The desiccant pellets on the engine have turned pink a couple of times and I’ve microwaved them to turn them back to blue. However, about half of them have turned a light orange color and microwaving them didn’t turn them back. I don’t know if microwaving them is the problem or not. I’ll try using the oven next time.
I stopped by the new Harbor Freight store near work and picked up a 1kg bag of desiccant pellets for $5. This should be a lifetime supply of these things.
I refilled the drying plugs on the engine, so I should be good to go for a couple more months.
Anyway, I resumed working on the baffles by bolting the front baffle support to the engine case.
I then assembled and drilled the front right baffle assembly. Since I have a constant speed prop, I drilled out a 1″ diameter hole for the grommet that will fit around the prop oil line.
Here you can see how the assembly fits on the engine. You can also see that I disconnected the oil line from the fitting in the case. I put a plug in the line and a cap on the fitting to keep debris out of the line since this will be disconnected until the baffles are installed for good.
I used a set of large pliers to stretch one of grommets around the fitting on the oil line. When the baffles are installed for good, I’ll slide this up and fit it into the hole I drilled earlier.
