Slick Mag Alert

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Magman

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Magman
It’s well know that ADs issued by the feds are published to address unsafe conditions. However; the manufacturer may use Service Bulletins to alert folks of equally unsafe conditions.

There are 3 instances where I have met mags that had Service Bulletins outstanding at the time of purchase and installation. While the reason the SB exists is Slick’s fault the culprits involved in having it actually installed in that condition rests with Distributors, Dealers, Installing Agency and possibly the Owner.

The latest case involved a mag with 14 months and 3 hours in service with 3 (THREE) Unaddressed SBs. Two of the bulletins pertained to components of the Impulse Coupling. If the components addressed were to fail the engine may be turned into trash. The 3rd Item related to the Distributor Rotor “ Finger” that is about a $125 item (plus install) that is a warranty item.

I have no idea of how many failures occur. It is evident that the Data Plate and supporting paperwork is not being compared with the SB listing. “ It’s new ; it must be good to go”.
It is; GO BACK to the factory.

My suggestion is Techs and Owners check the Data Plate for model and serial number. A cell phone camera will magnify and assist in this task. One source of the Bulletins is the Aircraft Magneto Service website. I would not want my signature in a log for a defective item.

Time well spent.
 
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ADs are normally generated when the manufacturer alerts the FAA and asks them to issue an AD. Slick seems reluctant to do this, and there are enough Slick SBs that should have been ADs. They were like this even before Champion bought them, the same Champion that sold us defective-design sparkplugs long after most of us knew that they had internal resistor breakdown problems.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Champion bought them, the same Champion that sold us defective-design sparkplugs long after most of us knew that they had internal resistor breakdown problems.
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EXACTLY!!! Now they are having a different problem with the spark plug nose ceramic cracking, and even getting into the cylinders. Numerous accounts of the new problem surfacing on the internet. One mag shop is activity advising it’s customers to stay away from champion plugs until it’s resolved.

Now, another new problem. This one is huge actually. A certain batch of points made by tempest for the bendix mags are coming loose at the rivet. I’ve found two bad recently. It’ll show up first as a timing problem. If you don’t catch that it’ll soon let you down with a hard failure during mag check. The mag OH shop demanded that I send all mags with this batch of points back for free replacement. I’ve now sent 4 for replacement. 2 of the 4 had failed.
The problem started when TCM points were back ordered. A lot of shops switched to Tempest due to availability. I’m predicting an AD on this soon.
 
Jdm said:
EXACTLY!!! Now they are having a different problem with the spark plug nose ceramic cracking, and even getting into the cylinders. Numerous accounts of the new problem surfacing on the internet. One mag shop is activity advising it’s customers to stay away from champion plugs until it’s resolved.

Now, another new problem. This one is huge actually. A certain batch of points made by tempest for the bendix mags are coming loose at the rivet. I’ve found two bad recently. It’ll show up first as a timing problem. If you don’t catch that it’ll soon let you down with a hard failure during mag check. The mag OH shop demanded that I send all mags with this batch of points back for free replacement. I’ve now sent 4 for replacement. 2 of the 4 had failed.
The problem started when TCM points were back ordered. A lot of shops switched to Tempest due to availability. I’m predicting an AD on this soon.
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Aircraft quality ain't what it used to be....
 
Magman said:
It’s well know that ADs issued by the feds are published to address unsafe conditions. However; the manufacturer may use Service Bulletins to alert folks of equally unsafe conditions.

There are 3 instances where I have met mags that had Service Bulletins outstanding at the time of purchase and installation. While the reason the SB exists is Slick’s fault the culprits involved in having it actually installed in that condition rests with Distributors, Dealers, Installing Agency and possibly the Owner.

The latest case involved a mag with 14 months and 3 hours in service with 3 (THREE) Unaddressed SBs. Two of the bulletins pertained to components of the Impulse Coupling. If the components addressed were to fail the engine may be turned into trash. The 3rd Item related to the Distributor Rotor “ Finger” that is about a $125 item (plus install) that is a warranty item.

I have no idea of how many failures occur. It is evident that the Data Plate and supporting paperwork is not being compared with the SB listing. “ It’s new ; it must be good to go”.
It is; GO BACK to the factory.

My suggestion is Techs and Owners check the Data Plate for model and serial number. A cell phone camera will magnify and assist in this task. One source of the Bulletins is the Aircraft Magneto Service website. I would not want my signature in a log for a defective item.

