Struts - better to leave doors open or closed?

[bpattonsoa]

I love my -10. In almost four years the only maintenance expense except for ELT batteries, oil and filters has been a set of struts.

Another thread about struts made me think about how to leave the doors while in a hanger. If the doors are left open does it reduce the internal pressure and perhaps increase life? Or is it the movement when opening and closing the doors that is the problem?

Perhaps we have someone who knows how these things are made and what causes them to go soft.

[dtw_rv6]

It might reduce the pressure, but it would also leave the rod exposed to collect moisture and debris - neither of which will help your cylinder life either.

Entropy happens.....

Don

[TShort]

I leave mine open in the hangar, mainly because I don't want to smash the door seals all the time.

Not sure which is better for the strut, but I think a strut replacement will be easier than a door seal replacement...

[charrois]

For what it's worth, I leave mine open in the hangar too. Not that I have any science to back it up, but figure it has got to be easier for everything involved if they aren't under a permanent state of compression.

[DanH]

Not something we worry about on our cars.

[TShort]

Originally Posted by DanH

Not something we worry about on our cars.

Interesting point. Hatchbacks etc have struts and seals, which are compressed for 99.9+% of their lives.

Never thought about that.

[dlloyd3]

Leaving the door open may or may not increase the strut life. Just bought 2 struts for about $15 including shipping. Oops, when I opened the box found I bought two sets. Four struts, $15! Shut your door and keep the dust out.

[lr172]

Most strut applications normally leave the strut in a compressed state. I am confident that they are designed to support that and would doubt any additional life could be found by leaving them extended. I would expect that the number or extension / compression cycles is far more of a factor. You could probably extend their life by never opening or closing your door.

Larry

[Brantel]

There have been some mentions on here about the orientation of struts and how they spend most of their life. The energy was around the seal on the shaft and the oil that is inside of the strut. The advice was to orient the strut in an manner that allows the seal to be on the end that has the oil most of the time.

Maybe this is applicable here?

[Plummit]

If you don't fly your plane so much your tires and plugs will last much longer too. ;-) I bought my -10 to use, and the cost of maintenance is part of it. The cost of strut replacement pales compared to the other "consumables" of aircraft ownership. FYI, I leave my doors closed but not latched in my hangar.

-Marc