WindOnHisNose
BENEFACTOR
Lino Lakes MN (MY18)
In November of 2019 Grant Wallace was kind enough to install the Sutton exhaust system in Santa's PA18. Shortly after that we installed the Federal 2200 hydraulic skis, just as we have for many years. The skis were made in 1957 and you may recall the thread Darrel Starr and I posted here regarding the renovation of those skis. The skis employ a large spring on each side, attached at the motor mount aft and the tip of the ski.
Grant suggested that I purchase the removable tail pipe from the Sutton's, and I did. We chose to angle the exhaust laterally, so as to avoid having the exhaust entering the cockpit.
When I removed the skis in the spring of 2020 I noticed the right spring was "sprung", so to speak, in one distinct area.
I attributed this to the age of the springs (we chose not to replace these when we renovated the skis). I promptly forgot about the spring until I installed the skis just before Santa's flyin in December and I called Grant to ask where one would order new springs. I described the defect and he speculated that the defect most likely resulted from the exhaust stream, which was aimed right at the spring. Of course, it wasn't an issue when the skis/springs were not installed.
I spoke with Dave Sutton and he acknowledged that this can be a problem not only with the spring installations, but also with those skis with bungees instead of the springs. He suggested re-indexing the removable exhaust (which we did) vs purchasing the extended exhaust pipe). I spoke with SJ regarding this and he pointed out that this might now cause increased levels of CO in the cockpit, and I will keep an eye on this. The solution may still be using the extended exhaust pipe.
I have since ordered, received and installed new springs. All is good now, but I thought this is something that should be mentioned here.
Randy
Grant suggested that I purchase the removable tail pipe from the Sutton's, and I did. We chose to angle the exhaust laterally, so as to avoid having the exhaust entering the cockpit.
When I removed the skis in the spring of 2020 I noticed the right spring was "sprung", so to speak, in one distinct area.
I attributed this to the age of the springs (we chose not to replace these when we renovated the skis). I promptly forgot about the spring until I installed the skis just before Santa's flyin in December and I called Grant to ask where one would order new springs. I described the defect and he speculated that the defect most likely resulted from the exhaust stream, which was aimed right at the spring. Of course, it wasn't an issue when the skis/springs were not installed.
I spoke with Dave Sutton and he acknowledged that this can be a problem not only with the spring installations, but also with those skis with bungees instead of the springs. He suggested re-indexing the removable exhaust (which we did) vs purchasing the extended exhaust pipe). I spoke with SJ regarding this and he pointed out that this might now cause increased levels of CO in the cockpit, and I will keep an eye on this. The solution may still be using the extended exhaust pipe.
I have since ordered, received and installed new springs. All is good now, but I thought this is something that should be mentioned here.
Randy