Vacuum Failure

Stingray Don

Stingray Don

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Stingray Don
It is always something. A beautiful day today here in Indy, so I decided to go for a flight. Cruising along and see the red warning light on the panel. Check the suction gauge and it reads nothing, nada, zero, zilch. Used the standby vacuum to complete the flight (not that it was really needed for a CAVU day). I wonder how much this will cost? I would love a pair of G5’s but that may not be in the budget right now.

Depressed in Indy
 
Sorry, Don!

I think you’d be pleased with a G5...or two. They’re nice!
 
Typically $400 to $600 for the pump. A lot less than a G5 or two. You can do the fussing with installing it yourself with hand tools if you have a mechanic who doesn't mind owners getting involved with their planes.

At least you're still flying. The master solenoid on the Dawg packed it in on Thursday when I went to fly it on a gorgeous summer evening. I thought the battery was dead, but no luck. The 5-amp breaker on the coil circuit trips every time the master switch goes on. Part won't be in until Tuesday, so the perfect weather we have this morning is going to waste. :(
There's always something...
 
GRG55 said:
Typically $400 to $600 for the pump. A lot less than a G5 or two. You can do the fussing with installing it yourself with hand tools if you have a mechanic who doesn't mind owners getting involved with their planes.

At least you're still flying. The master solenoid on the Dawg packed it in on Thursday when I went to fly it on a gorgeous summer evening. I thought the battery was dead, but no luck. The 5-amp breaker on the coil circuit trips every time the master switch goes on. Part won't be in until Tuesday, so the perfect weather we have this morning is going to waste. :(
There's always something...
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Well, $400 - $600 isn’t too bad. I’ll have to go that route over the G5s.

Sorry about your plane. Hopefully, you will be back in the air soon.
 
Stingray Don said:
It is always something. A beautiful day today here in Indy, so I decided to go for a flight. Cruising along and see the red warning light on the panel. Check the suction gauge and it reads nothing, nada, zero, zilch. Used the standby vacuum to complete the flight (not that it was really needed for a CAVU day). I wonder how much this will cost? I would love a pair of G5’s but that may not be in the budget right now.

Depressed in Indy
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Sorry to hear about your vacuum pump. Heck my pump is at least 23+ years old. Same pump that was installed when I bought the Sport. I'll have to check logs to see when t was installed. Funny thing I thought my ignition switch went tits up, engine would not shut down with switch. Ended up being broken P lead left mag. Always something.

GRG55 said:
Typically $400 to $600 for the pump. A lot less than a G5 or two. You can do the fussing with installing it yourself with hand tools if you have a mechanic who doesn't mind owners getting involved with their planes.

At least you're still flying. The master solenoid on the Dawg packed it in on Thursday when I went to fly it on a gorgeous summer evening. I thought the battery was dead, but no luck. The 5-amp breaker on the coil circuit trips every time the master switch goes on. Part won't be in until Tuesday, so the perfect weather we have this morning is going to waste. :(
There's always something...
Click to expand...
Hope you get it fixed without spending two many $ bills
 
AKBill said:
Funny thing I thought my ignition switch went tits up, engine would not shut down with switch. Ended up being broken P lead left mag. Always something.
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That's what I figured it would be. Most common.
 
I was just in Indy for another training class. Every time I go, I get sick. No idea what it is about the city but it doesn't like me.

Wish I had time then to hang out!
 
Stingray Don said:
It is always something. A beautiful day today here in Indy, so I decided to go for a flight. Cruising along and see the red warning light on the panel. Check the suction gauge and it reads nothing, nada, zero, zilch. Used the standby vacuum to complete the flight (not that it was really needed for a CAVU day). I wonder how much this will cost? I would love a pair of G5’s but that may not be in the budget right now.

Depressed in Indy
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Sorry to hear that Don. Not good.

I recommend this type of vacuum for your replacement... Its your color....

iu
 
Well, the verdict is in.... yes, the vacuum pump has given up and will need to be replaced. I think they said $350 or something thereabouts for the new pump - not too bad. I should be flying again next week after the annual is done!
 
Would a venturi derived alternate vacuum source every be viable?
 
Stingray Don said:
Well, the verdict is in.... yes, the vacuum pump has given up and will need to be replaced. I think they said $350 or something thereabouts for the new pump - not too bad. I should be flying again next week after the annual is done!
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I am sure it could have been worse. Cool beans. It that a "new" new pump or re-manufactured "new" pump out of curiosity?
 
The vacuum system was my least favorite part of any piston aircraft I flew. I'd take the opportunity to dump it and replace with digital.
 
