No.

2506-I-29

Information Notice
SUBJECT: HYDRAULIC POWER Hydraulic pressure hoses (Post MOD 074239) - Cases of leak Additional information

For the attention of

AIRCRAFT CONCERNED AS350 AS550 AS355 AS555

Version(s) Civil B, BA, BB, B1, B2, B3, D Military L1 A2, C2, C3, U2 E, F, F1, F2, N, NP UN, AN, SN, UF, AF

Modification MOD 074239 consists in installing hydraulic Teflon/stainless steel hoses in place of the former polyamide hoses which must be replaced every 5000FH // 6Y. These hoses are fitted to: - the complete hydraulic power system on all AS350 and AS550 helicopter versions with single hydraulic power system, - the tail rotor actuator and load compensator for AS350 and AS550 helicopters with double hydraulic power system, - and certain hoses for AS355 et AS555 helicopter versions. These new Teflon/stainless steel hoses (post MOD 074239) are no longer subject to an operating time limitation and are interchangeable and mixable with the former hoses. Immediately after having put them into service at the customers site, cases of leak on these new hoses were reported. The investigations conducted made it possible to identify the causes of the leaks, and the main cause is that the hoses can charge with static electricity through a tribo-electrical phenomenon (image 2 - Figure 1) and discharge in the stainless steel braid when its potential has reached the Teflon tubes insulating limit (image 3 - Figure 1). This discharge can create a micro-perforation, leading to the leaking of hydraulic fluid (images 4 & 5 - Figure 1). EUROCOPTER has therefore implemented the industrialization of new pressure hoses which will be finalized within the next few weeks through modification MOD 074686. These hoses will be completely interchangeable and mixable with all previous definitions. Pending the availability of these new pressure hoses, the replacement intervals of the polyamide hoses (pre MOD 074239) specified in the respective Maintenance Programs can be extended. These extensions will be validated through a EUROCOPTER Technical Agreement (ETA) only on request to be sent to the following address: Hydraulics.Technical-Support@eurocopter.com.

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2012-10-05 2013-05-16

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No. 2506-I-29

Figure 1: Representative diagram of the electrostatic phenomenon in PTFE hoses

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2012-10-05 2013-05-16

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This document is available on the internet: www.eurocopter.com/techpub