FIELD APPROVAL FOR PA28-235 HEATED PITOT

[partsguy210]

Does anyone have a copy of a field approval for installation of a heated pitot system in an early PA28-235?
This a/c is a 64 model s/n is 28-10075. It was not built with and Piper themselves say for this s/n there is no path to install one via options, kits , or service info.

 

[msires]

My 64, s/n 28-10372 has a heated pitot system, so it was obviously an option. Look at salvage yards.

 

[Ray93J]

You need to pull the inspection cover near the pitot. Check if there is an unused wire near the pitot. Getting the wire to the heater is the hardest part. You can buy the heated mast, but make sure it has two heater elements, not one. Very early units only had one. If the mast has a know bad heater, they are easily repaired.

Circuit breaker, switch, wire and the heated mast is all you need. I would think this could be signed off as a minor modification.

One other suggestion, look at your instrument panel just to the left and bottom of the radio stack. Look for an in used 1/2 hole in the panel. The Piper installation had a “pullable” circuit breaker in the hole. This was the pitot heat, Piper did not use an actual switch. You pushed to CB on and pulled it off.

 

[philiplane]

Does anyone have a copy of a field approval for installation of a heated pitot system in an early PA28-235?
This a/c is a 64 model s/n is 28-10075. It was not built with and Piper themselves say for this s/n there is no path to install one via options, kits , or service info.

This would not constitute a Major Alteration, so you couldn't get a Field Approval anyway. If you were able to get a copy of the installation instructions for Service Kit 757-004, that would tell you what they did from serial 10487 and up.

The pitot tube mounting doubler is the same for all Cherokees, so the only difference is changing the tube to a heated version, then adding the power wire, circuit breaker and switch.

 

[partsguy210]

My 64, s/n 28-10372 has a heated pitot system, so it was obviously an option. Look at salvage yards.

Yours is a later s/n . This is the 72nd one built, and pitot heat was not an option for this s/n . The IPC and piper tech rep both confirm this.

 

[Ray93J]

If it was not available for your SN, there would not be a wire in the wing. If you have any plans of flying IFR, you need pitot heat. That pitot mast is an ice magnet. It is not a technically difficult job. Running the wiring is the hardest part.

 

[reb]

I would install as a minor alteration. Install the current style heated pitot head in the same location as your current pitot and only connect the pitot side. You would leave the existing static port on the side of the fuselage. I would reference Figure 20 of the Parts Catalog.

 

[Ray93J]

What do you have for a pitot mast user the wing? Maybe you could post a picture. Many years ago I looked at a very early 140. The pitot tube was simply a bent piece of tubing. The gas caps looked like the ones used on a lawn mower.

 

[biggblukat]

When we added one to a '64 PA28-140 we noted the new heated pitot assembly PN in the logbook and ran a wire through the wing and installed a circuit breaker and a switch, noting PN's for also the breaker and switch, but don't recall doing a 337 as my A&P considered it a minor change, which I agree with,.

I've been in the process of adding a heated Pitot to my 70' PA28-180 and a wire was already there as was a breaker already in panel waiting for it. I've got a used Piper pitot on/off switch to install, but again we plan to do it as a minor alteration and log book entry.

 

[akoprivnik]

If you add an additional circuit to the system, you've changed the load demand on the aircraft. Typically a change in load demand would require a total load analyze on the aircraft to make sure it can handle it. This is usually done when the avionics are upgraded. In this case, adding a high amperage draw component would require further investigation to determine if the electrical buss has the capacity. If Piper says this aircraft was never certified with an optional pitot heat system, Modifying it would be considered a major alteration and would require a 337 with approved data reference. The key note here is how the aircraft was "originally certified".