Carb Ice

[Walter Klatt]

I had an interesting encounter today with carb ice. I
was cruising along at 5500 feet and 2350 RPM, when I
noticed my fuel flow drop off and rpm drop a bit. My
first reaction was to move in my mixture, which did
nothing. That told me right away something wasn't
right. More throttle didn't help either, and only
caused a sputter, so I backed that off again, too.
Closing and opening my tank valves did nothing either.
I remembered my experience a few months back when I had
the problem with the primer, and checked it, including
pumping it a few times, but again that didn't help. By
this time max rpm was down to 2200 and still dropping.
Finally, I pulled carb heat, and within a few seconds I
watched my fuel flow jump up and rpm climb. I shoved in
full throttle, and was very happy to see full power
come back and everything was normal again.

So what's unusual or interesting about this? Well, it
was one of those hot beautiful cloudless days, when you
would least expect carb ice. I have an OAT gauge and it
was 22C (about 70F) up there at that time. The only
unusual thing is that it was much warmer than usual at
that altitude for this time of year.

The only other time I have ever encountered carb ice
was actually in similar conditions, when we were flying
across Montana, or was it North Dakota, with Bobp and
the Ramble gang in the middle of summer. Again it was a
warm day, and when I least expected carb ice. However,
there were thunder storms nearby, so maybe that meant
humid conditions. Again, I reacted similarly, and carb
ice was the last thing I applied.

In winter here on the wet coast, I often fly in damp
cold days barely above freezing, but have never
encountered carb ice. So that's why I was so surprised
to get it on a warm sunny day.

I think next time, I will be pulling my carb heat a
little sooner, if my engine falters. It's funny,
though, I'm always very diligent with pulling carb heat
when descending to land. Or when I'm about to cross
some hostile territory away from a safe landing spot, I
always check carb heat as part of an overall engine
check. Yet it was the last thing I checked when I
actually had carb ice.

Also, I had a new passenger aboard for his first
flight. We were over water, so quickly explained to
him, not to worry as we could land anywhere if we had
to. He was OK, and never did know my true concern
initially when I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

The rest of the flight and subsequent flights were all
OK, so had a great day otherwise.

So just wanted to share with the group, that carb ice
indeed can happen when you least expect it.

Walter



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[Walter Klatt]

While I never rule anything out, I'm quite confident
this was carb ice. The engine recovered immediately
after applying carb heat.

When I had the primer problem, the symptoms were quite
different. Then it would cut out under full power, and
I was able to correct it by unseating and seating the
primer. That didn't work this time.

What threw me off initially, though, is that I first
saw the fuel flow drop, and that made me think I had a
fuel problem somewhere. I even thought that perhaps my
gascolator failed through vibration or something, and I
was losing fuel. In reality, it was just the loss of
power from the restricted air flow caused by the ice,
which then caused fuel usage to drop.

I also talked to a fellow at work who flies a Cherokee
140 which has the same engine, and he told me about his
carb ice experiences, and they were quite similar. He
said that he has got it more than once in cruise
shortly after a long climb. Now he says that he always
puts on carb heat briefly at the start of a cruise. As
it happened, I, too, had just started a cruise after
climbing.

Anyway, I need to sharpen up my emergency procedures,
so that I don't hesitate with all the steps, or get
side tracked.

Walter

-----Original Message-----
From: mike.davis@dcsol.com
[mailto:mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Legeorgen@aol.com
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 4:34 PM
To: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: Carb Ice


Walter,

Don't rule out the possibility it may not
have been carb ice but only
coincidence you shoved the carb heat in
about the same time your problem corrected it
self. I'm not saying it wasn't carb ice and
it probably was but in view of
your problems a few months ago, with the
primer, I would be cautious. Don't rule
it out that's all.

Bruce 357R



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[Legeorgen]

Walter,

Don't rule out the possibility it may not have been carb ice but only
coincidence you shoved the carb heat in about the same time your problem corrected it
self. I'm not saying it wasn't carb ice and it probably was but in view of
your problems a few months ago, with the primer, I would be cautious. Don't rule
it out that's all.

Bruce 357R



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