Time well spent.
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This part bothers me too.
 
This is not intended to be a rant against Slick. All of the mfg seem to have difficulties at times. Generally these are addressed by the Service Bulletin process.
Unfortunately; they are often ignored unless they are upgraded to an AD. An example of this is the Cessna Seat Rail SB. It was seldom complied with since it was not mandatory. Then the infamous accident occurred. The ruling that Cessna admitted making a defective product by issuing the Bulletin led to the lawsuit and a halt in production ensued. Later; Cessna slapped the Mandatory label on and it also became an AD.

It’s well known that developing an accurate AD Status can take many hours. To research all the SBs that may apply to a given aircraft would likely take 5 times the hours. Consequently it is seldom done.

Slick has identified some rather serious issues. They publicized them via the SBs and some type of warranty is provided. All this is moot if folks in the distribution/installation segment do not check for compliance. This can be done by anyone in the chain; preferably before installation.

Maybe someone can check on this and see what you find?
 
Clip4 - Bendix back? Bendix, TCM , CAT have issues also as in the preceding post.
The AD appears to apply to 1200 mags and involves improper lube of a Bearing.

Note that this concern is handled completely different than the Slick issues.
While it is unfortunate that there are any problems affecting Airworthiness at least the designation as an immediate action AD. We are talking about a fraction of a teaspoon of grease here. It would be a shame if aircraft were destroyed for lack of
knowledge of the discrepancy.
 
Correct, it’s the 1200 mags. They came out with a SB back around Jan that addressed this. Involves placing a stamp on the data tag once the SB’s been completed. Then the SB was revised a few times for something or another. Now the FAA issues the AD to ensure compliance. If the SB had been completed it counts toward the action requirements of the AD. Seems like I remember from the CSB that some small parts get swapped if the white grease is missing. Also read somewhere that the proper grease is back ordered now!
 
Unfortunately; many folks think that ADs should be addressed at Annual.
True ; sometimes. This AD is not one that can wait though.
 
Yep, and I hate that. There’s going to be a lot of illegal operations with this one.
 
Owners should research NOW and contact their Tech with intentions. My guess is very few shops have the needed 1/2 teaspoon of the specified grease and zero exchange mags. So now the Quick Annual can easily turn into weeks or months of waiting.
 
Jdm said:
Correct, it’s the 1200 mags. They came out with a SB back around Jan that addressed this. Involves placing a stamp on the data tag once the SB’s been completed. Then the SB was revised a few times for something or another. Now the FAA issues the AD to ensure compliance. If the SB had been completed it counts toward the action requirements of the AD. Seems like I remember from the CSB that some small parts get swapped if the white grease is missing. Also read somewhere that the proper grease is back ordered now!
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https://cessnaowner.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Continental-Roller-Bearing-CSB673C.pdf
 
Jdm said:
New mag AD effective 8/15/22.
A few SBs were issued prior. The AD will allow credit if the SBs were complied with previously.
https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...technologies-inc-lycoming-engines-and-textron
https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...technologies-inc-lycoming-engines-and-textron
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Ugh. This is going to be a ****storm. There's two problems. First, Continental sold bearings that didn't have the grease to the public, it's not just confined to their own mags / serial range. Already had a few failures come in from OH shops. Bearing turns blue and the contact follower melts. Second, Kelly also sells the same bearing with their own grease that isn't white. Looking for the white grease without knowing what bearing is installed is going to have a lot of mags pulled and needlessly sent in for repair.
 
Here’s pics of the loose rivet causing failure. 2 out of the four mags checked were bad. One had totally failed. Get ready for yet another well needed AD.
 

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Check your timing often! I can’t emphasize this enough. It’s the only way to see this failure coming. If it’s off more than a couple degrees yank the mag immediately for inspection.
 
Sorry for any confusion. This started out as a thread about Slicks and progressed into a Bendix comparison, followed by a Bendix AD situation.

For clarification:

-The new AD can be referenced as provided. It affects Bendix 1200 mags and involves a lack of grease problem.

-The loose rivet issue started in post 4 is being found in increasing numbers. It has to do with points made by a division of Tempest that were installed in Bendix mags around late 2021 to early 2022 when the TCM (Bendix) points were unavailable. I don’t know what all models use this same points. The ones we found were not on 1200 mags, they were Bendix 200s. There is no SB or AD out for this problem yet that I know of.
We had 2 of the 4 mags bad due to this, as determined by our mag OH shop. One mag had already failed, the other was close to failure. Luckily the bad ones were not on the same engine! One bad left engine, with the other on the right engine. The mag shop insisted that we return all to be swapped to TCM under warranty. Checking timing often should alert you to this problem prior to failure. We had about 25 hours on ours prior to failure.

