Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the US.

Just had some questions on my anti-ice system. I had a FIKI TKS system installed on my P210 this year. I’m in the process of getting my IFR and my instructor who is a commercial airline pilot took me through a layer of ice yesterday. Although we had outs above and below, he wanted me to experience it.

I turned on the system during my ground run up and wetted all surfaces before turning it off. I turned it on (Normal mode - one pump) about 30-60 seconds or so before entering the cloud although i can’t be certain if all surfaces were wet before entering. We immediately started to pick up ice and it didn't seem to be completely shedding, so I engaged the “high” flow feature (two pumps, double the flow). We seemed to be shedding most of the ice, but some remained on for the entire flight. (This follows what I’ve heard - once the ice builds on the wings, the TKS won’t really get rid of it)

When i returned, below are the pictures from the wings and prop. As you can see, we picked up a small amount of ice on the prop right near the TKS nozzle outlet. Each blade looked the same as the one in the picture. The wings and stabilizer looked like the picture, spotty ice here and there. My instructor who has been in ice many times, said the icing was light to moderate.

I was a little depressed from this - from all my research on these systems, I was not expecting to pick up any noticeable ice under these conditions. During my inspections in the hangar after the flight, I noticed TKS fluid leaking from the bottom of the plane. It was right below the TKS tank (on the 210, the tank is located in the baggage compartment), and it was not coming from the overfill overflow drain, it was coming from two factory drain holes in the bottom of the plane that I’m told Cessna put in to drain water in the event it gets in the tail or the baggage compartment.

So, I got to thinking, maybe a hose has come loose and I was leaking TKS fluid in the bottom of the plane and therefore I wasn’t getting full flow / pressure to the panels and hence the icing. Just wondering if there are any thoughts on this and if anyone can share any of their icing experiences with their TKS system?

thx.

Garth
ps - sorry for the sideways pictures,....

Judging by the ice remaining on that wingtip I’d say the TKS is working as expected.
The residual ice on the wing and prop in your pics is minimal, if you had boots instead of TKS it would look worse.

Your description and pictures seem consistent with my experiences with TKS performance.

My protocol is to keep the wing and protected surfaces clean. The panels work best when the fluid is turned on 10 to 15 minutes before entering icing conditions. The ice will form and then wash off. If it doesn’t wash off fairly quickly will turn it on high. If ice continues to appear it’s time for immediate action, usually a climb or decent. Maybe a diversion.

Studying the Skew-t charts in advance is important to know where the ice free air is most likely found and to having a plan b and plan c.

Hope that is helpful....

You shouldn't have fluid leaking from the bottom of the plane. If possible, run the system on the ground with the access panels around the proportioning valves open. The connections can leak, and with a new installation, it's worth a few gallons of fluid to be certain. Plug the plane into external power, and let it rip for 15 minutes. If there's a disconnected fitting, it will be obvious.

That said, if the system is coming up to pressure on low, then there's probably nothing catastrophic disconnected.

Also, a few minutes before entering the suspected icing/cloud is best to coat the panels and aft. Like voting in chicago: early and often is your best bet.

Garth, BT member Chris Unrau is just south of you in Winkler. He also has a 210 with TKS IIRC. Likely a good guy to swap ops info with.

I had a 210 w TKS in the past-this is what worked for me:

1. When getting ready to depart into potential icing conditions prime the system on the ground till it is wetting out. Turn it off and take off(unless you will immediately be in the clouds)
2. When approaching clouds turn it on hi 1-2 minutes before entering clouds
3. Leave it on hi until you see what level of ice accumulation you are dealing with and then turn it down to normal if reasonable
4. I rarely used the windshield ice as what was slinging off the prop usually did a good job for the windshield

But as stated above definitely run the system on the ground with the floor off the baggage compartment and look directly for leaks.

I loved the system....as long as you don't run out of fluid:)

Mark

Nice feedback guys - thank-you. I will be looking for leaks in the next few days but will re-visit my practice before entering IMC.

I do know about Chris living near me and know he had a TKS system installed - I was thinking of reaching out to him too.

Thanks again.

Garth