Avionic repair costs

[Rod1]

Just under three years ago we spent £8500 upgrading our avionics. Part of the upgrade was some new Narco kit….

Narco 122D combined nav/ILS DME
Narco Mk12D+IDME

The digital display on both the DME readout (122D) and the frequency readout on the 12D mostly failed after just less than 3 years from new. Cost to fix was £700!!

Anyone tell me if this is “normal” for this sort ok kit, and is £700 about right for the fix. Can we expect another £700 in the next 3 years?

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Spiney Norman]

Hi Rod1.
I think the main point here is do you keep the aircraft outside or even in a leaky hangar because avionics don't last long in the UK due to our wet climate. Not so long ago I had a King KY97 fitted to my aeroplane and was appalled to see that during the following winter, even though the aircraft was hangared, condensation would form on the inside of the digital display window! You can guess how long the unit stayed serviceable after that! Now, don't ask me how you'd do it, but I think the avionics manufacturers could really do with looking very closely how they could make their products better 'proofed' against damp and condensation. I suspect that, because Narco and King/Bendix are US manufacturers they don't really get alot of problems in this direction. As to how much your repair cost. It's been my experience that licenced avionics engineers are as rare as Hen's teeth in the U.K. and they can charge pretty much what they feel the market will bear. If you find one that does a good job for a reasonable charge then stick with them.

Spiney.

[Polar_stereographic]

Tell you what I used to do:

Arm yourself with a bucket, pop into B&Q and get some of those water absorbing crystals. They come in a container that you place inside the bucket. Leave the whole asembly in the a/c, not forgetting to empty and leave behind when aviating.

I was amazed at how the condensation disapeared. The instruments and avionics where condensation free.

PS

And, I should also say that I have nothing to do with....Oh ****** it, you know what I mean.

[WorkingHard]

Avionics are avery expensive nightmare. Does anyone know a GOOD and HONEST shop that can properly fix autopilots for example?

[A and C]

For the autopilot fix try Lees avionics 01494 513661 or Gatwick avionics at stapleford (make sure that you are talking to the guys at stapleford because the Redhill part of the company do not realy understand this end of the avionics market ) 01708 688064.

There two things that will kill avionics water and heat the posts above have coverd the water contamination but the heat is another matter.

As most avionics buying is price lead the cheapest quote normaly wins and the companys know this and will quote you the rock bottom price for fitting because if they dont they dont get the job !.
However this means that things like avionics cooling have to go by the wayside because the extra £250 to fit a cooling fan will lose them the job.

The atittude among aircraft owners in the UK is that avionics wont get hot enough to need the "expencive" cooling fan , but this course of action is just a money time bomb as over the years the radios suffer the efects of heat buildup and then pack up leaving you with a big repair bill.

It is no coincidence that King put a cooling port on all the radios that they think need cooling.

The avionics fit on my aircraft was done in 1994 and I have had no failures in the cooled kit and only minor transponder problems but this is the only Narco item I have and its low quality shows ,this will be replaced by a King or Garmin unit when the mode S units become avalable later this year.