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Uncommanded feather PA-39
I had the pressure on the nitrogen charge in the dome checked, and they were indeed high, but fixing that hasn't fully resolved the problem.
I don't think there is any thing directly related to the governor overhaul that would cause an uncommanded feather. So that leaves possible problems with the reinstallation of the governor. But so far, my mechanic hasn't been able to isolate the cause.
Anyone experience anything like this?
Thanks.
Tomoharu
- Tomoharu Nishino
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 3:29 am
Re: Uncommanded feather PA-39
Did have this problem once on departure, B-nut backed off and engine 'failed' due to fuel starvation. Do not use paddles to correct this condition. Husband was solo and handled beautifully.
Patricia Jayne (Pat) Keefer ICS 08899
PA-39 #10 Texas
N3322G- ICS member
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- Location: Fort Worth, Texas area
Re: Uncommanded feather PA-39
One thing I might try is to go to a single grade oil -- the two times it has occurred were on hot days with a hot engine (was doing landings), so maybe the oil is too thin to maintain pressure. (I've had the plane for about a year, and it spent most of last summer in maintenance, so this is really my first summer with the plane. So I just don't know if it is something that was happening previously during hot weather.)
I think the risk of the prop feathering, and not being there for a go around is relatively small. It does take a few seconds for the prop to go into feather, and you can usually tell from the vibration the engine makes from the high load, and bumping the RPM back up seems to restore the enough oil pressure to prevent it from fully feathering.
Tomoharu
- Tomoharu Nishino
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- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 3:29 am
Re: Uncommanded feather PA-39
Zach
Zach Grant L1011jock- Technical Advisor
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Re: Uncommanded feather PA-39
Tomoharu
- Tomoharu Nishino
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 3:29 am
Re: Uncommanded feather PA-39
So after a frustrating summer of trying to track down the problem of the uncommanded feather with a hot engine in low-RPMs, we eventually figured out the cause, which turned out to be a problem with the oil transfer system between the engine and the governor.
I initially tried switching to a higher viscosity single weight oil during the summer, which seemed to help. But we finally diagnosed the problem when I had the A&P remove the governor, attach a blank plate in its place, and conduct a pressure test on the oil transfer system. The engine failed that test. The fact that my initial experience of the problem coincided with an governor overhaul seems to have been a coincidence.
This basically required an engine IRAN (ouch!). The plane is back and the engine is being broken in. The engine only had about 500 hours on it, BUT, the previous owner hadn't flown it much and it had been 12 years since the last overhaul. I guess an engine that sits a lot just isn't happy.
Tomoharu
- Tomoharu Nishino
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 3:29 am