From: N295VV@aol.com
Message-ID: <3e027c26.35f9e392@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 22:59:30 EDT
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Subject: Re: Heater, IV episode 4
Mime-Version: 1.0

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From: n295vv@aol.com

Well, the plot thickens.  As you remember, I gushed great praise over the new
$400 heater kit.  Then I started to assemble it.  Seems there are a few
shortcomings:

1)  The mounting flange for the push/pull cable is in the wrong place.  In
fact, there isn't even a right place for it.  First of all,  there is not
enough physical distance for the cable to swing the full distance to
completely open or close the heater valve.
Secondly,  the valve arm is not engineered to allow the valve movement without
severely bending the cable during its movement, thus binding like hell.

2)   The valve itself leaks like a seive--leaks magnitudes worse than the
flapper valve I am replacing!  If I thought the cabin was hot from hot turbo
air leaking through the old valve, this new one would make the cabin seem like
Dante's Inferno.  We measured at least 0.035" slop between the concentric
tubes--a necessity since the weldments on them have made them elliptical--but
it has made the end use useless.

3)   The valve has an extra port to dump hot air to the exterior when the
defrost and cabin ports are closed.  Well, just what I wanted--use $2.25
gasoline and $5000 turbos to generate hot compressed air, and then dump it
overboard!  I can visualize the wastegate working to balance this.

4)  Of a minor note,  when the valve was welded up, a bolt hole was blocked by
a side flange--making the hole useless.

Well, now I have a nice-looking, $400 valve that is absolutely unusable--I
could probably re-engineer the cable attachement and the swing, but the
leakage is just too much.

I consulted with ES builder Scott Taylor, (of off-road truck racing fame),
today, and we are going to build a couple of similar, but functional valves
that won't leak.  I will keep you advised of our success.  Scott is one of the
finest machinests ever to come out of the Rockford area.  You should see the
shock absorbers on his race truck that he custom designed and machined--they
have a 24" throw and are about 8" in diameter.  If anyone can help solve a
simple heater valve problem,  Scott can.


David Jones.
Pecatonica, Illinois