The dates of the points in question, and the new (unrelated) AD mentioned just so happen to fall close in date of assembly, which is concerning needless to say.

I’m suggesting to check both issues at the same time, if it happens to affect, or apply to your mags.
 
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Jdm said:
Sorry for any confusion. This started out as a thread about Slicks and progressed into a Bendix comparison, followed by a Bendix AD situation.

For clarification:

-The new AD can be referenced as provided. It affects Bendix 1200 mags and involves a lack of grease problem.

-The loose rivet issue started in post 4 is being found in increasing numbers. It has to do with points made by a division of Tempest that were installed in Bendix mags around late 2021 to early 2022 when the TCM (Bendix) points were unavailable. I don’t know what all models use this same points. The ones we found were not on 1200 mags, they were Bendix 200s. There is no SB or AD out for this problem, yet that I know of.
We had 2 of the 4 mags bad due to this, as determined by our mag OH shop. One mag had already failed, the other was close to failure. Luckily the bad ones were not on the same engine! One bad left engine, with the other on the right engine. The mag shop insisted that we return all to be swapped to TCM under warranty. Checking timing often should alert you to this problem prior to failure. We had about 25 hours on ours prior to failure.

The dates of the points in question, and the new (unrelated) AD mentioned just so happen to fall close in date of assembly, which is concerning needless to say.

I’m suggesting to check both issues at the same time, if it happens to affect, or apply to your mags.
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Did you submit a SDR?
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Did you submit a SDR?
Click to expand...

That’s a great question. No I haven’t. Only bc the mag shop is handling it. I just removed the mags and reinstalled. They did the original OH, and the warranty repair. They are tracking the dates, recalling the affected points, and working with the manufacturers. Sounds to me like there’s a lot of folks involved on a higher level where self reporting is required.
Interesting enough, I’ve since learned that this has become a known problem. I talked with two other mechanics who tell me that they’ve experienced this exact problem.

I’ve now installed the repaired mags with TCM points. They timed out perfectly. All good to go!
 
Magman said:
Nobody checked their mags?
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You can lead a horse to water...

This one came in yesterday. Never opened since new. Guess the SB.
 

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tyndall said:
Guess the SB.
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http://www.championaerospace.com/assets/technical/F-1100-SB2-08B.pdf

I asked the Slick rep about that one. He said that when they were moving the equipment to Champion's facilities after Champion bought Slick, someone upset a can of talcum powder into a barrel of plastic pellets used to make these cams. They didn't wash the pellets off, just blew them off or something, and the talc ended up in the plastic where it interfered with its durability.

The dumb thing in the one pictured is that the wear would have caused the mag timing to drift toward TDC and require adjusting every time it was checked at annual or whenever, and nobody tracked the changes or asked why it was off so far.
 
Looks like I found another set of defective points. Less then 40 hours since new. Check your timing often! The problem always shows up there first.
 
Ah yes, the good ole slick mag... Story time

There I was pre-oiling my brand new Lycoming on my -7A I was finishing. I felt hard clicks/breaks and knew immediately something was wrong with the impulse coupler. Pawl corners just sheared right off. Sent the mag in to the builder, "these things aren't heat treated". Wonder if we will ever see a SB for this or if I was the only unlucky SOB. After pulling the sump and accessory housing to replace an idler gear I was back in action. The engine builder said "you want us to send you a new mag?". "hell to the no, send me a pmag instead; I'm not putting another impulse in this". 280 hours later she is still purring.
 
Jereme Carne said:
I felt hard clicks/breaks and knew immediately something was wrong with the impulse coupler. Pawl corners just sheared right off.
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Good old aircraft quality. I wonder what keeps Slick in business? The prices of Bendix mags, maybe? If P-mag comes up with a completely self-contained mag, they could snap up all of Slick's business.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Good old aircraft quality. I wonder what keeps Slick in business? The prices of Bendix mags, maybe? If P-mag comes up with a completely self-contained mag, they could snap up all of Slick's business.
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Agree, Slick would be done for if Pmag was in the certified game.
 
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