Hobbs No More

DutchessFlier

DutchessFlier

Line Up and Wait
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DutchessFlier
The other day, the Hobbs meter just stopped working. Everything else works fine, any suggestions? Fittings and the oil line were cleaned and checked in the pre-buy and the meter worked fine up until it just stopped.
 
It happens. The Bo we bought for a local guy had the dead one in the spare parts box.

DutchessFlier said:
The other day, the Hobbs meter just stopped working. Everything else works fine, any suggestions? Fittings and the oil line were cleaned and checked in the pre-buy and the meter worked fine up until it just stopped.
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DutchessFlier said:
The other day, the Hobbs meter just stopped working. Everything else works fine, any suggestions? Fittings and the oil line were cleaned and checked in the pre-buy and the meter worked fine up until it just stopped.
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Not uncommon. Take it out and hook it to a battery directly. If it doesn't work, replace.

National Aircraft Parts Association (NAPA) carries them for about $25.
 
What is that prayer?

Dear God, if anything fails on this POS rental in IMC let it be the Hobbs.

BTW when we got ours it had had the hobbs replaced at about 500hrs, the previous owner added a flight timer with an air speed switch. Well worth his money.

Joe
 
My Hobbs hadn't been working since last Fall. The clock wasn't working, either. I thought they might have to be replaced. During the March 2010 annual inspection -- bad fuse was discovered. Both the Hobbs and clock were on the same fuse, now working fine. Have you checked a possible fuse problem?

HR
 
Clock is working fine, so they are on separate fuses. I will search for a fuse on the Hobbs. I did check out the prices for a new one, they are pretty inexpensive. Can I do the replacement myself, ie does it fall under preventive MX? and is the new meter logged in to the airframe log as zeroed out at the time of replacement?
 
DutchessFlier said:
Clock is working fine, so they are on separate fuses. I will search for a fuse on the Hobbs. I did check out the prices for a new one, they are pretty inexpensive. Can I do the replacement myself, ie does it fall under preventive MX? and is the new meter logged in to the airframe log as zeroed out at the time of replacement?
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You can do the work "under supervision" but will have to get an A&P to sign this off in the logs. Hobbs meter replacement isn't listed in part 43 App A.
 
Who cares, its a Hobbs meter! The only thing those are good for is rentals.
 
Check the electrical connection at the pressure switch. A tweak on the screw there got mine going again.
 
gismo said:
You can do the work "under supervision" but will have to get an A&P to sign this off in the logs. Hobbs meter replacement isn't listed in part 43 App A.
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its 4 screws in the panel and 2 at the pressure switch...no big deal.
 
taters said:
its 4 screws in the panel and 2 at the pressure switch...no big deal.
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I agree that it's a simple procedure but unfortunately that doesn't make it legal. IMO it would be just nuts to replace a Hobbs meter without making a log entry unless the only time reference in the logs was tach time. And if you make such a log entry without a proper signoff you've just made the aircraft unairworthy in the eyes of the FAA (and probably your insurer). If you signed it as a pilot sans A&P cert. and it's not something a pilot can legally return to service you've just produced evidence the FAA could use to hang you.
 
DutchessFlier said:
The other day, the Hobbs meter just stopped working. Everything else works fine, any suggestions? Fittings and the oil line were cleaned and checked in the pre-buy and the meter worked fine up until it just stopped.
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Your time has run out! Now you're living on borrowed time. :D
 
The hobbs on my cherokee was intermittent when I bought the airplane. I never
bothered to fix it. I just wrote down the engine start and stop times and logged it.
When I did an extensive overhaul I simply removed the hobbs.
 
Bob Noel said:
The hobbs on my cherokee was intermittent when I bought the airplane. I never
bothered to fix it. I just wrote down the engine start and stop times and logged it.
When I did an extensive overhaul I simply removed the hobbs.
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Most aircraft that I have flown didn't have one. But that was in the olden days.

My current ride does - along with the tach time. And, of course, they don't agree...

Other than being able to report more hours on the engine / airframe when I sell it (compared to the tach) what is the advantage of the Hobbs?
 
