Landing gear circuit breaker

[alim]

Frank, seriously - no offense taken! Just a thought that crossed my mind as I'm thinking about the project/problem/solution. Please share your thoughts about why "it's insane" - the more educated I am the better I can come up with the best resolution. I've got a replacement 35-amp pullable in hand. I've also got plenty of space in my panel to put it - where all of the factory gauges were. I could install the pullable c/b in that location and wire it up - I've got power from the main buss to that location already.... Another thought...

Thanks.....

You're trying to solve 2 problems here .

1) How to protect the electrical circuit, motor, other components etc due to a short / overload etc
2) Disable motor in case of logic failure due to bad microswitch, etc



Putting a pullable circuit breaker solves 1) and 2)
Putting a switch there only solves for 2).

now if i misunderstood your post - you want to add in a switch in addition to the regular CB - why add the complexity ? You *CAN*.
One more thing to check, on more thing that will fail etc ..

 

[Commander91gm]

Frank, seriously - no offense taken! Just a thought that crossed my mind as I'm thinking about the project/problem/solution. Please share your thoughts about why "it's insane" - the more educated I am the better I can come up with the best resolution. I've got a replacement 35-amp pullable in hand. I've also got plenty of space in my panel to put it - where all of the factory gauges were. I could install the pullable c/b in that location and wire it up - I've got power from the main buss to that location already.... Another thought...

Thanks.....

Adding a switch adds another failure point - if your A&P isn't OK with cutting the buss - he surely wouldn't be OK with adding a non standard switch that would surely require a 337 to be filed. Bad choice - do it right and change the breaker!

 

[Charlie]

Adding a switch adds another failure point - if your A&P isn't OK with cutting the buss - he surely wouldn't be OK with adding a non standard switch that would surely require a 337 to be filed. Bad choice - do it right and change the breaker!

Thanks for all the good advice.... On to getting under the copilot side - hopefully I won't have to remove the seat to get the job done!

Hmmmm.... can't seem to "double quote" like on the old site..... Appreciate the comment/info Moazzam!

 

[Frank]

When I bought my airplane it only had a non-pullable breaker for the gear pump and it was changed out at the first opportunity. Why it had not been changed out years ago is rather puzzling. After reading the posts here over the years it appears all of the Commanders had the non-pullable installed originally. I am surprised they too were not changed out years ago.

 

[gmores]

Ok, I have an original non-pullable circuit breaker for the gear pump as well and would like to have a pullable. Given that a "drop-in" replaceable 35A pullable circuit breaker with the existing non-pullable could not be found based on my exhaustive searches another solution must be found. This is because all pullable 35A breakers are too high fot eh bus-bar to connect with.

The general workaround of cutting the bus-bar to allow the larger 35A breaker to be installed and then making a wire jump would not fly with my a&p mechanic at all (and he's pretty cool on signing off on most things). He said the proper way would be to replace ALL the breakers in-line row with pullables and then use the bus-bar to align across those so no bus cutting was necessary. I have already done that on the avionics row just above it and they now are all pullable. I have not checked to make sure that all sizes of breakers however will be at the same config to allow the bus bar to go across the input lug of each due to these larger amperage breakers.

Cutting the buss bar and jumping around it - if done correctly - is standard wiring practice so I'm surprised your mechanic would have some issue with it, but you have to live with the guy. Of course, it would probably be a great idea to replace all the old breakers with new pullable breakers but that's a pretty costly undertaking.

But whatever it takes to get it done. Burning up pump motors is pretty expensive, too.

 

[rringgold]

I found a non-pullable breaker marked ACT on my sub panel.
All the other CB’s are marked accurately. I must dig into the books to find out what ACT stands for.

 

[FS]

I found a non-pullable breaker marked ACT on my sub panel.

Is it a 35a breaker? Are any of the breakers on the lower panel 35a?

 

[alim]

Thanks for all the good advice.... On to getting under the copilot side - hopefully I won't have to remove the seat to get the job done!

Hmmmm.... can't seem to "double quote" like on the old site..... Appreciate the comment/info Moazzam!

Testing double-quoting

Is it a 35a breaker? Are any of the breakers on the lower panel 35a?

And testing it again ...


i just had to bring up the same thread in 2 tabs to grab the quotes from and merged into a single post ..

 

[alim]

When I bought my airplane it only had a non-pullable breaker for the gear pump and it was changed out at the first opportunity. Why it had not been changed out years ago is rather puzzling. After reading the posts here over the years it appears all of the Commanders had the non-pullable installed originally. I am surprised they too were not changed out years ago.

I found a non-pullable breaker marked ACT on my sub panel.
All the other CB’s are marked accurately. I must dig into the books to find out what ACT stands for.

Found easier way to quote 2 posts.
Hit quote on each post
then hit "Post Reply (2) at the top

and it quotes both.

sorry for minor hijack.

 

[Codeeno]

42w had an un-pullable breaker when she came my way. That was changed out and I added indicator lights for my fuel pump and gear pump at the same time.

Dean

 

[rringgold]

My ACT breaker is a 35A. What does ACT stand for?

 

[alim]

my act breaker is a 35a. What does act stand for?

actuator


Your POH has electrical instruments circuit breakers listing.

 

[Jaybird]

[Don't know why your A&P would have an issue with cutting the buss Bar - pretty standard practice!

When my A&P said your plane has had a non-pullable breaker for 40+ years and no problem I don't know why you need it now...it was pretty hard to argue.
But I still would like one.

 

[Sherman]

When my A&P said your plane has had a non-pullable breaker for 40+ years and no problem I don't know why you need it now...it was pretty hard to argue.
But I still would like one.

Yes if you have a Pump or pressure issue (weep, low fluid, E dump Valve not fully closed, like you accidently bumped it off the UP lock position, pulling the breaker will save your pump, if the issue is not just electrical.

If electrical, like you loose an GEAR UP microswitch, actiivation, especially {most likely when} if a tang breaks, pulling the breaker will save your pump, if the issue is not just electrical. If you loose a tang, The Red 'Gear in transition' light will still stay on, but that's not a big deal.

Coming back from Oshkosh in '14, when I landed for fuel at an airport in Ohio that Scott recommended, I confirmed the tang broke, used a popsicle stick and some duct tape to activate the ball bearing of the Left main Up microswitch, and kept the Red transition light off for the nonstop flight Ohio to Virginia. Now the Red Light will still activate when you start the gear retraction until the two other UP microswitches (R Main & Nose) are tang activated.

 

[Sherman]

Rolf, if you do have a non pullable 35 amp breaker, its a pretty simple matter (If you can contortion under there (your a bit taller than I am) to swap the breaker. Simple that is if you don't loose the teensy screws for the two wires that attach to the breaker. The issue is what other breaker wires you may have to temporarily relocate to access the two wires you need to swap to the new breaker. Given that the wires are thicker than the others, you may have to remove them before removing the 'old' breaker. A very short screwdriver MIGHT be necessary for the Top wire. I have a couple of Finger press screwdrivers just for working on those breaker wires. Helps to use a Cloth Napkin in your chest and have a small magnetic pickup with you, more for the teensy washer as well as the breaker screw. Guarantee the screw will fall at least once. I use a bit of medical adhesive or 'paper tape' to '\, as the British say 'Offer Up' the screw to the breaker .

Now - some breakers have two different size screws and some don't. And some are phillips heads, and some are slotted. So you want to see what you need to minimize your contortioning getting up under and out. Oh and a small inspection mirror is helpful too! Just had to share this!