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Thanks for the advice. I taped the areas by the wings and insulated behind the seats.There were voids around the leather boots. I think that was some of my problem. I'll seal the doors this afternoon. I adjusted the heater door last weekend. It was only opening half way. Im flying this afternoon. I'm pretty confident these these fixes will make a a big difference. Thanks

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One other area to check is to make sure the alignment of the heater hose that connects to the center console outlets is correct.  If one has the diffusers, I believe these align the hoses to the console holes.  If one doesn't have diffusers (my CTSW does not) I had to make a metal clip to position the heater hose so it is fully aligned with the hole in the console.  As I recall my console holes were slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of the heater hose and these were blocking the airflow.  I trimmed the console holes to be equal to the diameter of the hose.

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Make sure the rubber flap at the air inlet is not blocking incoming air. Until I got in the habit of checking it every time I reinstalled the lower cowl I had the same condition, low air flow. If the flap is down allowing air flow you should see a lot of air in the cabin. As I said I had many a cold morning flight until I remembered to check the flap. I'm assuming the inlet is the same on the LS as it is on the sw.

 

al meyer

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I don't know how CTls doors are sealed. 

 

On my CTsw, there is a rubber gasket that presses onto a flange on the door opening and seals against a flat opposing surface the door frame.  The door gasket/seal that came on my plane was a bit thin and leaked air.  It was replaced with an upgraded thicker gasket/seal I obtained from Flight Design. 

 

Now, I have to put a bit of closing pressure on the door in order prevent the latch mechanism from binding.  The door no longer leaks any air. 

 

BTW, for those wondering, the door latch mechanism that failed was on the passenger side, which still has the  thinner original door gasket/seal. 

 

Also, I have previously had the problem that Al described above (rubber flap covering ram air inlet for cabin heat).  Easy to check.

 

Fred

2006 CTsw

E-LSA

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Fred, I've resisted upgrading to the newer door seals due to these having a significant increase in cross section compared to the old original seals.  I felt the new seals would put a lot of pressure on the door latches. My "fix" for this is to add a thin (1/8" thick x 3/8" wide) length of closed cell foam applied to the fuselage at the front sealing areas of my doors.  Roger Lee suggested adding foam and my action is a reduced application version Roger's since this fixes leaks on my CT.  It would be nice to upgrade to the new seals and since you have done this, I am curious if you feel that the higher closing efforts might be taxing the latches.  I know the newer CT's all have these new seals but I'm thinking the latch holes might be positioned slightly more outboard so closing efforts are reasonable. 

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When I put the new door seal in years ago I removed the doors and re-drilled the screw holes. This allowed the door to come out a 1/16" and forward 1/6". My door fit perfectly in all directions. The top plate up at the door hinges have a metal plate embedded so re-locating holes is easy.

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Dick,

 

I found that when inside the plane, all I needed to do was actively pull the door closed while moving the latch and when outside, all I needed to do was put a bit of closing pressure on the door to move the latch. 

 

No problems with that door after five years of use.

 

I am sure that other sealing methods are also effective.

 

Fred

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Roger, I recall you relocating the door hinges but if not done right would cause a lot of heart burn.  You obviously did it right but I don't think I'll test the waters on this!

 

Fred, thanks for the reply.  Good to know the new seals are compatible with older doors.  I'm sealed with a little foam tape added so this is will be OK until my door seals finally need replacing.  Scuffing my butt over the seal each time I enter or exit is slowly degrading the seal and eventually, total seal replacement will be required.

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  • 2 years later...
On 06/01/2014 at 12:31 AM, Roger Lee said:

Hi Anticept.

Those are called cable stops, but don't use the crimp on kind because then once crimped your done with that cable. Buy the type that has a set screw. Then in the future if the cable needs adjustment or needs to be removed you can. I would also not pass the cable through the rod hole and attach the cable stop. First put the cable stop up to the hole in the rod and put the cable stop on. Then take a cotter pin and slide that completely down over the cable just behind the stop. Now put the cotter pin down through the hole and just slightly bend one of the cotter pin arms so it can come out. No need to get carried away bending the cotter pin. It can not and will not come out. Doing this this way will allow easy access and or removal any time in the future with no muss or fuss. I had a little picture from the old days back in early 2007 and FD was good with it. makes life easier behind the panel.

 

Found a picture and don't laugh I still draw stick people. I flunked first grade drawing in school and never recovered from the set back. :lol:

post-3-0-68760700-1388931926_thumb.png

Genius idea, Roger - super-simple super-effective.

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On 12/4/2014 at 9:56 PM, Jim Meade said:

I strongly recommend Kent Johnson in Stanton, MN for any work you need done. He's very knowledgeable about FD and Rotax and helps man the FD booth at Oshkosh most years.

http://www.stantonairfield.com/

Kent has retired and Stanton is no longer much help with FD airplanes. (I have not heard of him doing any work on the side.) Kent was really good but I don’t begrudge him retiring. I do miss chatting with him on occasion. 

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  • 2 months later...

This is how I  solved the door gap problem.

First thing I did was replace door  gaskets. Not much help but they had worn areas so it was still good. I looked at things again and found the  worn pins and worn hole in the door jamb. I ordered new door  pins and while waiting I looked at things again and started thinking about making some sort of bushing to correct the problem and prevent it  from happening again.. Notice on the door pin that locks the door in place that there is a good amount of  wear and there is also  some wear at the hole  in the door  jamb. While at Ace Aviation trying to find a bushing I came across the little plastic bushing and gave it a try. It was the right size, fits in whole and pretty close to the pin  size.

Didn't use the new door pins so if you need them I have them. The plastic bushing should last a while and they are easy enough to change when needed.

This solved the major door gap problem on all  4 airplanes. Heat still sucks so I will be going through that system to tighten everything up. Red RTV says good for intermittent use up to 650 degrees. How hot does the heater shroud  get? Will it hold  up ?

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It's definately wear. I have one that is over 4500 hours, one at around 3000, and another at 3500. They all do this. It's from vibration.

Plastic grommit inserts do protect the pin. It really should be something standard on CTs, to have a replaceable insert. The pins are far far more difficult to replace than a little drop in insert.

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An insert with  about 1/4 inch (or more) of surface area would probably stop all wear. The composite material is very hard and because it is thin it acts like a saw cutting into the pin with vibration. It would be easy at the factory but now the holes are also worn and figuring out just where center a hole to accept the insert might be tough. If it is a little off the door could be too loose or too tight. Maybe someone will come up with a way to locate the hole accurately. Then an insert would be easy to make a permanent fix and the original pins would still work. I can take care of inserts but son't really know how to locate the three holes so they are in the correct place.

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Door gaps are just door alignment problems and some of it is just from settling. It's easy to fix by just moving the door forward and 1/8" - 3/16". I have never seen a CT tha needed any inserts. Some CT's did need the door pin holes slightly elongated if the installed the new style door molding.

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Roger the wear in the pins and wear o the hole causes the door to be 3/16 to 1/4 inch loose. This means that it lets the door stay partially open. It doesn't close tight against the door seal. Removing the wear by using an insert puts the door back in line with the cabin when the door is closed. It also saves the tough job of replacing the worn pins.

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