Degaussing a Warrior

Has anyone reading this group had to degauss a firewall? My Warrior
took a lightning strike last July while parked, melting a bit of the
propeller tip and magnetizing much of the plane forward of the firewall
(so that the compass always points towards the propeller). The engine
has now been overhauled, and all engine parts and the mount degaussed,
but after trying several compasses, we cannot get any to indicate
properly -- something is still strongly magnetized. Tomorrow my AME
(IA/A&P) will bring in a specialized meter and degaussing device to
start trying to hunt down the problem, but I'm quite discouraged being
grounded for this long.


Thanks in advance for any help,


David

In a previous article, "DavidM" said:
(so that the compass always points towards the propeller). The engine
has now been overhauled, and all engine parts and the mount degaussed,
but after trying several compasses, we cannot get any to indicate
properly -- something is still strongly magnetized. Tomorrow my AME

Aw man, you can't catch a break, can you? I thought you were ready to
start flying again.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Could you stop changing your email address willy-nilly, so my killfile
can spare me from your erudition and wit?
-- Alan Shutko

DavidM wrote:
Has anyone reading this group had to degauss a firewall? My Warrior
took a lightning strike last July while parked, melting a bit of the
propeller tip and magnetizing much of the plane forward of the firewall
(so that the compass always points towards the propeller). The engine
has now been overhauled, and all engine parts and the mount degaussed,
but after trying several compasses, we cannot get any to indicate
properly -- something is still strongly magnetized. Tomorrow my AME
(IA/A&P) will bring in a specialized meter and degaussing device to
start trying to hunt down the problem, but I'm quite discouraged being
grounded for this long.


Thanks in advance for any help,


David

This is probably stating the obvious, but only the iron/steel stuff
can be magnetized.

A dime store (do those exist anymore?) compass should point to the
magnetized part as you walk around the nose.

Held too closely it will point to any iron/steel part magnetized
or not, so start out at a distance where you start seeing a "disturbance
in the force".

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

wrote:

Held too closely it will point to any iron/steel part magnetized
or not, so start out at a distance where you start seeing a "disturbance
in the force".

We've done the compass walkaround in great detail, and as best we can
tell, the remaining problem is close to the firewall (the engine mount
was already degaussed in Halifax while the engine was being
overhauled), though there are one or two other minor hotspots. A
proper meter (I'm not sure whether it's a "gauss meter" or a "flux
meter") will be arriving at the shop tomorrow, and that should let us
pinpoint the problem more closely.


All the best,


David

DavidM wrote:

We've done the compass walkaround in great detail, and as best we can
tell, the remaining problem is close to the firewall (the engine mount
was already degaussed in Halifax while the engine was being

How about the rudder pedal/bar assemblies?

Also the control yoke shafts and central control column/T-bar/chain
drive assembly?

Aren't those all also made of steel in a PA28?

A proper airplane degausser and flux meter (??) arrived at the shop
from Halifax, and my AME (= IA/A&P) spent the day carefully degaussing
my plane. Everything that could be easily removed, like the steering
rods, was degaussed externally (the mount and main engine had already
been degaussed during overhaul). The main magnetism was on the left
side of the firewall, particularly where there's a steel band for bolts
to attach. Working very carefully (to avoid introducing any new,
opposite magnetism) he worked over it bit by bit, and believes he's got
it all -- at least, a handheld compass in the plane now indicates close
to the correct direction, rather than always north or north-northwest.

Every ferrous part in the plane showed a bit deflection on the meter
before degaussing.


All the best,


David

On 4 Nov 2005 04:48:20 -0800, "DavidM"
wrote:

A proper airplane degausser and flux meter (??) arrived at the shop
from Halifax, and my AME (= IA/A&P) spent the day carefully degaussing
my plane. Everything that could be easily removed, like the steering
rods, was degaussed externally (the mount and main engine had already
been degaussed during overhaul). The main magnetism was on the left
side of the firewall, particularly where there's a steel band for bolts
to attach. Working very carefully (to avoid introducing any new,
opposite magnetism) he worked over it bit by bit, and believes he's got
it all -- at least, a handheld compass in the plane now indicates close
to the correct direction, rather than always north or north-northwest.

Every ferrous part in the plane showed a bit deflection on the meter
before degaussing.


All the best,


David


I wish you well, and hope you got it all. Thanks for sharing your
tribulations with this ordeal.

z

Where do you live Dave?

We fly a Warrior (151) out of Fredericton, - was in HFX
last weekend..

Dave


On 4 Nov 2005 04:48:20 -0800, "DavidM"
wrote:

A proper airplane degausser and flux meter (??) arrived at the shop
from Halifax, and my AME (= IA/A&P) spent the day carefully degaussing
my plane. Everything that could be easily removed, like the steering
rods, was degaussed externally (the mount and main engine had already
been degaussed during overhaul). The main magnetism was on the left
side of the firewall, particularly where there's a steel band for bolts
to attach. Working very carefully (to avoid introducing any new,
opposite magnetism) he worked over it bit by bit, and believes he's got
it all -- at least, a handheld compass in the plane now indicates close
to the correct direction, rather than always north or north-northwest.

Every ferrous part in the plane showed a bit deflection on the meter
before degaussing.


All the best,


David

You might check

http://www.sacskyranch.com/degaussi.htm

Your firewall is galvanized steel (not stainless steel) as I recall.
It is probably the culprit.

Maybe you should just give up and get a vertical card compass with a
remote sensor out in a wing tip.

Has anyone reading this group had to degauss a firewall? My Warrior
took a lightning strike last July while parked, melting a bit of the
propeller tip and magnetizing much of the plane forward of the firewall
(so that the compass always points towards the propeller). The engine
has now been overhauled, and all engine parts and the mount degaussed,
but after trying several compasses, we cannot get any to indicate
properly -- something is still strongly magnetized. Tomorrow my AME
(IA/A&P) will bring in a specialized meter and degaussing device to
start trying to hunt down the problem, but I'm quite discouraged being
grounded for this long.


Thanks in advance for any help,


David