Retract cylinder parts

G

gjordan

New member
Does anyone know where to get the internal parts for the hydraulic cylinders on a Cruismaster? I believe they were made by Electrol Co. but I cant locate them on the internet. I am looking for what they call plungers, but I always thought of them as the pistons. I could even do with a couple of 14-19 bent up cylinders and salvage the internals. Any help is appreciated. Grant.
 
Grant, as you probably know Electrol is no more. I spent a lot of effort to track them down in hopes of finding some technical documents on the Electrol 750 power pack - no luck. As I recall the company was sold and absorbed by some larger firm that discontinued the Electrol product line. Back to the issue of getting some replacement parts. First of all I expect to see Andy Vano this week at Oshkosh - I will ask him about availability of cylinder parts from AAC. Regardless it is my intention to make some of my own cylinder parts to support my "fleet" so I will be happy to make some extras (not sure how urgently you need them?).
 
I borrowed a cylinder from a friend and discovered that the inner plunger/piston is thicker in the 14-19 cylinder than in the 260 or Viking. It limits the throw about 1/4 inch more than a Viking. My Cruisair uses 14-19 cylinders and also another project that I have needs a pair which is why I am looking for parts to convert Viking cylinders to 14-19 throw. The later Viking cylinders also have the adjustable end which is a great improvement. I think the 260 has the rods with just the hole in the end which makes adjustment a major job. I will be getting some measurements in the next few days and let you know the difference between 14-19 and Viking plungers. Grant.
 
As a side note, while looking for Electrol I found directions for rebuilding Electrol power packs from Seabees. It would be a differnt power pack, but I suspect that a lot of the techniques would be the same. Rob, I should have samples of the part I need by the time you get back from Osh. I have a number of Viking internals on hand. Give me a call when you get back and we can figure something out. Have a good time in Aircraft Mecca. Grant.
 
I made new rod end caps for my 14-19-2. The pistons didn’t look all that hard.
Keep us up to date on what you decide to do.
 
Grant,
Those instructions for powerpack rebuild might be solid gold, considering how expertise is drying up for our a/c. I understand it won't be the same as the 750-B. How can get a copy from you?
Tom Robinson
 
I just ran across them on the web while I was looking for cylinder information. I didnt print anything out ( I dont have a printer) but I will go back and see what I can find. I also was looking at some papers in another area on my ranch that didnt burn in the fire 2 years ago, and ran across a bunch of information on the cylinders that I was looking for.I found copies of old prints that show all of the dimensions and part numbers for the retract cylinders and the flap cylinders for the 14-19. I didnt even know that I still had this stuff. It is 14-19 info, but says Bellanca Aircraft Corp, so I suspect this is for the few 14-19s that Bellanca built before selling to Downer/Northern. There is also a "Service Sketch" with part numbers of the gear for the 14-19 and 14-19-2. This is from Downer. Somewhere recently I read that there was a difference in the cylinders from the early 14-19s to the later ones. I suspect that refers to the first 12 or 13 that Bellanca made before they were sold to Downer. At the very first Columbia Fly_In I saw a 14-19 with what looked to have Cruisair landing gear. I was confused and looked up into the wheel well and it was hydraulic, but the retract struts had the hinge point below centerline like a Cruisair would have. I didnt know enough to see if the rear spar brackets were Cruisair or Cruismaster. I believe those first few 14-19s were a sort of transition plane from 14-13 series to 14-19 series. This is all copies of copies, so some is hard to read, but I will see if my TECHNICAL GURU, Larry L. can post this stuff for all to see. I want to get this information out there because I lost 25 years of collecting Franklin and Bellanca paperwork that probably much is irreplaceable. ____Grant.
 
Regarding the powerpack… I had the same concern as Tom. Last year I did some research and found virtually nothing on the Electrol 750N (the powerpack used in the -2 & -3 Cruisemasters). If any of the repair shops have a legitimate overhaul manual they were not going to share these documents. What I did find is that the powerpack in the Piper Aztecs – Electrol 750P – are nearly the same unit with mechanical changes to the orientation of the manual pump handle. The good news is that the Piper manual is complete with detailed exploded view diagrams and overhaul procedures. I believe the pressure settings for the Piper unit might be different from the Bellanca unit, but I have not been able to verify this yet. You should be able to download a PDF copy of the Piper manual if you do an internet search, or you can send me a message and I will share a copy of what I have.
 
Larry, I mailed you copies today, of the cylinder specs and part numbers. There is also a drawing of the 14-19 and -2 gear with all of the part numbers. Let me know what you think. Rob, when you get back from OSH, give me a call and I can mail copies to you. My Email account has crashed and I cant revive it, so it is off to the computer shop for a cleaning tomorrow. Who knows how long that will take. _____Grant.
 
I will be glad to send copies to the club. I just got my computer back from the shop last night, so I am running behind on everything (as usual), so it might be a couple of days. Any new bits of information on triple tails at OSH??? Grant.
 
Attached (hopefully) are the drawings that Grant sent me. Because I can only add 1 meg at a time, I am adding multiple messages. There are 7 pages. The numbers in the files named "cylinder #" refer to the page number at the bottom of the drawings. You may have to rotate the view and reduce the size to "one page at a time" in Acrobat to see it ok...It didn't seem to want to stay that way when I saved them so...
 
Robert, were Larrys drawings good enough for you to print out or would you still like hard copies? ____Grant.
 
OK, but they are about 3rd generation copies, so they might not be much better. It will be a couple of days. I am getting up a 4:30 to go to my plane and work on it before the temp gets over 110 in the hanger. This is not fun to do an annual after the log books were burned up but it will happen. Grant.
 
Grant:

No particular hurry; more important that you finish your Cruisair before next June - we need to see it on the line at Columbia.
 
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