Flap motor question,.... what now??

[thinkn9a]

Flap motor stopped on the way home from long trip. Luckily it managed to pull them up before giving it up finally. (failed to cycle down on initial landing attempt.... down and back up after go around second attempt,.. never did trip a breaker)

So,.. no joy, on landing at home...after checking again in hangar, after arrival home,.. .then again tonight before maintenance pull down,.. so, went ahead and pulled out unit.

It is the "new" Vans unit... made in 03/03. (Vans engraved on "block)

On a whim... decided to check the motor on the workbench prior to teardown,... especially as it was not the "old style" grease problem motor.

Well.... 9 volt battery drove it both ways... even with end restrained from turning. Hmmm,.. did I really have voltage at the unit? Checked and Yep,.. full voltage at unit in plane.

So,.. what is the recommendation?

[Vlad]

Flap switch glitch maybe? Or ground wire loosing contact during vibration in flight?

[bird]

This is an interesting problem, I would think, most likely you have a loose or bad connection. Remember, just because you have full voltage at the motor, that doesn't mean that the circuit is capable of providing the power (amperage) necessary to operate motor properly. Double check all connections, swithes, grounds etc. Hope this helps. Please post what you find. Thanks.

bird

[turbo]

next time it does it check voltage. could be at the breaker. fly with a tester.

[thinkn9a]

oh well,... guess these planes do tend to vibrate a bit,.....

Bird had it right.

Loose connection,... even if I tried to convince myself that the little wiggle was due to my strong yank on the wires. After I tightened up the connection to the switch, all checked out and then worked after reassembly. Sure wish I would remember to check the easy stuff first.

At least I usually remember to check here with the brain trust before burning a lot of hours.