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help!!! I super heated my brakes

W

whirlpool

Well Known Member
Well, I got the plane out of the paint shop- looked great. seems they washed my brakes with something that made them swell/stick. A local "hightimer" taxied the plane till the brakes overheated. It is 1.2 miles. After inspection
--the shoes are black, lock nuts melted the nylon lock material, tires have charred flakes on the brake side. I now have no fluid in the lines -over heated 'o'rings I'm sure------anyone been here, where do I start. Looks like new shoes, tires/tubes, repack bearings if o.k., rebuild brake calipers, lightly turn rotors?? Any other suggestions??? I am tryin to keep my kool (won't help to get mad) they are going to pay for it! No i am not going to shoot them!! Not yet-I am thinking about it. They were trying to get the plane back in myhanger before a storm hit. Is it better to buy a new wheel set, I have heard about better brakes/wheels/tires, mine are stock----I'm listening!!!!!!!

Thanks, Ed 479 629 1986
 
Look at the bright side....you have a good opportunity to install better o-rings in the calipers, switch to a high-flash or fireproof brake fluid, and have somebody else buy the disk upgrade (thicker disk) kit.
 
Nylocks or cotter pins?

I installed my main gear brakes today and wondered about the nylock nuts in this application. Having read of several Cirrus wheel pant fires caused by pilots riding and overheating the brakes. Are you guys swapping out the nylocks for castleated nuts and drilled bolts?
 
Nylocks on brakes?!?!?!?

Dunno about anyone else but as a 30+ year maintenance type.. Nylocks in a hot place like brakes and tires scares me. Caveman, go with the castellated nuts/cotter pins. May take longer to change or work on but the peace of mind is worth it.
 
Dan, who has the better fluid, better O-rings ect.

Hey guys, I need to know who has the upgrade parts. If any of you are in the know please post the info!! Thanks, ED 479 629 1986
 
whirlpool said:
Any other suggestions???.... I'm listening!!!!!!!Thanks, Ed 479 629 1986
Click to expand...
Ed,

Caused by fractured aluminum tubing, I've seen what a brake fire can do to RV wheel pants...totally trash em! The guy it happened to became a true believer in stowing a halon fire extinguisher on board. To help prevent that possibility and for just several dollars, you can fabricate virtually "approved" brake hoses to replace the stock soft aluminum tubing that is routed in close proximity to the brake assemblies. That's what I did. Check out a stock Cessna 150 sometime. The tubing (clipped to the rear of the gear legs) makes a transition to hose near the brakes.

brakes02010sq3.jpg
 
Do a thread search for complete previous discussions. There are two schools of thought about o-ring and fluid choice, neither of which is wrong. One school recommends conversion to automotive brake fluid, which dictates a specific compatable o-ring compound in all the brake components including the master cylinders. The other school merely switches to synthetic 83282 red fluid to get a higher flash point and a Viton o-ring in the caliper to allow higher operating temperatures. Each approach has compromises, but both are (in terms of fire resistance) far better choices than the standard 5606 fluid and nitrile o-rings.

Installing a Cleveland 199-93 disk upgrade is (I believe) a must for the steering-dependent A-models, and a fine idea for any RV. Run the brake equations from Part 23 and you'll quickly see that the standard RV brakes are pretty marginal. The 199 kit gives you thicker disks, ie, more heat storage mass.

For sure, install a flex hose at the caliper end of the brake line.
 
I had the same thing happen to me at AirVenture this year, but just on the right caliper. I replaced the caliper, pads on both sides, and the brake fluid with Mobil 1 ATF fluid.

BTW, I've been flying for years with bent aluminum tube connected to the caliper, never had a single issue with it. I can't argue with the logic for putting a hose down there, but I don't like the extra failure and leak points.
 
Flex all the way up the leg...

DanH said:
......
For sure, install a flex hose at the caliper end of the brake line.
Click to expand...
Or install a -3 Teflon flex hose from the caliper all the way up the brake leg to a transition fitting on the fuselage side. One less joint and easier to implement.

Race car -3 Teflon hose should work... and is much less bulky than -4 aircraft hose...

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3

gil in Tucson
 
Great posts

One thing to add, change your brake pads often; don't be cheap and try to get more mileage. When the pads get thin the puck extends further. The puck can get cockeyed, sticking, especially when hot. Than you are dragging the brake even with foot off, making it even hotter. Just change the pads when in doubt. Good brake technique says check speed to a crawl and release totally. If speed builds again than check speed again and release again, completely, verses the continuous brake dragging method.
 
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i'll save you a google or two

i know you guys can do web searches, but if you want to take the easy way out, the viton orings are available from:

http://www.oringsusa.com/

and are part #-218 V75 (1-1/4 ID X 1-1/2 OD X 1/8 W)

the fluid is available from
http://commerce.acilubes.com/

and is:

Royco 782-1GL
MIL-PRF-83282

the fluid is $25/gal plus about $16 shipping. the orings are about 50cents each plus $6 shipping.

i'm sure there are other places where you can get this stuff, but these worked for me.
 
pierre smith said:
Hi John,
I buy Royco in quarts from Aviall in Atlanta.

Regards,
Pierre
Click to expand...

thanks, pierre, that's good to know. now i already have a gallon, but i am going to share with two other builder friends locally. if i can find one more, that will be about right. ;)

john
 
gmcjetpilot said:
.... Good brake technique says check speed to a crawl and release totally. If speed builds again than check speed again and release again, completely, verses the continuous brake dragging method.
Click to expand...

George,

Sounds like the voice of an experienced 767 pilot....
 
I know a dumb *** that did that; all I, I mean he replaced were the o-rings and tubes and tires. tubes were probably okay. sure wish it wouldn't of happened to $128 tires. edit-- thorough clean up and lots of fresh brake fluid too. and went and slept for three days. urghh.

80907024pg4.jpg

80907026mc0.jpg

80907025bi8.jpg


you can see the fiberglass pant starting to delaminate and pull away.
 
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