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Found a cracked firewall on a 1990 Cessna 172 last Thursday
I was doing a routine annual on a plane out of Van Nuys airport and spotted a hairline crack near the battery box. It ran about 3 inches along the lower firewall edge. Apparently the previous shop didn't tighten the battery hold-down properly and vibration did the rest. Anyone else ever caught something like this on a high-time airframe?
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mia7482d ago
That "vibration did the rest" part hits close to home. A buddy of mine found a similar crack on a 172 out of Burbank a few months back, same spot near the battery tray. His was from a loose strap that let the battery bounce around on a rough taxiway.
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terry_carter152d ago
Jump right in with that exact thing @mia748. I've been noticing this same kind of failure in other stuff too, not just planes. My buddy had a lawnmower battery that came loose and it cracked the whole plastic housing just from bouncing around his yard. And I saw a big truck battery do the same thing on a job site because a bracket snapped. It's like we think batteries are just heavy blocks that sit still, but they really are just waiting to shake themselves to death. Vibration is way more destructive than people give it credit for.
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