More Flaps Shenanigans

[FlyingMonkey]

Hey all...

I've been having some occasional issues lately with "flaps hesitation".  I make a flaps change (usually 15° to 30°) and there will be a second or three of pause before the flaps move.  Yesterday I was about to turn base and tried to move the flaps from 15° to 30°, and the display blinked 30 as if the flaps were moving, but the flaps never moved and the display just kept blinking.  I moved the flaps back to 15 and then 30 and they worked normally. 

Because the display changed, I think the flaps switch is okay.  I'm thinking maybe the connections back at the flaps motor might be weak and intermittent.  Does anybody with more experience fixing these systems have any other/better ideas before I start digging in to try to diagnose this?

[Tom Baker]

That sounds like the current might be a touch to high and the cut out is not allowing the flaps to move. It used to be an issue if someone tried to put the flaps down while to fast. There is an adjustment on the firewall board, but probably better off to find out why there was a change.

[FlyingMonkey]

1 hour ago, Tom Baker said:

That sounds like the current might be a touch to high and the cut out is not allowing the flaps to move. It used to be an issue if someone tried to put the flaps down while to fast. There is an adjustment on the firewall board, but probably better off to find out why there was a change.

Hmm...I was definitely on speed for 30° flaps at around 60kt.  But that's at the upper end for 30°, so maybe I'll try not lowering them until I'm slower and see if that resolves it.  As I said it's always happened going 15->30 so its possible the motor is a bit over-sensitive to resistance.  I'd like to figure out what has changed as I never had this problem until the last 6 weeks or so and it seems to be getting worse.

[Roger Lee]

I'd do this test just to rule it in or out.

Not saying this is your problem for sure, but too much speed (a.k.a. wind resistance) will keep flaps from deploying properly. I would do as you stated and try a tad slower for 30 flaps. At 30 & 40 my approach speed on final was always 50 knts. 

All this said I'm fairly sure I deployed 30 flaps at 60 knts coming down from 15.

[FlyingMonkey]

9 minutes ago, Roger Lee said:

I'd do this test just to rule it in or out.

Not saying this is your problem for sure, but too much speed (a.k.a. wind resistance) will keep flaps from deploying properly. I would do as you stated and try a tad slower for 30 flaps. At 30 & 40 my approach speed on final was always 50 knts. 

All this said I'm fairly sure I deployed 30 flaps at 60 knts coming down from 15.

That's what I will do...POH lists 61 or 62kt, I have deployed at that speed before with no problems, but maybe things are just older now and it doesn't like those speeds.  I'll wait until 55kt-ish to deploy and see if the problem resolves.

[tevbax]

Cooler weather usually makes this hesitation worse for our plane. Under 80kts, flip to 15 and wait for it to step 4 or 5 times before the light stops flashing. Ill be getting into the control board shortly to see what going on. 

[FlyingMonkey]

Had the issue the other day going from 0 to 15 in the pattern, so still an issue.  On the ground I pulled the spade connectors from the motor and used contact cleaner on them.  I also re-lubed everything I could get to.  The flaps *seemed* to run a little smoother/faster after that, but that could just be a placebo effect.  I'll have to fly it some more to figure it out.  I hope I don't need a new motor/actuator, those suckers are pricey.

Hoping Madhatter comes up with a drop-in solution soon! 

[Bill3558]

I recently had to repair the connection to the flap motor. It appeared to be spade connected but the wires were actually soldered to the motor spade connector and one had broken. 

[FlyingMonkey]

17 hours ago, Bill3558 said:

I recently had to repair the connection to the flap motor. It appeared to be spade connected but the wires were actually soldered to the motor spade connector and one had broken. 

What year model airplane?  My 2007 seems to be just regular spades and not soldered.

[Towner]

While this is an obvious flap issue, my question is about possible structural damage, not flap repair. Long story, but I was flying, testing the flaps after some work. Well, none of the presets worked, so I switched to manual. Now, manual didn’t initially work and seemed to be stuck at -6. I was doing about 95 knots.
Suddenly, the flaps started going down. I think I may have had the manual switch in the down position, but really not sure. Chopped the throttle and immediately put the flaps in the up position. They did start coming up, but I’m guessing they went down close to 30 degrees before retracting. Felt like a speed brake as they were going down.

Again, this is not about the flap problem, but should I be concerned about any structural damage from the flaps deploying at this speed? 

[Anticept]

Take a close look around the areas where they anchor to the hinge points and the hinge points themselves. If there's any issues worth following up on you will be able to see them visually. The one you need to be most concerned about is the one that also has the aileron anchored to it.

[Towner]

Thanks