Did you use any lube? A little should go a long way.
Did you use any lube? A little should go a long way.
Lube would not be a good idea and should not be necessary (which is the reason it is not specified in the maint. manual). The pitot tube is hard anodized to protect it from wear, and the bushing insert in the spinner is made from a special material that is impregnated with Teflon. A wear test was done for very significant amount of time and found there to me a negligible amount.
If you add some type of lube it will attract dust and grit...the wear will likely be greatly accelerated.
I kept it dry per the maintainance manual. Like Scott said, I would think any lube would attract dirt and cause undo wear. The reason I posted the picture is this seems to be one of those areas when the airport "experts" come over to look at the RV-12 and tell me this will wear out in a few months. Part of the building process is to align the pitot tube so there is very little to no side pressure on the bushing. The ""unsusual" pitot system system seems to be working work very well.
The Maintenance Manual that I have, and that is posted on Van's web site does indeed specify a lubricant for the Pitot Tube Bearing. Pages 10-2 and 10-3 spell out the process. From page 1-10 we learn that when they say "Spray Lubricant" the mean either LPS-2 or Tri-Flow.
After 30 hours I thought VAF might be interested to see what wear looks like on the pitot tube. Not much at all, just a little buffing.