Preventative Maintenance

[GrassStripFlyBoy]

Being the new owner, and following activity on board, it seems I'm always noting info for future needs - recent highlights being the slow flap cycling, firewall bolt corrosion topic, on and on.  Issues I don't have problems with, but when the day comes I will know what's up.  So, thanks all here, for the wealth of knowledge those continue to put into this site, it truly is something special as we share our passion and support one another.

Seeing the topic of lube, corrosion, electrical gremlins, etc, these broad and frequent issues, wondering if there are recommended countermeasures to proactively prevent these types of headaches from occurring in the first place?  Such as treating certain electrical connections with anti-corrosion agents.  Applying lubricants besides at the yearly inspections, etc.  I bring this up as I doubt anyone thinks to clean and treat those connectors on the firewall bolt during an annual, and I'm not one to wait for something to "go bad" then fix it.  This is what I'm discussing here, obviously following the prescribed maintenance plan / annual inspection and such is primary protection, I'm wanting to get up to speed on all of these other problems and hopefully avoid them.  The stuff that is more of a time in service, age of fleet, slow to develop and cause pain.

I realize this is potentially a large list of topics here, so will focus back to electrical.  Is it advisable to apply product to prevent corrosion, what product and how frequently needed?  

[Anticept]

DC-4 or some similar dielectric grease on non-data carrying electrical contacts. Do not use conductive greases as you risk causing shorts. The purpose of it is to prevent oxidation.

Slow flap cycling: cycle flaps below published speeds, slower is in general better.

Use dry lubricants like INOX. As aircraft age using wet lubricants, it attracts dirt, which causes issues.

Keep it sheltered when reasonable.

Know where chemicals belong, and where they don't. For example, EZ turn fuel compatible lubricant on the o-rings of the fuel tank caps is fine, it belongs no where near the carb gaskets because it doesn't dissolve in fuel and if a bit gets into the bowl, it can gum up the jets.

Ask your inspector to not just note what needs to.be fixed, but also if they could write down general conditions too. They see a hose that is starting to look an off color? It is a good idea to simply keep a running log so that you can tell if it's a problem getting worse, or if it's just how it is.

Learn the limits of your brake system. CTSW owners: your brakes are nylon tubes that get exploded to a lot of harsh conditions, replace the hoses if you see crazing. Matco system owners: don't pull hard ok the brakes. That's how you damage the system, there is tremendous leverage and it's built to be light weight.

Keep the tires inflated. Popped tires occur very easily when the tires are very underinflated.

You're not going to.be able to stop age degredation, it's just plain going to happen. What you can do though is learn to focus on the areas that are the most difficult to repair or most concequential when failures occur, and keep up on maintaining those areas.