My dry vacuum pump quit a couple years ago, took the thing apart and found nothing broken but the plastic shear coupling. $18 later its still working fine 75 hours of flight time on it. Those plastic couplings are recommended to be replaced every three years I believe. With the number of folks ripping out vacuum pumps you can buy used pumps for pennies.

upload_2019-7-25_10-50-17.png
 
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bnt83 said:
Those plastic couplings are recommended to be replaced every three years I believe. With the number of folks ripping out vacuum pumps you can buy used pumps ones for pennies.
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Six years. The heat of the engine, along with any oil or solvents, causes deterioration of the coupling, and a used one probably would be false economy.

https://www.tempestplus.com/Portals/0/PDFs/SLs06-21-12/SL-001 Shear Coupling Service Life.pdf

http://www.rapcoinc.com/pdf/Service letters/Rapco Service Letter RASL-008.pdf
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The vacuum system was my least favorite part of any piston aircraft I flew. I'd take the opportunity to dump it and replace with digital.
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I change ours out every 500hrs or so as preventative. After we recover from the re-engine this past winter, some panel upgrades are in the plans. I'd love to ditch the vac system and go G5.
 
Stingray Don said:
I got the plane back from annual with a new vacuum pump. Went for a post maintenance flight yesterday evening.....

It sucked! :D
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Great to hear you are back in the air!
Hopefully without too much AMU induced bank account trauma. ;)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The vacuum system was my least favorite part of any piston aircraft I flew. I'd take the opportunity to dump it and replace with digital.
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Need it for the boots though. :p
Or should I be telling everyone the only thing worse than a vacuum pump is two of them? :D
 
Bill Jennings said:
I change ours out every 500hrs or so as preventative. After we recover from the re-engine this past winter, some panel upgrades are in the plans. I'd love to ditch the vac system and go G5.
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Replacing the things every 500 hours is a good plan. I waited until failure, but I had two.

On the Aztec I also had wet vacuum pumps, which last much, much longer. But when they break, they are also much, much more expensive. I had one break on me.

GRG55 said:
Need it for the boots though. :p
Or should I be telling everyone the only thing worse than a vacuum pump is two of them? :D
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The need of vacuum for boots is annoying. And by the way, I hate boots. I really hate de-ice. As useful as it is to have, it's been the second most expensive system I've had to service on any aircraft, the most expensive being turbocharger related items.

I'd really like to be able to go with something that has no de-ice.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Replacing the things every 500 hours is a good plan. I waited until failure, but I had two.

On the Aztec I also had wet vacuum pumps, which last much, much longer. But when they break, they are also much, much more expensive. I had one break on me.



The need of vacuum for boots is annoying. And by the way, I hate boots. I really hate de-ice. As useful as it is to have, it's been the second most expensive system I've had to service on any aircraft, the most expensive being turbocharger related items.

I'd really like to be able to go with something that has no de-ice.
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I hear you. But mine has been largely trouble free so far, except for replacing the brushes on the prop heat system on both sides this year.

The Aztec is the first plane I've ever owned with de-ice, and because of where I live I won't have a cross-country plane without it now.

Boots seem a long way from becoming obsolete. After watching the servicing of the TKS systems by the maintenance shop in the hangar attached to my office, chasing leaks and trying to keep the system balanced seems a PITA, not to mention the mess it makes. TKS seems the perfect anti-ice solution...as long as you don't ever use it. ;)
 
GRG55 said:
I hear you. But mine has been largely trouble free so far, except for replacing the brushes on the prop heat system on both sides this year.

The Aztec is the first plane I've ever owned with de-ice, and because of where I live I won't have a cross-country plane without it now.

Boots seem a long way from becoming obsolete. After watching the servicing of the TKS systems by the maintenance shop in the hangar attached to my office, chasing leaks and trying to keep the system balanced seems a PITA, not to mention the mess it makes. TKS seems the perfect anti-ice solution...as long as you don't ever use it. ;)
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Keep in mind the Aztec is also one of the best performing aircraft in ice, period. I'd say the MU-2 is a bit better, but that's mostly because it's fast and 1) gets out of it faster 2) can go fast enough that ice doesn't accumulate at lower altitudes.

Aztec: "Yeah, we got 6" of ice on the thing."
ATC: "Are you declaring an emergency?"
Aztec: "What? Why would we do that? We lost like 1 MPH of airspeed."
 
Honestly, an Aerostar 600A with no de-ice strikes me as an appealing aircraft if I didn't need to haul dogs. It'll do 200 pretty efficiently, has Lycomings instead of Continentals, etc.

Thing is, you don't want to fly an Aerostar in ice regardless of whether or not it has de-ice. :)
 
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