Installing Brake Lines from Aircraft Specialty in the Zenith CH750 Super Duty (Ep47)

[@MichaelLGriffin]

Absolutely love the videos and the clear concise way you explain what you are and most importantly why! The extra inspiration like the parking brake actuator bracket are golden!

[@toddjohnson9528]

I am always impressed how customer service orientated Steve at Aircraft Specialty is. Great folks.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I agree! Great company with great products!

[@mgas1237]

They did 6 custom lines for me. I screwed up and that had to re-do 4 of them. They did them for free and wouldn't even let me pay for shipping! Awesome customer service!

[@SpyGeorgilis]

This was so nice and technical that you can expect a deluge of requests for similarly technical 'how-to' videos! Keep up the good work.

[@n206ja]

Another great video, Mark! One thing to be cautious about is when mating the steel hose ends to the aluminum fittings, carefully inspect the steel fittings for burrs. A few years ago, I got a hose from Aircraft Specialties and mated it to an aluminum fitting on my oil cooler. It always leaked and finally, I removed the hose and inspected the hose and fitting. The female steel connector had a small burr in it and the male aluminum fitting had a matching deep scratch. I finally just fabricated my own braided stainless PTFE line (Earl's line and fittings) and installed aluminum fittings on both sides and no more problems. Probably a rare manufacturing defect but always worth checking for at initial installation! Some say to avoid mating dissimilar fittings and always steel to steel and aluminum to aluminum but usually mixing the two materials seems to work OK if both fittings are correct.

[@OneKoolDude]

Excellent video !! Just want you to know, the time and effort you put into these videos are very much appreciated !!

[@frankrizzo3729]

Awesome video, I plan on installing dual brakes on my 750 SD, and you answered my question with this video

[@garyjones6914]

Nice Air Force Ball Cap

[@ikay2102]

You look tired Mark. Thanks for this video, I was thinking to replace my brake system as well. Perfect timing !

[@garyjones6914]

Sir, I can't wait for your brake bleeding video. That means you're close to complete I would assume. If I know your thinking. All fluids will be last. So it will dry and clean until then.

[@gregorygehrke1850]

Hi mark, great video, as always. As a note to other builders, the brake lines and components, other than the bulkhead fittings, are also available from the custom motorcycle industry. I used to own a shop that built bikes and used coated braided lines and fittings often.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Yes absolutely! One can buy stainless line and fittings from a variety of sources. The benefit here is that these are already measured and cut. It's a plug and play system. But if someone wanted to buy the materials and measure and build their own lines, that is certainly an option.

[@davidrobins4025]

I'm in for another great video - thanks for sharing with us. I agree the steel braided break lines give a greater level of confidence. It is highly unlikely they will ever fail and are much less susceptible to abrasion.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Thanks!

[@stevenjohnson7745]

How are you planning on activating the parking brake. Will you use a cable , rod, or lever? Where will you mount it?

[@daverobinsonTnT]

Excellent presentation Mark ! Very well executed, thank you for creating and sharing such high quality content. Two thumbs up, By-the-way, each of the Pilot's side actuators, in the dual system, only has one port connected ? Does that mean the piston opposes a spring within the cylinder when depressed ? ... will the pedal orientation return to the 'brakes off' orientation when the pilot releases 'toe over' pressure ? ... or is the return-to-position controlled by a spring in the brake caliper (puck) sub-system ? The Parking Brake component appears to be some sort of Shut-off valve (SOV) ? ... must the pedals be in the 'toe over' orientation when engaging the parking brake ? Is there a possibility of cavitation in the lines upstream of the parking brake component or does the cylinder have a built in reservoir to mitigate such a problem, if it does, is the reservoir vented and can it thus weep ? Probably way too many questions for here and I should go to the vendor's website and look at their manuals.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Dave, take a look at the Matco website. You will learn all about their brake system!

[@daverobinsonTnT]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast Mark, good advice. I did look a while back when Darren Towers was installing his brakes but there are so many options and the drawings aren't all accessible, so I'll need to do as you suggest. Thanks. Great video by-the-way !

[@amtpdb1]

When you install rigid lines you are suppose to install them with a bend to keep the lines from pulling apart as things stretch and bend. The flex lines after the parking brake I know will move, but shouldn't you have given a little more line to allow for flex? Thanks

[@theworshiptraveler6709]

Excellent video with great information. Nice and clean install. Great work Mark!

[@DerekGranquist]

Great instruction!

[@dicel87]

When you look at the basic kit price, how much would you say you spend on top of that for the better quality items like these brake lines? $2-3K altogether?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Yes that's probably accurate. To me it's well worth the money to have top quality parts.

[@frankrizzo3729]

Can you tell us how much you spent on the dual brakes system?

[@louielacy9946]

What about the rudder cables you can't get to a parking brake valve mounted on the floor!!

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Why?

[@thomasschultz7724]

Hi Mark, Just curious will you be installing a vented reservoir cap for the brake fluid?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

The two master cylinders on the pilot side have vented plugs. You can learn a lot more if you take a look at the Matco website.

