The International Cessna 170 Association

ghostflyer wrote: My “aero harbour freight tape “ wasn’t accurate and was out by 1/2 in every 80 ins. It seem to stretch at the 40in mark.

I haven't had much luck buying from Harbor Freight. The last straw was a 1/2" Impact Wrench that would've turned faster had I blown in the fitting myself. Maybe I'm just that unlucky but for me it's worth more money to buy more quality. Other's mileage may vary.

IA DPE wrote:

ghostflyer wrote: My “aero harbour freight tape “ wasn’t accurate and was out by 1/2 in every 80 ins. It seem to stretch at the 40in mark.

I haven't had much luck buying from Harbor Freight. The last straw was a 1/2" Impact Wrench that would've turned faster had I blown in the fitting myself. Maybe I'm just that unlucky but for me it's worth more money to buy more quality. Other's mileage may vary.

Everything I’ve ever bought from Harbor Hreight more complicated than a floor mat has been a POS.

Anything requiring precision or accuracy should be sourced from more reputable places for sure. (You'd think a hammer would be fairly simple but the heads sometimes loosen on soft Asian wood handles.) However, I've enjoyed good success with their light-duty floor-jacks and winches and their 20-Ton shop press has been outstanding.
In a blatant attempt to steer back onto course...I'd avoid their inner-tubes if you're considering inflating your tailwheel with it.

Hey does anyone here know if the L19 aluminum wing tips will fit the 170B. I believe the outer wing panels are the same, but the part numbers are different for the tips. We have one fairly mangled original tip and I would like to replace it. Some shops actuall list the part as fitting 170/L19. Part number for the L19 is 0623100 . The 170B manual lists the tip as 0523700. There are a bunch of NOS L19 tips around for reasonable prices.

I'll answer your question with this statement. I owned a 170 which had L-19 wings which sported 170 wing tips. They are the same far as I'm concerned.

Unless they have the exact/correct PN you'll have to suffer a deduct from our picky judges tho'...

(I guess this silly comment should have been posted in the "Humor" thread.... as No. 101...)

I wonder if the mounting holes are different. Seems wierd that it is a different part number. BUT the bird dog was a goverment contract, so that part was probably 5000 bucks, while the 170 wing tip was 50 bucks

I have a lot of HF tools & equipment. No, its not Snap On, Mac or Craftsman, but with few exceptions, I find them adequate for most Cessna projects. Occasionally I have to use some of the other co's products. I wouldn't want to make a living as a mechanic using HF tools, but several I know say that for most applications they work ok and if one comes up missing or breaks, its not a big loss and can be replaced easily and less $$.

goodair wrote:I wonder if the mounting holes are different. Seems wierd that it is a different part number. BUT the bird dog was a goverment contract, so that part was probably 5000 bucks, while the 170 wing tip was 50 bucks

Can't comment about mounting holes. I can comment on other L-19 parts that have their own part number that are exactly the same as 170 parts with their own number. The tail wheel mount bracket and associated parts for one.

Bet the mounting holes are the same.

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:....

Bet the mounting holes are the same.

And even if they're not I'll bet the fairings will cover/hide the unused holes in the breakaway/wingtip.

Perfect. I will give it a try and report back:)

HELP again.... Our little 170B has been running like a sewing machine. Today, my son is doing his "checkride" for the tailwheel sign off. He rocks this thing and is doing better landings than me. Hate that! But my partner flew in last night with a dead battery. This morning I did a quick trouble shoot and sure enough, there is no charge at any rpm. I charged the battery overnight, did a quick broken wire/fuse check with nothing obvious. Replaced the AGS 20 amp generator fuse just in case. Nothing. No charge. Deep draw with landing light load and absolutely nothing on the positive side even at full power. The generator should do something and I even left the landing lights on for a while to see if the generator would kick in to bring the battery back up, but nope.

SO, I checked the log book and the voltage regulator was replaced about 200 hours ago. The part number in the log book states VR300-14-20, which is correct for this stock 20 amp old fashion generator. BUT when I looked at the aircraft I am seeing part number VR300-14-50. OUCH. I am thinking that this may have fried the generator. Could the 50 have been adjusted down to a 20? I am seeing that these are sold with different part numbers through spruce, so I am thinking small generator, big regulator = short lived generator.

Does anyone here know if there is a convenient alternator conversion to get a few more amps. As long as the regulator and generator need replacing/overhaul, I may as well look into the alternator option.

This aircraft is bone stock with the exception of an electric turn and bank, not sure why they did that. But all we have is a Garmin com, transponder, wing tip strobes and the normal lights. We were recently thinking of LED landing lights as my partner flies regularly at night. We would undoubtedly be just fine with another generator and I want to get this done yesterday so time is important.

Any input and ideas?? Thanks in advance!

You need to do some trouble shooting. We have a electric manual which explains a few simple procedures to test to see if you did fry the generator. Down load it here: http://cessna170.org/forums/membersOnly ... manual.pdf.

I'd think as soon as your regulator called for more than 20 amps your fuse would have blown and the generator would not be burned up. Many times you need to flash or polarize the regulator after removing and reinstalling the battery before the regulator will allow the generator to work. Also explained in the electric manual. See the bottom of page 5 in the manual. It is simple to accomplish. A picture of the jumper and how it is connected is on Appdx pg 7 Test 3 (cut out relay). The jumper only needs to be touched momentarily or "flashed".

The test to see if your generator works at all is Test 2 described on page 9 under battery low, charging rate low. It is called full fielding the generator. It is done with a jumper which is shown on appendx pg 6 Test 2 (Isolate regulator) What your doing with the jumper is isolating the or removing the regulator from the system and allowing the generator to make as much power as it can.

There is no simple alternator STC. No matter what one you would choose, the work is the same. Replace the generator with an alternator. Replace the regulator. Rewire with larger wire and breaker to accommodate the larger alternator.

Replacing your generator with a good generator and if you choose going with a 35 amp generator and regulator is the simple fix.

Thanks. I have the trouble shooting guide here and will go through that process tonight. I agree with the idea that it should have blown the 20 amp fuse if asking too much through the regulator. Makes sense. We have not done anything to the airplane, and the battery/elec system has been working great for about 60 hrs now. Is it possible that I need to polarize it, without ever disconnecting anything? Would you still replace the regulator to match the generator? I like the 35 amp idea, but feel it is not worth rewiring anything for another generator so I will have to measure what guage wire is in there to see if it can handle 35 amps. It also only has a 30 amp meter.....

I will trouble shoot tonight and report back. Thanks for the input!