rotec tbi broken spray bar

[ken nougaret]

I noticed a slight drop in my idle last weekend. So last night i pulled off my cowling to investigate linkages. Was going to anyway with a planned flight to oshkosh in 2 weeks. I discovered my tbi's mixture arm very loose and it was not rotating the spray bar. I took it apart and found the arm had separated from the spray bar. It appears to just be brazed. Not sure what to do at this point.

[ken nougaret]

It actually appears the inner piece has broken. Since i dont have much to lose im thinking of drilling the center of both pieces to put a small rod or something to provide a solid leg. Maybe glue it. Thoughts?

[ken nougaret]

Forgot the pic

[Av8r3400]

No replacement parts in the US for these?

[ken nougaret]

No. But i just got off the phone with Paul at Rotec. A new spray bar assembly is on the way. He thought it would only take a couple of days Fedex Express. Might make oshkosh after all.

[N213RV]

I might have what you need if you get into a bind. I have a unit similar to what you show on my shelf, it’s from a R2800 radial, but ‘looks’ the same.

[ken nougaret]

Hey Mike, thank you very much for that offer. But i should be good. I expect the new part to arrive mid next week. Won't be able to test until friday anyway. So long as i haven't damaged anything like seals during the disassembly, "no worries" as they say. Even though i have a new part on the way i went ahead with my repair. Not to pat myself on the back but my repair came out great. It appears to be straight and strong. I'll hold onto it as a backup.
Paul at Rotec said 2 things cause this breakage. Control cable not supported properly causing leveraged weight on the arm. The other, and probably my case, not having stops on the cable and allowing the tbi to hit its stop. He said the cable should never have enough travel to allow the tbi's stop to be hit.
Ken

[ken nougaret]

As of today i'm finally back in the air with a freshly overhauled carb. I put the rotec tbi on the shelf. Guess it needs rebuilding by rotec in australia. Feels good to fly after 2 months.

[Av8r3400]

Wow! How disappointing.

All this time and Rotec didn't send you the parts you needed?

[ken nougaret]

They did. I bought a new spray bar from them. After re-assembly it ran sloppy rich. That says that i must have damaged an internal seal when i reassembled. And only they can fix that.

[ken nougaret]

I'm not trying to talk negatively about rotec. The product is nice, but i think a little too delicate. My intentions with the kitfox from the beginning was to make it easy to work on. If i went on a cross country trip and needed parts, they would be easy and fast to get. The tbi doesnt fit into that.

[Av8r3400]

What type of carburetor did you go with then?

Most every A&P and their dog can work on a typical Continental carb...

[ken nougaret]

I had the original marvel schebler off the engine. It had been sitting for about 20 yrs so it needed a thorough overhaul. MA-3SPA.