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First go with safety wire

crabandy

Well Known Member
Is my safety wiring on the Gascolator correct?
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Idea

For the top picture:The bottom twist looks good, but on the top I would go to the far hole with the twist and then bring thru the screw hole going down. The loop on the left and the end twist on the bottom. The bottom pic should be the same. In other words the pull from the twist should be obvious, solid, and tightening. Even if the screw backs off just a little, the vibration could wear out the screw threads. (OK maybe not in a RV)
JMHO
 
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Take everything you read here as my free advice. It's worth every penny you paid for it.
Functional but not ideal. (trying to come up with a way to explain this by written instruction is harder than I thought)

Top picture.
Top screw. I would like to see the twisted wire flow CCW all the way around the right side of the screw head to begin from the hole at the 7 O'clock position.
Bottom screw. Looks good.

Bottom picture.
Top Screw. If you can't re-clock the screws I would start the wire at the top screw with the twisted part departing from the right side at the 2 O'clock hole where your tail is currently.
Bottom hole. Bring the twisted wire down from the top screw around the left side of the bottom screw CCW all the way around to enter the 3 O'clock hole.

In general. I can't gage size but it looks like you are twisted just a little too tight. There should be 6-8 turns per inch. If you have that then never mind.
 
Perfection

Orientation doesn't always allow this but it is what you are going for.

Safety.jpg


One side to the opposite side such that the forces are not allowing the bolts to loosen.
 
If you wrap it around more than 180 degrees, as suggested in post #6, then there could be a possibility that the wire could pop over the top of the head and then be slack. The sketch in the posting above is the ideal way to do it.

Also, if you could manage to snug the wires together close to the head that would be better than leaving that little triangular gap between them. Again, the sketch shows the detail. Except that the bitter end, the tail, ought to be longer and doubled over so it's not a little dagger aimed at your hand. The sketch is wrong there. Simply make that tail about an inch long and bend it in half, tucking the sharp end where it's safely out of the way. This was taught to me in USAF many years ago.

Dave
 
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There aren't many things in this world more glamorous than a nice safety wire application.

Okay maybe there are, but it's high on the list. Round two looks pretty good.
 
Looks good

It looks better but it needs to be tighter, also when you finish off the tail it needs to go the opposite direction to the previous twist, this helps sit the wire flat on the head without it riding up over the head of the bolt.
 
Nick,
Could you clarify for me and others. Are you speaking of the twist direction (which I know to reverse on each head) or the direction that the tail is pointing?
 
Safety wire

That looks very nice. Now go try it on the airplane with no room to hold the safety wire pliers. :) It sometimes becomes a hellish task.:eek:
 
The way I was taught to do the tail was to twist for about 1/2" and clip it. Then, bend the tail into a loop so that the sharp end is near the beginning of the tail. You won't catch your fingers, or rags, on it as easily that way. Here is a picture of the prop governor on my RV-6A as delivered from the factory. It's the best example I have because, try as I might, I don't quite achieve this quality every time.

DSC01195.jpg
 
looks much better.

The second set of pictures look much better. Two more points that are important but not critical here: first, sometimes I have to left-hand twist by hand, because the twist should start out with the loop underneath the wire coming out of the hole, otherwise the loop could go over the top of the screw. Second, sometimes the stainless wire will run over an aluminum part; if this is the case, clear sleeving can be used so the stainless wire doesn't wear a groove in the aluminum. I have seen a few of old war birds where the stainless wire has worn a groove in the aluminum. JMO
 
Here is a picture of the prop governor on my RV-6A as delivered from the factory. It's the best example I have because, try as I might, I don't quite achieve this quality every time.

Not sure if your governor came from Woodward, but I worked there for a while and we had a "lockwire" department. It was all women that worked there and their work put my best efforts to shame, and they also did it much much faster than I could ever dream of.
 
This looks the gascalator on the -12. If so, it's a pain to safety wire once installed. Don't wire it up until after your test runs when the PAP calls to check the screen. Safety it before your A/W inspection. Just my opinion.
 
Lock Wire

Hi Bill,

Reading some of the other relies i should have been a bit clearer, I start my first run with the normal twist of the lock wire pliers, at the next run or the tail i twist the opposite direction to help the next run lay flat, if its the tail i twist a bit more so the wire doesn't part when it is bent back on it's self.

Each run should be tight and straight between the heads, if it is slack or a slight bow I'd replace it.

Larry posted a drawing of a perfect lock wire run on the first page of this thread, in an ideal world we would be able to do our runs exactly like this.
 
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