Cherokee Archer trim

Archer Jack

Archer Jack

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Oct 24, 2018
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302
Location
Mansfield, TX
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Jack
Is it normal for the trim wheel on a cherokee to be very stiff and difficult to turn. Even when I turn off the electric trim it's still hard to move the wheel. Also, the electric trim is very slow. Could this be related to the tightness in the trim wheel? o_O
 
No, I don't think it should be hard to turn. Probably something simple but it's much easier to fix on the ground.
 
What is the ambient temperature? The barrel in the tailcone that actually moves the tab can have the lubrication stiffen up over time and when it's cold outside, it's usually noticeably worse.
 
Hang 4 said:
What is the ambient temperature? The barrel in the tailcone that actually moves the tab can have the lubrication stiffen up over time and when it's cold outside, it's usually noticeably worse.
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Haven't really flown the plane in any cold weather yet. I live in the DFW area and even at altitude temps have only been in the 40's(F)
 
Suggest you check all trim cable pulleys for proper cable routing.
 
Hang 4 said:
What is the ambient temperature? The barrel in the tailcone that actually moves the tab can have the lubrication stiffen up over time and when it's cold outside, it's usually noticeably worse.
Click to expand...

This is the answer. We had an Archer in our club and over time the trim stiffened up so that it wouldn't move with electric trim, and you (meaning I) could barely move it with the manual wheel. Our Chief of Maintenance refused to authorize the cleanout of the old congealed grease and re-lubing it with a lighter lubricant. It got into a shouting match at a club meeting, which ended with one of our CFIs shouting that he was taking the issue to the FSDO because one of his students, a petite woman, could not move it at all and that therefore the plane was unairworthy.

Next time I flew that plane the trim wheel moved freely and we had a new Chief of Maintenance.

Your A&P can, and should, fix this. -Skip
 
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Skip Miller said:
This is the answer. We had an Archer in our club and over time the trim stiffened up so that it wouldn't move with electric trim, and you (meaning I) could barely move it with the manual wheel. Our Chief of Maintenance refused to authorize the cleanout of the old congealed grease and re-lubing it with a lighter lubricant. It got into a shouting match at a club meeting, which ended with one of our CFIs shouting that he was taking the issue to the FSDO because one of his students, a petite woman, could not move it at all and that therefore the plane was unairworthy.
Click to expand...

We had the same thing happen on one of our club Archers, minus the shouting match and replacement of the maintenance officer. Of course, nobody really noticed until it was so bad the electric trim didn't work.

I can't remember for sure if it was just relubricating it or something else. In any case, it's not normal, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't cost a fortune to fix, or I would remember the exact cause!
 
All the cable pulleys have grease in their bearings that gets old and stiff, and the pulleys stop turning. That can add a lot of friction to the system as well.

Inspections are supposed to catch this stuff. The regs require the entire control system be inspected. Somebody isnt looking too hard.
 
If it’s brutally cold, read -20 on the ground, everything is hard including the trim wheel, still shouldn’t be hard to move. Relube or check the cables and pully things
 
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