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Thread: Gyro House overhauled AI -- inop after 80 hours/18 months

  1. #1

    Gyro House overhauled AI -- inop after 80 hours/18 months

    On 10/03/14, I had a TGH Aviation (The Gyro House) overhauled Horizon Gyro installed in my mighty Cessna C-150, during an annual inspection at Magnum Aviation in San Martin, CA.
    Last week, it crapped out and started tumbling. Directional Gyro works good. Suction good.
    The unit had a 1000 hour/1 year warranty.
    My mechanic says he will "have a talk with Gyro House."
    I think Gyro House ought to back up their product and give me another one, or at least give me a major break in price.
    WHAT SAY YOU?
    I will report to all what happens.

  2. #2
    TedK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark van Wyk View Post
    On 10/03/14, I had a TGH Aviation (The Gyro House) overhauled Horizon Gyro installed in my mighty Cessna C-150, during an annual inspection at Magnum Aviation in San Martin, CA.
    Last week, it crapped out and started tumbling. Directional Gyro works good. Suction good.
    The unit had a 1000 hour/1 year warranty.
    My mechanic says he will "have a talk with Gyro House."
    I think Gyro House ought to back up their product and give me another one, or at least give me a major break in price.
    WHAT SAY YOU?
    I will report to all what happens.
    How many Lives do you suppose that Cat had?

    There is a reason that the FAA is willing to go against its own orthodoxy to move us away from watchmaker technology.


    Ted
    Last edited by TedK; 07-06-2016 at 11:59 AM.

  3. #3

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    sounds to me like it was out of warranty so I don't think they owe you anything.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by martymayes View Post
    sounds to me like it was out of warranty so I don't think they owe you anything.
    Technically speaking, you may be right. My mechanic is still checking this out. If (as I suspect) there is no problem with my vacuum system, filters are OK, and it is indeed simply a failed instrument, do you think 80 hours/18 months is a reasonable amount of time to expect this instrument to work? Or, would I have just cause to be dissatisfied? Should I just shut up and buy another one? Or, should I complain a little bit? Considering that it failed so soon after the warranty expired and with relatively few hours with absolutely no abuse (such as spins or unusual attitudes) should Gyro House stick to its warranty terms, or should they grant me some leeway, such as offering to rebuild the unit they sold me?

  5. #5
    Mike Switzer's Avatar
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    I would make sure the vacuum pump isn't beginning to fail & contaminating the system. I know of a plane that kept having gyros fail & the guys doing the maintenance on that plane just kept replacing them, after a vacuum pump failed (and both pumps were replaced) the problem went away.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark van Wyk View Post
    Technically speaking, you may be right. My mechanic is still checking this out. If (as I suspect) there is no problem with my vacuum system, filters are OK, and it is indeed simply a failed instrument, do you think 80 hours/18 months is a reasonable amount of time to expect this instrument to work? Or, would I have just cause to be dissatisfied? Should I just shut up and buy another one? Or, should I complain a little bit? Considering that it failed so soon after the warranty expired and with relatively few hours with absolutely no abuse (such as spins or unusual attitudes) should Gyro House stick to its warranty terms, or should they grant me some leeway, such as offering to rebuild the unit they sold me?
    I believe in the legal world they call it a limited warranty. The part was guaranteed to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for the time in service or calendar time period stated, whichever comes first. Apparently, you felt that was "reasonable" or you would not have purchased the product.

    The manufacturer / overhauler satisfied the terms of the warrranty, i.e., the part didn't fail within the stated time in service / calendar time period so "technically speaking" (or legally speaking) they are under no obligation to entertain your claim.

    Had the warranty offered 1000h / 2 yrs, you'd have a case. Sometimes a better warranty is only a few $$ more.

  7. #7
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by martymayes View Post
    I believe in the legal world they call it a limited warranty. The part was guaranteed to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for the time in service or calendar time period stated, whichever comes first. Apparently, you felt that was "reasonable" or you would not have purchased the product.

    The manufacturer / overhauler satisfied the terms of the warrranty, i.e., the part didn't fail within the stated time in service / calendar time period so "technically speaking" (or legally speaking) they are under no obligation to entertain your claim.

    Had the warranty offered 1000h / 2 yrs, you'd have a case. Sometimes a better warranty is only a few $$ more.
    You're right, legally, of course. However, there should be some consideration for buyer goodwill. Most items have warranties, but the expectation is that the device *well* exceeds the warranty period.

    In my case, I bought a new car with a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. My wife was driving it in another city, and a bunch of stuff in the electrical system fried. $3,000 worth of work.

    Car had 37,000 miles on it. The dealer thought it was unfair for such a major failure to occur just after the warranty expired, and went to bat with the manufacturer. The manufacturer agreed, and covered the repair cost.

    Gyro House should give Mark *some* amount of consideration...whether it's a free replacement, or a new unit at a steep discount...for two reasons. One, of course, is for customer satisfaction.

    The second? Gyro House should be *really* wondering why their product failed so early. They should exchange with Mark, just to tear into the failed unit and determine why it failed. Because if there's a flaw, it's likely some some number of additional early failures will occur *before* the warranty period expires. Forget the time since installation, it only had eighty hours. Finding why Mark's unit quit might save them a bundle down the road.

    Ron Wanttaja
    Last edited by rwanttaja; 07-07-2016 at 11:33 PM.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by rwanttaja View Post
    The second? Gyro House should be *really* wondering why their product failed so early.
    Agree, which is why I would request to get the inop unit back in my shop where it could be disassembled, inspected, repaired and returned to customer in working order. If it's full of particles from a deteriorating air supply line, filter or other component upstream of the gyro, is gyro house responsible? Should they replace the gyro for free or at deep discount?

    As a customer, I would not march in demanding free replacement. That doesn't foster good customer service either.
    Last edited by martymayes; 07-08-2016 at 06:55 AM.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark van Wyk View Post
    On 10/03/14, I had a TGH Aviation (The Gyro House) overhauled Horizon Gyro installed in my mighty Cessna C-150, during an annual inspection at Magnum Aviation in San Martin, CA.
    Last week, it crapped out and started tumbling. Directional Gyro works good. Suction good.
    The unit had a 1000 hour/1 year warranty.
    My mechanic says he will "have a talk with Gyro House."
    I think Gyro House ought to back up their product and give me another one, or at least give me a major break in price.
    WHAT SAY YOU?
    I will report to all what happens.
    I've seen your post on at least 3 different aviation forums. Do you really think it is necessary to go to such lengths to put a vendor in a negative light when the product is out of warranty and before you've even talked with the vendor?

  10. #10
    I spoke to my mechanic. He said he talked to Gyro House, and to paraphrase my mechanic, and I quote "..they said it's out of warranty and there's nothing we can do blah blah blah -- eff you."
    Except instead of "eff you" my mechanic used an epitaph, but he may have been exaggerating.
    Yes, the filters were clean (and are replaced every annual), and yes the vacuum pump is fine, and no there does not appear to be any source of contamination.
    And, to paraphrase my mechanic, he said "we've had issues with other Gyro House stuff, so we don't use them much."
    So, maybe I should be a good little customer and just accept the fact that my expensive AI went belly up after 18 months/80 hours and shut up and buy another one.
    I will buy another one, but not from Gyro House. Your mileage may vary.
    And if someone from Gyro House does not like me posting this on the internet, by all means reply here on this forum, and we can have a discussion.

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