Hobbs melted??

[ClayR_9A]

While doing my condition inspection, (~300 hrs) I noticed the top of my hobbs meter appears to have an area of melted plastic.

Has anyone else seen anything like this? It appears that there is a hole completely melted through if you look closely. Not sure if I should continue using it like this.

[Ironflight]

Any chance that it was heated by something external to the Hobbs Clay? If not, I sure hope that you have the power coming through a fuse or breaker - and I'd put in a smaller one if it were me. And If that is internal heat, I'd scrap it for sure.

Paul

[gbrasch]

Looks like a fire waiting to happen. I would look real close at whatever was near the top of it unless you can conclude it was internal heat. If so, what was causing it to get so hot in the first place.

[ClayR_9A]

It is in the upper right corner of my panel. Above it (about an inch) is the glareshield which is painted flat black. I know that I've wondered a couple of times how the canopy hasn't melted in the heat generated in the Texas summer sun. I now nearly always use my canopy cover whenever parked in the sun, or I try to leave the canopy popped open for air.

So, the heat could be external, and without cutting this open, don't know if I'd be able to tell if it is internal or not.

I also saw the specs on the side said it could take up to 80volts, so it seems that it would be hard to melt this thing from the inside.

I don't recall if it receives 12v from the oil pressure switch or if the switch provides ground. I'll check the wiring and the fuse on it too. Thanks for that suggestion.

For $21, I'll likely replace it and hook it up to a power source for a couple weeks to get it up to the right time. (and see how hot it gets in the process)