May 15, 2022     Cooling Test - (1 hour)       Category: Air Cond

Approximately 1 lb of R-134A refrigerant was charged to the previously evacuated system and with the engine running until the high side/low side pressures reached about 200/30 psig. Ambient conditions at the time of the test were 83.5 F and 75% RH. An Omega Engineering RH85 handle hygrometer was used for the measurements. With the compressor engaged and evaporator fan speed at medium, the following results were obtained:

  Nov 13, 2021     A/C install - (4 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Installed cold air plenum. Drilled five #40 holes then match drilled into lateral roll bar support. Match drilled #27 and drilled #40 holes for K1006 nut plates. Dimpled and riveted nut plates to support.

Shorted length of canopy pull down handle to allow clearance for eyeball vent.

  Nov 12, 2021     A/C install - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Fabricated and installed condensate drain.

  Nov 11, 2021     A/C install - (3 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Installed temp switch. Wired evaporator plug and attached. Confirmed evaporator fan operation. Installed relay mounts. Cleaned up wiring and bundled. Inserted new o-rings and torqued all fittings to 80 in-lbs.

Punch List:
1. Shorted left side condenser vent duct
2. Fab and install drain
3. Reverse low and med evaporator blower leads
4. Attach foam around supply and returns
5. Attach brackets to evaporator
6. Attach access panel.
7. Fit and attach cold air plenum
8. Finish and paint plenum

  Nov 10, 2021     A/C install - (4 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Fabricated and installed receiver/dryer mount. Cut and crimped all hoses.

  Nov 09, 2021     A/C install - (3 hours) Category: Air Cond

Drilled and bolted forward condenser blower angle iron support to longerons. Located and installed evaporator supports and confirmed fit to access panel. Purchased parts from hardware store to fabricate holder for receiver/dryer.

  Nov 08, 2021     A/C install - (5 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Fabricated aluminum flange for evaporator blower outlet and riveted to evaporator. Welded fiberglass hose flange to inside of plenum with flox. Installed aft condenser support angle to longerons with AN3 bolts. Bolted condenser to aft support member. John sending temp switch he forgot to install.

  Nov 07, 2021     A/C install - (5 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Mounted evaporator support bracket to access panel. Cut openings in access panel for supply and return vents. Test fit hoses.

  Nov 06, 2021     Evaporator Mock-Up - (5 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Erected a mock-up for the custom evaporator which arrived yesterday. Fabricated angle iron supports and access panel mounting plate.

  Nov 05, 2021     Compressor lubricant and hoses - (1 hour) Category: Air Cond

Added lubricant to compressor. Installed o-rings and tightened all refrigerant line fittings.

  Sep 21, 2021     Condenser Vents - Close Out - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Riveted right boot to flange. Clecoed left boot assembly to fuselage opening, match drilled #30, and demurred holes. Reclecoed and countersunk louver plate for BSC-44 pop rivets. Riveted boot assembly and louver plate to skin. Repeated on right side. Louvers are oriented forward on the intake side (right) and backward on the exhaust side (left)

  Aug 16, 2021     Air Plenum - (2 hours) Category: Air Cond

Removed foam and sanded smooth. Applied flox and additional glass cloth to thin areas.

  Aug 14, 2021     Air Plenum - (3 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Temporarily installed air plenum and marked areas the need. to be built-up to form a better fit. Used green closed-cell foam insulation from Lowes to creating backing for fiberglassing. Glued foam sections in place and taped faces with packing tape to ease release. Applied several layers of fiberglass extend and reinforce extensions. Allowed to cure overnight.

  Aug 13, 2021     A/C install - (1 hour)       Category: Air Cond

Riveted boot to flange with LP4-4 and attached hose end. Fed assembly through aft fuselage and clecoed to louver cover and skin. Tested two options for flush pop riveting using a BSC-44 and an MK-319-BS through sandwiched layers totaling 0.1". The MK-319 requires a smaller countersink and leaves a better appearance.

  Aug 12, 2021     AC controls - (6 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Installed fan switch and connected to ac switch on panel. Installed a panel-mounted LED wired to ac switch. Ran two #14 wires for low and medium speed fan controls to aft of baggage bulkhead. Wired compressor and condenser relays and temporarily mounted. Turned on system and confirmed condenser fan operation with pretty good air flow. Confirmed with John that fan is pulling air through coil and discharging on pilot side. Match drilled #35 and countersunk left side louver cover. Installed boot and drilled #40 holes along all side for fastening. Disassembled and applied RTV and clecoed together overnight.