PittsDriver said:
Note to self, never buy an airplane from this guy....
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Why? Just because none of my planes have a Hobbs meter that means what exactly? I'm interested to know why I'm such a horrible person to deal with. Certainly no complaints from my past dealings.
 
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Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Most aircraft that I have flown didn't have one. But that was in the olden days.

My current ride does - along with the tach time. And, of course, they don't agree...

Other than being able to report more hours on the engine / airframe when I sell it (compared to the tach) what is the advantage of the Hobbs?
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You'll be able to sell it tp PittsDriver - which probably according to him would be you reaching the pinnacle of your avation related endeavors.
 
No, I'm a big fan of Hobbes.

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The Free Bird has no Hobs meter and never did. I don't miss it in the slightest. I would just put an "inoperative" sticker on the thing and keep flying.
 
Ahhhh: The path we take in the threads!!! Love It!

My friendly radio shop, while having the panel off to put in my GTX330 did me a solid and put in another hobbs for me and it was a freebie!!! So-now I can run around claiming that 26E has zero hours on the hobbs and just keep the face of the tach covered!

Do I also now have an additional 1000hrs to go until TBO?
 
EdFred said:
Who cares, its a Hobbs meter! The only thing those are good for is rentals.
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Well, suppose you might want to lease your plane back to a flight school or FBO... maybe that would make a difference? ;)

I don't know if Bruce is contemplating that with his new bird or not, but it's a consideration for some folks.

Personally... Tom told me the Hobbs in 8JT was "probably" INOP. I've never checked to see one way or the other. :dunno:
 
The Hobbs meter on our C150 was intermittent for a while, then quit working. Took it to a shop, and he replaced the Hobbs, and it still didn't work. Then all of the sudden, it started working again.

Turns out it was the fuse holder was bad. A different A&P discovered this on annual, and replaced it with a circuit breaker he had sitting around. It has worked fine ever since. BTW, on a 150, the fuse is located on the engine side of the firewall.
 
Just replace it, and then mail me the log book and a suitable cash gift. I'll sign it of for you. :p

(JUST KIDDING!)

-Rich
 
Hi Liz! No more leaseback for this bird. When all was said and done, it helped offset some of my training costs, but in the end, the cost of doing the MX pretty much ate away any real profit. The tax writeoff was okay, but I also am much more into this plane being treated gently.
Rich: Can you turn back the tach as well? Nice thought!!! Hobbs at zero / Tach at oh say 1000hrs TTAF / Who needs 2000 hrs TBO! Sorta like they used to be able to turn back the old analog odometers in our cars?
 
DutchessFlier said:
Hi Liz! No more leaseback for this bird. When all was said and done, it helped offset some of my training costs, but in the end, the cost of doing the MX pretty much ate away any real profit. The tax writeoff was okay, but I also am much more into this plane being treated gently.
Rich: Can you turn back the tach as well? Nice thought!!! Hobbs at zero / Tach at oh say 1000hrs TTAF / Who needs 2000 hrs TBO! Sorta like they used to be able to turn back the old analog odometers in our cars?
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Actually, I can't do much of anything at all to an aircraft -- legally, at least. I only have an Airframe rating, and I've used it only sporadically over the years.

My plan was to go into Avionics, for which (I thought) I really only needed the FCC license and the Airframe ticket. But that didn't pan out because the aviation industry was very slow when I got out of the service, and my lack of the "P" rating put me at a disadvantage for the few jobs that I did apply for.

So my "experience" has been limited to freelancing: doing the physical installation of radios and antennas (most times, the equipment still had to be calibrated by a shop when I was done), a fair amount of electrical troubleshooting here and there, and quite a few 100-hour inspections of gliders when I was living in Upstate New York back in the early 1980's. But even what work I have done has been far enough in the past that I wouldn't be legally current to do much of anything today.

-Rich
 
Areeda said:
What is that prayer?
Dear God, if anything fails on this POS rental in IMC let it be the Hobbs
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The Renter's Prayer

Dear Lord,
If I must have an instrument failure
Let it be the Hobbs
 
We used to have a "quote of the day" on PoA, but I can't find them anymore. I seem to remember the Hobbs quote among the quotes and attributed to TriStar.
 
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