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Control cables outer cover melted

B

buz

Well Known Member
I was changing the oil today and noticed the cluster of control cables for the throttle, mixture, prop had there green plastic outer cover melted off in places just a few inches foreward of the firewall. After a closer look for the source of heat, it appears that the outlet from the heat muffs were the culprit. I am in Florida and rarely use heat, so the heat is continuously bypassing at the firewall diverter valve and blowing on the cables.

Could I just block off the inlet air to the muffs in the summer or would the muffs get too hot without flow through them. I'm thinking it will be fine but thought I would ask for opinions first.
 
I spoke with Vettermen about this and he told me to either let air flow thru the muffs, or remove the muffs and install a heat shield
 
One of my cables (I believe prop gov.) had bubbles in the green sheathing near the exhaust. I wrapped in it silicone tape and it seems fine after 200 hours.
 
While it doesn't help you, for those still building, Cablecraft does sell a version with a black sleeve that is rated about 80 degrees higher than the green sleeve.
 
I dump the heated air overboard when not needed

It seemed logical to me that it was not a good idea to dump heated air into the area between the engine and the firewall so I routed a hose/tube to the cooling air outlet when I configured the heater/defroster system.

Bob Axsom
 
rleffler said:
While it doesn't help you, for those still building, Cablecraft does sell a version with a black sleeve that is rated about 80 degrees higher than the green sleeve.
Click to expand...


What is the rating on the Van's green sleeve cables?

Phil
 
I always install firesleeve on exposed areas of cable FWF to help prevent heat damage.
 
Phil said:
What is the rating on the Van's green sleeve cables?

Phil
Click to expand...

If you had only asked a few months ago, that data would still be in the stack. :eek: I don't recall the specifics, just the difference. I seem to recall seeing a chart with the different ratings from Cablecraft, but I couldn't quickly find it this morning.

McFarlane should be able to tell you what the sleeves are rated.
 
Last edited:
Walt

Your pearls of wisdom are....well exactly that, now had you mentioned this about 3 years ago as I was mounting the engine bay components :D

Ohh well.........;)
 
Melting cables

When I conducted my conditional inspection and I found something disturbing with my cables. They were damaged from resting on the engine. After inspection I placed a protective sleeve on them , the problem was eliminated
N595RV
101 hours of pure joy:)
 
My cables that came from vans have a tag that says "Not for aircraft use". Not much of a surprise based on some of the other cheesy stuff they have provided with my kit that I have had to replace. I am going to give cable craft a call since I have not already installed my cables. Having to wrap them is a band aid IMHO. My current Piper does not have them wrapped nor should they need to be. Dumping the heat is a great idea. Bob, do you have any photos of your install?
 
Bill.Peyton said:
My cables that came from vans have a tag that says "Not for aircraft use". Not much of a surprise based on some of the other cheesy stuff they have provided with my kit that I have had to replace. I am going to give cable craft a call since I have not already installed my cables. Having to wrap them is a band aid IMHO. My current Piper does not have them wrapped nor should they need to be. Dumping the heat is a great idea. Bob, do you have any photos of your install?
Click to expand...

I haven't finished the fwf yet, so I don't have pictures yet. The custom cables I purchased say the same. Cablecraft sells the same cable through different channels. Guess what they put on the non-aviation version to protect them from liability. If you want that tag removed, it will cost significantly more.
 
Yeh, I assumed it was the liability issue. It's kinda funny that they sell cables cut for exact lengths for specific aircraft directly to the manufacturer of the aircraft, knowing good and well that they are being used on aircraft......:confused:
 
I had custom length cables made from McFarlane. They're expensive, but worth the money because I don't want to have to replace them in a few years. I know of a handful of RV-10's who have had to replace Vans cables for various reasons.

I'm hoping the extra money spent will be work I don't have to do in the future.

(They'll be getting wrapped anyway.)
 
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