I see a few small blisters on my engine cowl?

[Buckaroo]

I just got back from throwing a bottle of McGuires finest wax on my CTSW. There are two quarter size blisters on the cowl. I'm sure a snag on a rag would peel a unsightly chip. My first thought was to pain a drop of clear nail polish on those but would like to ask members first.

[Buckaroo]

Will do asap! Actually there are others here and there but very small and not circular. This makes me wonder if hot points on certain engine pieces or vibration prone areas from close engine pieces are causing these? They almost appear as stress points from either engine heat or vibration?

[Buckaroo]

Yes, I think subduing these spots is smart now before they blister off and leave a nasty 1/2 dollar non painted area on the cowl!

[FlyingMonkey]

My 2007 CTSW has an area of cracked and peeling paint on the right side lower cowl, about the size of my palm.  I think it was caused by radiated heat from the muffler.  At some point I will repaint it and apply some heat reflective insulation to the inside of the cowl in that area.  For now it seems only an aesthetic issue.

[Buckaroo]

I wonder if a guy should coat the whole inside cowl area with heat tape as a preventive measure?

[Buckaroo]

I believe you but why?

[FlyingMonkey]

I believe you but why?

 

I'm guessing because it will trap heat under the cowl and raise temps.  There are some temp-sensitive components (like ignition modules) under there that don't like the temps to be any higher than necessary.

[Buckaroo]

Yes that's the only thing I could think of but really it doesn't sound logical! There is so much air shooting into that space a little reflective tin foil would hardly make a difference. I would imagine it's a very small design flaw which after 500 hours or so results in blisters.

[Buckaroo]

I examined the cowl inside and there's no indication of burning, marking, engine contact etc. on the carbon fiber. I wonder if the blistering on a few places is from vibration harmonics?

 

It would be interesting to see cowls from several CT's that exhibit these small blisters just for curiosity.

[Anticept]

Post pictures

[Runtoeat]

My CTSW's right side of the upper cowl has a close clearance at the fuel pump and there's a little area here that's spider cracked. All still looks good for being 10 years old.  I still have people who look at it at fly-ins and don't believe that it is a 2006.  Most older composite aircraft that have had good upkeep and have been kept in hangars look good.