The majority of aircraft owners spend a huge amount of their money and time to keep their seat covers glossy and the exterior paints of their aircraft flawless. In comparison, there are some who make sure that the engine of their aircraft is in pristine condition and is properly maintained. But there are only a few who take the time to check the exhaust of their plane.
The exhaust is the most integral part of your aircraft. Just like without a heart, humans couldn’t function. Similarly, without an exhaust, an aircraft can’t fly.
Therefore, you need to maintain your aircraft exhaust regularly, just like all the other parts of your aircraft, as the maintenance of your aircraft exhaust has a huge impact on its overall performance and the safety of its passengers.
If the aircraft exhaust fails, it causes problems like carbon monoxide poisoning or can even ignite a fire. Therefore make sure that you hire a certified and trained aircraft welding technician to maintain your aircraft exhaust system.
Also Read: Basic Quality Assurance Standards Practiced At Acorn Welding
There are some aircraft models that are best known for their product durability, quality, and style, such as the Cessna 340, 140, and 172 models are known for their built quality. But still, even the best aircrafts’ in the market are not fully resistant to wear and tear. Therefore, even if you own one of the above models, you still need to maintain the exhaust system of your aircraft.
If you have not maintained your aircraft exhaust in ages, then it's never too late to start taking care of your aircraft’s neglected parts. Keep on reading, and you will find a step-by-step guide on how to maintain your aircraft’s exhaust system.
Dissect The Exhaust
The first step is to dissect the exhaust of your aircraft, so before you do anything else, remove all the shields and shrouds from the stack and muffler of your aircraft. This is the most crucial step as it will give the cleaners a deeper view of your aircraft exhaust and they will be able to clean it properly.
A common mistake that most aircraft welders make is that they go straight into cleaning the exhaust system of their aircraft and do not remove any shields and shrouds.
Diving straight into cleaning without dissecting the exhaust will lead to overlooking the possibility that there might be dents or cracks in those areas and will let the dust settle in those parts of your aircrafts’ exhaust.
Thus, make sure that you hire a certified aircraft welding technician, as they know how to properly maintain the aircraft’s exhaust system.
Inspect All Parts
Once you have removed the outer covering of your aircraft, check for uncommon coloured discharges, leaks, or compromised soot.
There are many ways to check for leakage, but the most effective way is pressure blasting. Firstly you will need to pump some air into the system. Then you will need to inject soapy water to check for weird-looking discharge. This pressure blasting will help you make sure that there are no pinholes, cracks, or leaks in the clamps and joints of your aircraft’s exhaust.
While maintaining your aircraft’s exhaust, it is important to inspect all parts closely, because the tiniest of holes and cracks cause the biggest problems. Hence, you should closely inspect all the parts of your aircraft’s exhaust system.
Repair Or Replace Missing Components
After inspecting and cleaning all parts of your aircraft’s exhaust, it is best to check for missing components such as screws, bolts, nuts, or plugs.
For the aircraft exhaust, items such as the fins and heat studs are very crucial because there are the heat regulators of your aircraft. A missing stud causes overheating so it's better to replace or repair these parts of your aircraft exhaust.
For the mufflers of your aircraft, the baffles are very important, as a broken baffle will cause power loss. So if any of these components are lost or broken, make sure to replace or repair them immediately.
About Acorn Welding
Acorn Welding offers different product design capabilities. Each member of our team has over 20 years of experience in aerospace manufacturing. As technology progresses, the experience of our product design team is preserved and passed on to new members. We offer jig fabrication design capability with our years of experience.
Acorn Welding has grown to become Canada's largest aircraft exhaust and engine mount company. Growing even more in 2006 with the purchase of Radial Exhaust from West Virginia, Acorn is now also the largest radial and vintage aircraft exhaust company in the world. Contact us for more information.
