from the static drain if left on the ramp while traveling, and using a paper towel to wick the water out helps.
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