  Aug 11, 2021     A/C install - (2 hours) Category: Air Cond

Cut vent opening on right side.

  Aug 09, 2021     A/C install - (1 hour) Category: Air Cond

Located right side vent and drilled mounting holes.

  Aug 08, 2021     Plenum and Evaporator mock-up - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Mocked-up plenum vent configuration and marked position of evaporator on aft face of bulkhead access panel. Evaporator will need rectangular stubs on both openings. Sketched planned flow diagram. Mocked-up evaporator mounting.

  Aug 07, 2021     Plenum, continued - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Sanded plenum and dug-out the foam core. Removed fiberglass on forward and aft faces and test fit.

  Aug 06, 2021     Plenum, continued - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Sanded plenum and applied coat of tinted epoxy and micro to fill voids. Allowed to dry overnight.

  Aug 06, 2021     Condenser Vents....continued - (4 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Completed riveting screens to front of vent flanges using thin aluminum strips on inside as hold-downs. Starting on left side, positioned louvers over fuselage at a panel location aft of the second bulkhead and aft and below the static port at an angle of 3.1 deg to match the angle of the main forward longeron. Taped louvers to fuselage side and match-drilled #40 all mounting holes. Marked online of cutout, removed louvers, and carefully cut the opening using a multitool. Filed opening to final size and deburred. Clecoed vent flange and louver cover to fuselage.

  Aug 05, 2021     Condenser Vents - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Began planning condenser intake/exhaust plumbing. After careful consideration, decided to install fan intake on left fuselage side just aft of the static port. A hole will need to be cut for the intake flange oriented parallel to the main cabin longeron and a screen installed. Considered several options and decided best approach is to insert screen and secure with a flush-riveted band on the inside. Getting a bucking bar on conventional rivets will be nearly impossible, so plan to blind riveting the louver plate to the skin and flange with pop-rivets.

  Aug 05, 2021     Plenum, continued - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Sanded plug and coated with release wax. Laid-up several layers of fiberglass and allowed to cure overnight.

  Aug 04, 2021     Condenser Install - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Fabricated angle iron supports for condenser and rails to span main fuselage longeron.

  Aug 04, 2021     Plenum, continued - (1 hour)       Category: Air Cond

Sanded plenum and re-coated with tinted micro.

  Aug 03, 2021     Plenum, continued - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Built-up ends by gluing additional foam to better route scat tube. Sanded, shaped, and coated foam mold with micro slurry. Allowed to dry overnight.

  Aug 02, 2021     Plenum, continued - (3 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Used hot wire to carve foam to close to final desired shape. Applied micro along radius turns to strengthen and allowing shaping. In retrospect, micro may be too hard resulting in oversanding foam. May be better to use bondo. Allowed to dry overnight.

  Aug 01, 2021     Supply Plenum - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Built form for air supply plenum and prepared polyurethane foam.

  Jul 30, 2021     Mock-Up, Continued - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Unboxed additional parts received from John and continued mock-up in aft fuselage. Match drilled and clecoed condenser outlet fan shroud. Clamped SCAT tubing to each side and inlet boot. Mounted evaporator mock-up so it will eventually flange up to bulkhead door.

  Jul 20, 2021     Condenser Mock-Up - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Started mocking-up location of condenser.

  Jun 22, 2021     A/C install - Cabin Close-Out - (4 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Installed left and right side bulkhead fittings using SS washers (NAS 1149-C1490R, NAS 1149-C1290R) on each side. Applied bead of pro seal on fwd side and torqued nut on aft side. Installed and torqued left and right side torque tube pushrods. Secured refrigerant lines under pushrods with cable tie and confirmed sufficient clearance under pushrods. Cut each hose to length and crimped a 45 degree RB fitting.

  Jun 12, 2021     V-Belt saga - (1 hour)       Category: Air Cond

Back from a week on vacation. Pulled prop. Installed Gates XL 9400 v-belt arrived for A/C, but it's a bit too short. Ordered 1" and 2" longer belt from O'Reilly.

  Mar 19, 2021     Crimper practice - (1 hour)       Category: Air Cond

Tested out crimper and discovered beadlock fitting need to be reduced barrier type other than standard. Ordered new fittings from TBI Products.

  Dec 04, 2020     Air Conditioning - (2 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Ran #8 coolant hose and secured with Edel clamp.

  Nov 21, 2020     A/C install - (4 hours)       Category: Air Cond

Ran coolant hoses through new pass-through holes in main spar.