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Excessive heat around pedals

jimkwalton

Active Member
Okay, I finally removed my shoes on a long cross-country and found a LOT of heat around the left rudder pedals. The firewall is too hot to touch. Is that normal? Or is my heat system not rigged correctly!
 
I fly without shoes all the time because my friend "qtrmiledan" does it and it was such a good idea! I would check that your heater door on both sides is fully shut because there is a lot of heat with only a little bit of open door. Also, there is a mod to the heater door on the right that keeps the hot air where it should be and maybe it isn't installed.

As to the hot firewall itself - might be normal I don't rest my feet on my firewall.
 
Heater doors

If you installed the heater doors as designed, they are slightly hinge bound. The manual will have you install the cable with enough bend to create a bit of friction to hold the doors closed. Mine worked well for the right door I need to push the cable for the left door at times to keep it closed. I need to adjust that cable. There is a builder, possibly Olsen, that changed out for a locking cable. I plan to simply adjust my cable. I may even remove one of the two exhaust heat collectors. The heating system is way too effective for my flying.
 
I too installed the locking cables. No problems. Same cable as the alternate air if i remember correctly. I live in florida and it is flip flops all year.
 
If you installed the heater doors as designed, they are slightly hinge bound. The manual will have you install the cable with enough bend to create a bit of friction to hold the doors closed. Mine worked well for the right door I need to push the cable for the left door at times to keep it closed. I need to adjust that cable. There is a builder, possibly Olsen, that changed out for a locking cable. I plan to simply adjust my cable. I may even remove one of the two exhaust heat collectors. The heating system is way too effective for my flying.

I put a spacer behind the hinge to prevent it from binding and allowing it to close completely. The heat is extremely effective on the 14. Mine was open slightly after doing some work in the cockpit. On a summer day flying in shorts I thought I had a bigger problem when my legs begin to get extremely warm. The cable was only pulled out a fraction.
 
Excessive heat

Can I just pull the duct from my baffling off and let that fresh air cool the space in front of the firewall?
 
Can I just pull the duct from my baffling off and let that fresh air cool the space in front of the firewall?

It should already be flowing out of the pilot-side duct inside the cowling. I believe you want to keep the airflow through the pipes attached to the exhaust. ;)
 
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