Robart Electric Retracts

[Red Raider]

Sorry to see you having so much problem with the electric gear. Since I have heard so much bad about everyones electric gear I opted for the old tried and true AIR system. I have a set of Robarts BIG HD Corsair gear in my 110 " AC and they work flawlessly ! If air systems are put in correctly and maintained they are almost bullet proof . I have a safety collar on every connection and soap test everything when it goes together. About every twenty flights or so I put 100 lbs in it and see how long it holds . Maintenance is the key,at least for me. I hope you can get your gear straightened out quickly as that is a pain in the butt when you've got a build to finish. WP

I was thinking the same thing last night.
I got the retract back last night with the new actuator. This is the second actuator for this retract and the third time it's been repaired. I installed it, which is a real pain at this point and cycled the gear. They worked perfectly, twice. Then the port side gear actuator stripped. Now it's going to be another call to Robart and another week or longer to get the parts. If this doesn't work, I'm gonna have a fit.

 

[Wayne Parrish]

Have you seriously thought about going to air ? You can use the sequencer and they work flawlessly. The majority of the problems with air retracts are customer induced. I once saw a guy that was just giving the retract down the country because it wouldn't rotate properly . He was cussing everybody but the one that he should have been cussing,himself ! When I tried to help him I found that the two rails that the gear were mounted on were not parallel with each other so when he torqued the screws down it twisted the frame of the gear and locked up everything. We bedded under one side of the retract frame with an epoxy glass fiber slurry and let it cure. When the screws were put in it functioned as slick as two greased nickels rubbing together. Just FFT

 

[camss69]

I was thinking the same thing last night.
I got the retract back last night with the new actuator. This is the second actuator for this retract and the third time it's been repaired. I installed it, which is a real pain at this point and cycled the gear. They worked perfectly, twice. Then the port side gear actuator stripped. Now it's going to be another call to Robart and another week or longer to get the parts. If this doesn't work, I'm gonna have a fit.

You are handling it way better than I would be... I'd be seeing what I could do about a refund... Calling my credit card company if Robart wouldn't refund me.. Even if you got them and they worked 50 times on the ground would you trust them in the air? Too much $$ for what you're going through IMO.

 

[Wayne Parrish]

I really don't think i could trust them either. Frankly I wouldn't trust anyones electric retract since all the elec/gear I have ever had experience with have failed. As I said before, IF the air systems are installed and maintained properly they work very well.

 

[Wayne Parrish]

Have you gotten anything worked out on your retracts problem ? WP

 

[Red Raider]

I was working with the second actuator and was just about to say it was fixed. I was retracting them one last time to finish the sheeting and to work on the gear doors. Half way through the cycle the other actuator stripped out. Robart sent me another actuator, number 3. I've put it in and reset the gear, but have not run it again. I'm not at all confident that the long term reliability of these actuators are equal to the effort and expense of the plane. If I had it all to over again, I would probably go with pneumatic Sierras.

 

[Wayne Parrish]

Thats a shame and I could never trust them. I still think the Robart air retracts are great ! I hadn't flown my big Corsair for about 3 months and I aired them up two days ago to 100 lbs and today they still had air to actuate the gear. Air is great if they are maintained and checked.