++safety Alert++

[hharney]

Jim

Thanks for the report. Have you looked into the parts to rebuild the valves? It seems I remember some Skymaster folks were looking for parts or the parts were out of price to justify. Let me know if you have rebuilt yours or have looked into the parts to do so.

Thanks

[Jim Smith]

Herb, both Owen Bell and Commodore Aerospace (Don Neiser) said they can have them rebuilt through somebody they use for $2000 (owen) to $2500 (commodore) ea. That includes re-plating, new springs, balls, seals etc. if necessary. My mechanic rebuilt one on a different Skymaster I have. Inspected, cleaned, and put in new O-rings for just a couple bucks for the o-rings plus his labor. We rebuilt it because it was leaking. Don't really know if springs or balls were bad, but they looked good and at least got a chance to look inside.

[Jim Smith]

Hey guys just realized I never posted a follow-up with the solution to this problem. Upon inspection with a mirror and flashlight we noticed the tiny ball that pops into the detent appeared to be missing. Removal of the valve confirmed this. We replaced the spring and ball and everything is fine. Amazing how one tiny ball bearing sized item can create such a major and potentially deadly issue. Not sure if the ball popped out on it's own or when the valve had been removed and serviced by a mechanic previously.