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I had one serious icing experience which then prompted me to replace the boots and get the whole system working. During the encounter there was a lot of shaking from buildups on the tail plane. We landed fast and still had a couple of inches of mixed on the leading edge. Not nice.
Since getting everything working, it has only been trace to light icing, but having some ice protection available is a really good feeling. The hot plate is great as well and if you have one, better than forking out $4 k for a new one.
On getting the bits, the biggest expense is the boots themselves. If you are missing other stuff, check with the folks parting out planes and I think you will be able to find most of what you need at reasonable prices. There are also some parts which have Piper equivilents and they are much cheaper. There are also some folks selling off surplus stuff which saves you money. Ernie has some pretty good suggestions on his site.
In respect to the plane you are looking at, check the original equip list and see if it came with boots originally and get the parts manual out and survey exactly what is missing. If just the boots, you are in good shape. You can then cost it out and make your decision.
Dave
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