TKS questions

[charheep]

There is a Mooney that checks all the boxes for me, and it has TKS.

http://aircraftownershipsolutions.com/inventory/1986+mooney+m20j+201+n5813f/938

If I never use it, does it go bad, both the equipment and/or the fluid?
Does it increase insurance? If the plane has it and even if I never would hit icing, does the insurance go up anyways over a non TKS plane? Or does it not come up with insurance since its not FIKI certified?
Is there a huge bump in annual costs?

 

[MauleSkinner]

You need to run fluid through the panels regularly to keep them from clogging up.

 

[RudyP]

What Mauleskinner said - Cirrus recommends running it enough to wet out all the panels monthly (although I’ve gone 2-3 months at times and they seemed ok).

The fluid also does have an expiration date of around 2 years IIRC but not super clear what happens when it expires.

 

[kaiser]

Other than the above (my experience also with Cirrus), IIRC if you run the tank dry, I believe it’s a not easy (and req A&P) maintenance process to reprime the system.