[@Redbird85C]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast Okay was wondering why the pilot side actuators looked different!

[@paulosborne1911]

Excellent segment Mark.

[@thomasmurray1807]

Wondering if you could help me. On your passed video you mentioned a paint designer. I am trying to contact him but can not find his site. Would like to have him design an RV 14A . Thanks Tom

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Maybe I was referring to Garber Designs?

[@johnreed8872]

Hey Mark.... Seems as though your final bill from Aircraft Spruce will be almost as much as the one from Zenith! I'm not sure if I will set up an account with them or just pay as I go. Between specialty tools and upgrade materials, paints, adhesives, solvents etc. I knew from watching videos like yours that the incedentals would add up quickly! Your SD is sure coming along nicely, neat, clean and always professional! Thanks again for sharing and Blue Skies brotherman!

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

No matter how 'complete' a kit arrives from the factory, there's always a massive amount of 'things' you're going to need. Drill bits, tools, fittings, wire, terminals, circuit breakers, push/pull cables, nuts, bolts, cans of primer, etc.... It never ends!

[@johnreed8872]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast that's what I call ' incedentals ' , after watching you for a couple of years (and others) that list keeps getting longer! In the end you always get what you pay for. Thanks again!

[@johnreed8872]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast also... we've both have seen all manner of homebuilders aircraft , I would put the quality of your building equal to or exceeding that of most certified aircraft!

[@ptyeueiiwjd]

Question from a noob. You seem to buy a lot of 3rd party parts generally speaking, is that because Zenith does not provide these items, or mostly because they aren't high quality?

[@davidwhite2011]

The biggest problem with brakes is the fluid is hydroscopic. It absorbs water where ever it can get it. The high heat of stopping with the small (light) brakes heats the fluid and causes steam bubbles for any water in the fluid. In contaminated fluid, steam bubbles what you are pushing on instead of the pucks, the bubbles. The brakes are then considered spongy. I wonder where the bleed valves are to make it easy to put new fluid in and old bad fluid out? The master cylinder will also have a rubber boot that fills the void as fluid leaks out to minimize the air and fluid contact. Generally in racing motorcycles the braided lines are liked because they reduce flex which also adds to the the spongy feel. The flex degrades the rubber tubing so the braid also helps flex degradation and any UV light that will also degrades the rubber lining the stainless steel braid covers.

[@cebroschriseberhart7557]

Great videos on the under side where the brake lines 90° path you spoke of putting a short stiffener in the channel wouldn’t it be better to protect the 90° and the braided lines if you used a channel to enclose that area accessible with no plates

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Some people have closed off the U shaped channel on the bottom of the airplane. There's a few reasons why I didn't want to do that. First, the enclosed tunnel would be a collection point for dirt and debris, spiders, wasps, bugs, and all kinds of other stuff. Secondly, I don't think it's necessary to add the weight of the additional channel and all the nutplates and screws because the channel really wouldn't do much to protect the lines. All I want to do is deflect any tall grass or maybe a twig from hitting the blue elbow fittings. I think the little ramp piece will do the job just fine.

[@jefish]

Why is the passenger right actuator rotated 90*? You mention it, but don’t explain.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

It was for the fit of the brake lines. Without it rotated, when the pedal moved, the brake line interfered with the other pedal.

[@doncatchpole7370]

Good job.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Thanks-More videos on the way!

[@glennhenry588]

Quality brake line installation, I will copy cat for sure, thanks tons

[@charlescampbellii8193]

Will also have a harder pedal

[@marcelhuard5774]

Hey Mark...been following you for a couple weeks now and I've been binging your videos. We have much in common in regards to our path to flying. I'm USAF retired and started as a jet mech on F-106s, then crew chief. Spent 10 years enlisted then accepted to Pilot Training. Flew C-130s and RC-26s. I've been retired since 2012 and have been seriously thinking of building an airplane. I'm currently looking into local EAA chapters. Anyway, one question I have for your Zenith STOL...since you will be doing IFR ops how will you be planning for windshield defog and wipers?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

You have to get out of the "Air Force" thinking LOL! This isn't a C-130. There's no need for wipers or even defog. But, I want the front windshield to have defrosters for those early morning back-country departures. That's easy to plumb into the cabin heat system.

[@ToyManFlyer1100]

Frankly, I don't know why anybody would "cheap out" and use plastic line on something so critical. Also, as caustic as break fluid is, why go with something that would get brittle over time, break, leak, and cause a major boo boo at the most inopportune time...

[@frankrizzo3729]

If they're a first time builder and don't know any different

[@ArjenLux]

Hi Mark, why don't you just close the whole channel on the bottom?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Because that would just be a collection point for dirt and bugs!

[@scottmiller4711]

Given that same line of thought, why not just install a protective “shield” over the fittings with rivnuts for access. It would certainly be more protection than a piece of aluminum several inches in front of them?

[@Redbird85C]

@@scottmiller4711 Yeah that thought occurred to me too, but just a viewer not a builder yet!