IowaRV9Dreamer

IowaRV9Dreamer

Well Known Member
Today I've been working on the flap position sensor and the flap limit switch. Every time I run the motor to move the flap weldment up or down (the weldment only - wings are not yet on) I get a smell of grease from the motor. Is this normal? You can smell it even after moving the flaps a single time. I thought the motor was loaded too heavily so I loosened the bolts on the plastic blocks... no improvment.

I've run the flaps up & down a dozen times today, but spread out across the afternoon. The motor is always cool to the touch. I'm using a 13V power supply to energize the motor.

I've read about grease moving into the motor brushes. My motor is about 1.5 years old, maybe 2008... I thought Van had fixed this problem before then?

I'm wondering if I should disassemble a perfectly new flap motor to investigate...
 
Just as a datapoint, I can't ever really recall smelling grease from my flap motor Dave - which doesn't necessarily mean that you have a problem. Just giving you a data point per your question.

Paul
 
In my RV-7A (finished in 2005) the first few times I used the flap motor I did smell something, but it went away before my 1st flight. >300hrs later still no problems.
 
Mine too!

Hello Dave

Same position of installation now and yes, mine smells too! It was the exactly same thought ... this smell like grease quite heavy.

There was a service bulletin from vans, where grease wase pushed back into the motor, but mine is not affected, so it should not be this. What can it be then?

Try to check if it smells more/only when you extending the flaps (when the shaft moves into the casing). There maybe air gets pushed out of the casing and that will smell for sure like grase. But when it extends, there is a bit of grase on the outside of the black shaft, this will smell too ...

I think it is just the grease only, especially, when nothing is warm/heated up during an extensive use.

Regards, Dominik
 
Mine smelled like greese the first 150 hours but has since stopped. Motor has always run properly and never had a flap problem other than the strange smell, even with the side panels on.
 
Thanks to all - since others have the same smell it must not be a problem unique to me, so I'll refrain from disassembling my flap motor... but when I'm flying I'll practice no-flap landings!
 
No smell......

...but then I've had almost no sense of smell over the past few years. I did, however, experience a problem that I'd previously read about on these forums. About six weeks ago I had my flaps go intermittent on me. They wouldn't extend but after hitting the switch again they worked OK. This happened twice over a couple of weeks. Then upon arriving in the pattern a couple weeks later they didn't run at all. Had to do my first no-flap landing. By all means, practice this manuever!!! Did one go-around because I just couldn't get her to slow down! Second attempt went better. I disassembled the flap motor and it had so much grease in it I couldn't even make out the segments on the motor commutator. Apparently enough grease had migrated up from the screw to gum up the works. I shot the motor components with an aerosol switch cleaner and then used an Xacto knife blade to get the gunk out from between the commutator bars, reassembled with a dab of dielectric grease on the ends of the shafts and good as new. This happened after two years of operation and about 350 hours. Works as good as new now and seems to be quieter than when new. I think some are just assembled with too much lube and maybe the wrong kind. Glad I didn't have to buy a new one; they're $280!
 
Ours did the same thing ....
After 50 hours didn't notice it much....
Of course the cover is on now.....
 
No flap touch'n go's here...

Just a side-comment:

To spare the flap-motor alittle, I always do the touch'n go's with no flap.
It's the approach and touchdown itself I want to practice on, and for me it doesn't matter wether I use flap to do it or not. I just add 5 kts to the normal speeds.

For the full-stop landing, I always use full flaps since I leave the flaps fully extended after shutdown.

This way I get to practice landings both with and without flaps and the flap-motor gets minimum wear & tear...

As a bonus; flying the patterns without flaps makes you really good at energy management and sideslipping too. :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.