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Can hear aileron cable rubbing when cold in 185

Tom3holer

Registered User
Cape Cod
I noticed when cold turning the ailerons left or right on the ground with the engine not running I can hear the a aileron cable rubbing in the left wing.
It was in the low 30's the other day and rotating the wheel I could hear a cable rubbing on what sounded like the aluminum skin. When temp is up around 40's there is no audible rubbing.
It was my understanding that when cold the cables will be somewhat looser due to the different coefficient of expansion between aluminum and steel. Wings shrink more than cables. Had my mechanic look at it yesterday when it was in the 40's. We opened opened a panel on the aft portion midway out beyond the strut attach point and he said it measured around 22. Said spec was 30 +- 10 which puts it in range. Told him I wanted to take it in the hanger and have him take a good look.
Can anyone shes a little light in whats going on?

Thanks,
Tom
 
Very long shot possibility. IF............you have an autopilot..........and if it attaches to aileron cable............that could be the noise you hear as the attachment point moves around????
 
Pete,
Thank you for the reply. I do have an A/P but it was installed last month and uses pushrods but this had been going on for quite some time now.
 
Had same thing happen on my cub the first winter i had it. Noticed an aileron cable scraping noise. Looked up in there with a mirror and a flashlight and found someone went on the wrong side of one of the rib cross braces with the cable. Never notice it until winter also.
 
Lower rear door post is a common rub spot with fuel line. Sound may be in different area


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
One thought since it is a 'below freezing' phenomenon, could you have a pulley that won't turn when cold, causing the chafe? If nothing else, that would be something to look for.
 
Just finished the annual and every pulley was tested for rotation and lubed. I don't think cable tension was checked however.
 
We opened opened a panel on the aft portion midway out beyond the strut attach point and he said it measured around 22. Said spec was 30 +- 10 which puts it in range. Told him I wanted to take it in the hanger and have him take a good look.
Can anyone shes a little light in whats going on?

Thanks,
Tom

Bit of a delay and going in Monday to have a look see.

Better look before it gets heated up. The rubbing may go away by itself when the plane is warmed up. Your tension was 22 with a tolerance of 20 - 40. Sounds loose to me.
 
Tom, I was re-rigging last few days and recall the book says aileron carry through cable tension is 40#.
The Trio aileron servo is attached by a rod to the RH bellcrank. Were there any changes during the install?
 
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I had to chase down a rubbing cable in the fuselage of a C172. Several of us looked all over for a rub and couldn't find it. Turned out to be a servo capstan rubbing against a cable retainer post.

We were amazed at how a smooth capstan, running agains a smooth post converted into a rough 'cable rubbing noise'.

Don
 
Yes the Trio uses a pushrod but there were no cable adjustments made. The noise I have noticed for some time long before the A/P installation.
Mudwagon, Thank you for the heads up, the carry through tension as I see is 40 +-10 so 22 is certainly on the loose side.
 
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If I recall correctly, the only valid tension measurement is on the aileron carry thru cable. Not on either direct cable.
Lou
 
Do you hear this noise when pushing the ailerons through their range at the wing? Change directions quickly and you may hear the cable slap a little? Sounds normal to me.
 
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