Piper Arrow 180 Landing Gear Problem

[Tan]

On tonight's flight, my landing gear would not retract down while on an approach. Decided to go miss and troubleshoot. I noticed by voltage dropping so I figured my alternator was out and decided to head back to my home airport close by. I still had plenty of batter power left and was still above 12 volts but the gear would not actuate. I hit the emergency gear drop which worked as designed a landed without incident with 3 green and mirror verification. My mechanic is going to check it out tomorrow. Has anyone had this issue before?

 

[Daleandee]

Yep. Been a few years ago riding with a friend in a Commander 112. Emergency drop worked as designed ...

 

[Tan]

Yep. Been a few years ago riding with a friend in a Commander 112. Emergency drop worked as designed ...

What caused yours not to drop?

 

[ArrowFlyer86]

Had my gear (in my Arrow) get stuck in-transit (the in-transit light stayed illuminated). Constantly trying to actuate the gear also caused higher power consumption on the ammeter.
Unlike your circumstance, I was able to get it down after waiting a couple minutes and trying again (it took a few tries). Had 3 in the green but I did a tower fly by to confirm gear was down to be safe.

Turned out to be a failing motor (worn brushes) that drives the pump for the gear which was working intermittently. Got it repaired haven't had an issue since.

Do you know the last time that was serviced/inspected on your plane?

 

[mandm]

If the gear is taking a longer time to raise/lower then my guess is your brushes are worn on the landing gear motor. I had mine serviced and it’s fine. If they break then you might have to buy a new motor, meaning it becomes a 5-6k job since the motors were bought out by a larger company and prices raised, from what I remember.

How old is your alternator? Your battery?

If your landing gear is not working, another option is that the fuse was blown, or the landing gear lights are burnt out, or the up/down limit switches are bad. I believe there are 2 for each wheel for a total of 6. Pain to troubleshoot.

 

[Tan]

On this flight the take off retraction worked as normal. Plane is only 20 hours out of annual my mechanic checks the gear and power pack. When I first retracted it the in transit light stayed lit but the gear did not drop.

 

[mandm]

Do you have a battery tender on your battery? If the battery was only 12V then it’s possible you didn’t have enough power to operate the landing gear. Age of alternator and battery?

 

[Tan]

Do you have a battery tender on your battery? If the battery was only 12V then it’s possible you didn’t have enough power to operate the landing gear. Age of alternator and battery?

Yes I have a tender. It was fully charged when I took off. My battery without the alternator runs about 12.1 with a full load on it and 13.6 while in flight with a good charge from the alt.

 

[Adventure]

Arrow IV here and my gear didn’t extend earlier this week for my third landing of the day. Successful e-extension. And now my A&P has a rebuilt power pack on order. Need an AMU tree.

 

[Hang 4]

Yes I have a tender. It was fully charged when I took off. My battery without the alternator runs about 12.1 with a full load on it and 13.6 while in flight with a good charge from the alt.

Both those voltage #'s seem a bit low. What battery? Also have you checked the alternator belt tension? There's a bunch of simple and lower cost things that could drive low voltage. Clean connections to battery, alternator etc. Check battery capacity. Alternator brushes, when last serviced? Voltage regulator.
Assume landing gear is pretty high draw, if electrical is weak, the gear could be pushing it over the edge.

 

[Bell206]

It was fully charged when I took off.

What was the battery voltage when fully charged?
Was the power pack electric motor brushes checked as part of the annual?

 

[mandm]

Yes I have a tender. It was fully charged when I took off. My battery without the alternator runs about 12.1 with a full load on it and 13.6 while in flight with a good charge from the alt.

Sounds similar to what I had, I created a thread about the battery voltage previously and conclusion was that the voltage regulator should have been adjusted to 14.5Volts. There’s an adjustment screw under the panel to do this. Not saying this alone will solve the problem but it’s something to look into. I would almost do another test flight in the pattern and see if the landing gear is working. If it is, then that might isolate the problem to the alternator / battery since you know the battery is right off the battery tender when starting off.

 

[Daleandee]

Yep. Been a few years ago riding with a friend in a Commander 112. Emergency drop worked as designed ...

I was a passenger (PNF) in a friends plane as we were headed into HXD. We landed without incident. His A&P later found that a control cable was flexing and interfering with a wiring connection somehow. I don't really know enough about what was found to give a better description than that.