I had a great inspection with Vic today as I mentioned in an earlier post, but there were three issues noted that I thought, in the interest of helping future inspectees, I'd cover. One was more serious than the rest. Vic is free to chime in with more if he wants:
1. The bolt securing the B lead to my PlanePower alternator had come loose from vibration during the several engine starts that had occurred since I'd installed it. The nipple cover had covered it up and I didn't notice it. I installed a lock washer and retightened the bolt. My only comment about this is that the nut provided by PlanePower should be tossed in the trash and replaced with a better alternative, but being a metric size, AN hardware isn't going to work. I will replace this with a better more robust solution. Really, aside from all the Plane Power complaints and now this, I fully expect to replace it with a B&C alternator in the future. It's just a matter of time.
2. Even though my mixture control goes full forward to full rich, the mixture lever on the injector did not reach full rich (off by a millimeter maybe) because of slop in the mixture cable. A two minute adjustment, but reinforces the need to check both ends of the cable.
3. Lastly, and the most serious, I had substituted a AN castellated nut and cotter pin for the plate nut on the fuse to fuel tank attachment bracket...ironic since this came up for discussion just yesterday in another thread...turns out that you REALLY need to use the platenut per Scott's comments in that thread, so this weekend's tasks will include removing those brackets, installing those platenuts and doing it over. I wonder how many others have made this assumption and mistake over the years. I certainly saw no harm in using the AN4 castellated nut, but you know what happens when you assume...
That's pretty much it. Vic had some very helpful advice and thoughts. I count this day as one of the best I've had during this project.
1. The bolt securing the B lead to my PlanePower alternator had come loose from vibration during the several engine starts that had occurred since I'd installed it. The nipple cover had covered it up and I didn't notice it. I installed a lock washer and retightened the bolt. My only comment about this is that the nut provided by PlanePower should be tossed in the trash and replaced with a better alternative, but being a metric size, AN hardware isn't going to work. I will replace this with a better more robust solution. Really, aside from all the Plane Power complaints and now this, I fully expect to replace it with a B&C alternator in the future. It's just a matter of time.
2. Even though my mixture control goes full forward to full rich, the mixture lever on the injector did not reach full rich (off by a millimeter maybe) because of slop in the mixture cable. A two minute adjustment, but reinforces the need to check both ends of the cable.
3. Lastly, and the most serious, I had substituted a AN castellated nut and cotter pin for the plate nut on the fuse to fuel tank attachment bracket...ironic since this came up for discussion just yesterday in another thread...turns out that you REALLY need to use the platenut per Scott's comments in that thread, so this weekend's tasks will include removing those brackets, installing those platenuts and doing it over. I wonder how many others have made this assumption and mistake over the years. I certainly saw no harm in using the AN4 castellated nut, but you know what happens when you assume...
That's pretty much it. Vic had some very helpful advice and thoughts. I count this day as one of the best I've had during this project.
Last edited: