Trutrak ADI repair?

[Joe]

Is anyone repairing the long-obsolete Trutrak ADI? My 2-1/4 inch unit recently went Tango Uniform and it fills a need for backup in my glass panel.


As most know, Trutrak Flight Systems was swallowed by Bendix-King some time ago. I'm not holding a lot of hope that B-K will be helpful.

[wnplt]

If not I see them for sale on here often. I have one and really like it. Was thinking one time about changing it to a AV-20 but heard some scary things about the AHRS in them.

[SmilingJack]

Joe,

Did you contact Mid-Continent?

trutraksupport@mcico.com / (800) 821-1212

[Lars]

Describe the failure. I repaired mine, after being told it couldn't be fixed. It was a little fiddly but in my case, I got the required part (an RC servomotor) from Amazon for a few bucks.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by SmilingJack

Did you contact Mid-Continent?

trutraksupport@mcico.com / (800) 821-1212

I did not know Mid-Continent handled TruTrak repair but just fired off an email. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Lars

Describe the failure. I repaired mine, after being told it couldn't be fixed. It was a little fiddly but in my case, I got the required part (an RC servomotor) from Amazon for a few bucks.

The climb rate indicator line (don't know what else to call it) was hung up near its maximum. The roll rate indicator seemed to be OK. I'm happy to know an RC servo is available (that thing looked tiny but obviously I don't know anything about RC).

Yesterday afternoon I opened the unit and found the the pitch rate mechanism to be binding with a small amount of debris nearby. Cleaned as best I could and lubed (LPS 1 with a cotton swab). Seems to be functioning -- for now.

Originally Posted by wnplt

Was thinking one time about changing it to a AV-20 but heard some scary things about the AHRS in them.

That was also my first thought but I wasn't keen on being an early adopter of the AV-20. Nor of spending a kilobuck just to get back to where I was.

Three great replies with good info. Thanks, guys.

[Ethanol1]

I have one for sale if your interested.

Mike

[Joe]

Originally Posted by Joe

... Yesterday afternoon I opened the unit and found the the pitch rate mechanism to be binding with a small amount of debris nearby. Cleaned as best I could and lubed (LPS 1 with a cotton swab). Seems to be functioning -- for now.

Following up my own post for the archives:

The cleaning/lubrication seemed to do the trick. Ops checked during two flights and the ADI is its normal self again.

Good thing too, because although Mid-Continent and BendixKing tech support each promptly responded to my email requests, they were of absolutely no help. Mid-Continent replied that they no longer repaired this instrument but offered to sell me a new Xcruze 100 autopilot for a discount. (My unit is not an autopilot.) BendixKing sent me two auto-generated emails with no substance that I could determine. Sheesh!

[jbDC9]

Reading this makes me glad I ditched my TruTrak stuff.

[philb]

I had a problem with a freewheeling roll trutrak servo on my -10.

Email to bendix, got the autoreply to contact mid-continent.

Emails (3) to mid-continent and phone calls (2) until talked to live person led to being told that more expensive to repair, and I should buy a new one.

Bought the new one, then decided had nothing to lose by taking apart the old one and troubleshooting. The roll pin attaching the gear to the shaft had backed out. Just have to find a roll pin and I've got a backup. Don't know why i didn't do it sooner.

Disposable society i guess. Midcontinent did manage to sell me a $5.00 "special mounting washer" which turned out to be a plain old AN-960 flat washer....

Phil
RV-10
Salt Lake City (Bountiful KBTF)

[fasilpereira]

I have been a satisfied Trutrak owner for a long time. Not only because their products were great, but specially because their support was outstanding!

Now I’m doing some changes on my installation and I tried to ask one technical question about my Sorcerer. Here is the answer I’ve got:

“ The sorcerer is end of life and is no longer supported. The manuals are not on the BK site as that is not a product we support.

I will be closing this case and you will be receiving an auto-generated survey asking to rate our performance. If you have more questions about this subject, just reply to this e-mail and the case will automatically reopen.

Thank you for contacting Bendix King”

I don’t think I’ll ever buy a Trutrak product again!

Fabricio