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Old April 4th 17, 04:36 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Eric Greenwell[_4_]
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Default Cobra trailer brake heating up

wrote on 4/3/2017 8:08 PM:
Have you checked the overrun mechanism in the tongue, especially the damper? Also the large bushings in the outer tube in which the inner tube slides can get dry (there are grease fittings). The inner tube can rust/corrode. And the bushings themselves (some kind of plastic) can seem to swell, causing binding.

Also the cable actuators inside their housings can rust, binding and causing the brake shoes to not release. You can remove the assemblies at both ends and then add lubricant. Spinning the cable inside the guide can help free things up, also..

If you replaced the brake shoes recently, make sure you got the identical set and that they were installed in the correct orientation so they don't "self energize" to the point where they hang up.

The Alko surge brake works well when everything is in order but there are many things that can go wrong--with disastrous results.


The overrun mechanism is working properly. I'll check the cable actuators when I
take the drum off tomorrow. The shoes are original, and appear to have plenty of
lining when I look through the little hole in the backing plate, but I'll know for
sure with the drum off.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf