8 hours so far into trying to get washer into pitot tube...

Long story short, I decided to go for broke and change out the two
front rubber washers/ O rings in my pitot tube in the tail of my
ASW-20B. Years of dry pitot tubes going in and out had taken their
toll on the washers and they were starting to leak. Reminder to all -
lightly grease your pitot tubes so they keep the internal washers
happy.

OK, the front washer is easy as cake to replace. It is only about an
inch into the tube and took less than 60 seconds to fish a new one
into place. The tube by the way is the diameter of a pencil. Real
fun to work in and try to see what you are doing with a small
flashlight...not! The back washer has been a real joy so far. It is
set back about 3-4 inches and there is a groove in front of where it
is supposed to go where the hole to the TE line is. As I said in the
title, I am about 8 hours now into trying to fish the new O ring back
into the groove it needs to go in. I have a thin metal probe with a
small 90 degree hook at the end that works well enough. I can
eventually get a piece of the O ring to seat into the right groove but
pushing the rest of the O ring into the groove has proven elusive.

Anyone else had any success seating a new washer/o ring? I figure it
has to work in the next 20 or so hours of trying - LOL. Thanks for
any tips or tricks.

Bruno - B4

Anyone else had any success seating a new washer/o ring? *I figure it
has to work in the next 20 or so hours of trying - LOL. *Thanks for
any tips or tricks


Use a piece of tubing or rod that somewhat precisely fits into the
part of the socket you are trying to seat the o-ring into and use
*that to push it into place. A dab of Superlube grease would go a long
way here. Using a hook tool may damage the o-ring and/or put scratches
in metal walls you want to be remain smooth. Also be sure you used the
correct o-rings, which are going to be metric in this case.

-paul

I had a similar problems with a mud wasp in one of the club member gliders
making a home in the TE probe line
what I did was disconnect the tube at the instrument panel and then
connected a shop vac to the tail TE socket ...this way I didn't have to
worry about expanding the vinyl tube and blowing it off the metal TE
socket...I then ran a small weed whacker plastic string in and used a bucket
of hot water at the instrument panel to wash the mud out...continued the
vacuum until the line was again dry and all debris was removed....worked
fine and no cutting the probe socket from the tail was ever needed....
this will likely work for you to get out any remaining broken rubber O rings
out
tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com


"Bruno" wrote in message
...
Long story short, I decided to go for broke and change out the two
front rubber washers/ O rings in my pitot tube in the tail of my
ASW-20B. Years of dry pitot tubes going in and out had taken their
toll on the washers and they were starting to leak. Reminder to all -
lightly grease your pitot tubes so they keep the internal washers
happy.

OK, the front washer is easy as cake to replace. It is only about an
inch into the tube and took less than 60 seconds to fish a new one
into place. The tube by the way is the diameter of a pencil. Real
fun to work in and try to see what you are doing with a small
flashlight...not! The back washer has been a real joy so far. It is
set back about 3-4 inches and there is a groove in front of where it
is supposed to go where the hole to the TE line is. As I said in the
title, I am about 8 hours now into trying to fish the new O ring back
into the groove it needs to go in. I have a thin metal probe with a
small 90 degree hook at the end that works well enough. I can
eventually get a piece of the O ring to seat into the right groove but
pushing the rest of the O ring into the groove has proven elusive.

Anyone else had any success seating a new washer/o ring? I figure it
has to work in the next 20 or so hours of trying - LOL. Thanks for
any tips or tricks.

Bruno - B4

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Hang in there Bruno. I learned long ago that it would take me twice as long and cost me twice as much as it would had I hired a COMPETENT MECHANIC.

Still enjoy watching your videos on Youtube.

Walt

On Mar 4, 12:06*am, sisu1a wrote:
Anyone else had any success seating a new washer/o ring? *I figure it
has to work in the next 20 or so hours of trying - LOL. *Thanks for
any tips or tricks

Use a piece of tubing or rod that somewhat precisely fits into the
part of the socket you are trying to seat the o-ring into and use
*that to push it into place. A dab of Superlube grease would go a long
way here. Using a hook tool may damage the o-ring and/or put scratches
in metal walls you want to be remain smooth. Also be sure you used the
correct o-rings, which are going to be metric in this case.

-paul

Paul has got it right. Find a rod that fits or machine a piece of
brass or similar to a close match and use that to push the greased O-
ring in. You will need to work out whether the rear O-ring is easier
to install with the front one out or not. You may need two different
diameter rods. without seeing the mount its not possible to know. I
know its a PITA, I've done this standing out on the ramp in the hot
sun...

Darryl

On Mar 5, 12:44*am, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.
wrote:
Hang in there Bruno. *I learned long ago that it would take me twice as
long and cost me twice as much as it would had I hired a COMPETENT
MECHANIC.

Still enjoy watching your videos on Youtube.

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

Actually I am expecting a video on this one as well.......;-)

Originally Posted by marco

On Mar 5, 12:44*am, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.
wrote:
Hang in there Bruno. *I learned long ago that it would take me twice as
long and cost me twice as much as it would had I hired a COMPETENT
MECHANIC.

Still enjoy watching your videos on Youtube.

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

Actually I am expecting a video on this one as well.......;-)

His videos are the best, very high quality stuff from Bruno. I fly vicariously thru his lens. Love the mountain flying stuff, as a Florida flat land flyer the view is no where near as spectacular.

Walt

On Mar 5, 2:02*am, marco wrote:
On Mar 5, 12:44*am, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.

wrote:
Hang in there Bruno. *I learned long ago that it would take me twice as
long and cost me twice as much as it would had I hired a COMPETENT
MECHANIC.

Still enjoy watching your videos on Youtube.

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

Actually I am expecting a video on this one as well.......;-)

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. After close to 14
hours the little bugger finally popped into place! Wow! It is not as
easy as it sounds. The O-ring is very deformed while in the must
smaller diameter tube and is a real joy to get into that crazy groove
3-4 inches back. Well, at least I can testify that it is possible to
do. I found a few tricks along the way that really helped at the
end. Had I used those from the beginning it would have taken only an
hour or two at the most. Live and learn. If anyone ends up in this
situation in the future and needs to know the tricks, feel free to
contact me.

Looking forward to paying close attention to the Seniors this week!
Good luck all and fly safe.
Bruno - B4