Gretz Pitot I Don't recommend

I purchased a Gretz pitot for use on my RV-9A when the company was owned by Warren Gretz. During my build process the company transitioned to an Australian based company owned by Andrew Leopold. During Pitot installation I had a few questions about the units technical design. Questions like why doesn?t the pitot have a drain line like other Pitots. What happens to the water or the melted ice. Does it proceed up the pitot tube until the water finds a low point and then freezes? Should I add a drain in the line. Once I installed and turned the unit on the green LED indicated ?on?, but how do I verify the pitot is operational prior to flight? Repeated Emails like these were never answered.

During my phase one testing, I took the my plane to have it IFR qualified. Since I could not prove to the technician the pitot was operational he recommended I come back later when I can. Then the green LED quit working, I sent repeated emails asking for advice on tracing out the problem. I finally received a response from Mr Leopold. He was willing to examine the operation of the board as well as pitot, ?Just? send it to him in Austrialia. Minimum time for this examination 10 days to Austrialia one day to examine, 10 days back. I have an electrical engineering degree and wanted to save both of us almost a month to find out if my wiring, the board, or the pitot thermister or,,, what ever was bad. Sent more Emails to request answers to technical questions. Questions like what resistance values should I receive on the thermister at 32 Degrees etc. No response. Looked on the internet they recommended to actuate the heater, I place a bag of ice on the pitot. Sent an EMAIL to Mr Leopold and he responded to do so and that I would hear a relay actuate.

Placed a bag of ice on the pitot the relay actuated the pitot began getting hot then proceeded to melt! I immediately sent an email to Mr Leopold who requested I send him the pitot and the board and he would examine the unit. I sent it out the next day. Ten days later, I received confirmation from USPS the package arrived, sent him an EMAIL to confirm its arrival. No response. 5 days later, sent another EMAIL. Only after two more days, after he had the unit for 7 days did Mr Leopold state that he could not find anything wrong with the unit. Since the pitot was melted, he recommended I purchase a new Pitot, on line, and, at what address do I want the damaged, but operable unit returned. Since the problem is not solved, to purchase another unit that may melt again is stupid. At best, I would have a heated pitot, I feel is not reliable.

Now Mr Leopold does not respond to my request of returning my melted pitot. My impression is, if you purchase a Gretz heated pitot you have no way of knowing it is going to operate when required. Tech support is non existent. Any examination/repairs are going to cost you excessive down time.?

Well that sucks

Just bought one recently, and spent quite a bit of time integrating the display unit into the panel. I sure hope some other users will chime in here.

I bought mine back when Warren Gretz owned the company. Installed per instructions and it has worked fine from day one. I have the VP-200, so it displays appropriate messages instead of the display unit lights provided with the kit.
It turns the heat on if the temp is below about 50 degrees F. I test the heat occasionally when I have low enough ambient temps. In the cockpit, I get the indicator on the VP display, and I can monitor amperage for confirmation the unit is "on".
465 hours with no problems.

Customer service

I was lucky enough to buy mine through Stein. Apparently there was a bad batch of them sent out a while ago. I installed one on my RV-10. When I finally got around to testing the system it melted! This was about six months after purchasing the pitot. I called Stein and he asked me to send it back and he will send me another one. I had been doing a lot of purchases through Stein. He sent me one before he received the bad one. No charge to me and the second one works great so far. 180 hours on the hobbs.

I've had mine for 700+ hours no problems. I use the annunciators on the VP display and can also look at current draw for the pitot, so knowing about operating status is not an issue.

However, the control board is fairly exposed (even though it's in the wing) and hoping it'll hold up over time. Knock on wood.

I purchased mine a few years back from Gretz, but just got my RV9A flying 11/11. When checking the pitot/static for leaks, I found a small leak in the pitot tube and sent off a email to the new owners. Got a response in a couple of days explaining the cause and the quick fix. The fix worked perfectly and so far so good after @43hrs.

I did test the heater by placing ice bags on the pitot and confirmed it heated up, but did not melt.

I'm considering buying/building a small enclosure for the circuit board as I'm not real comfortable being exposed as it is.

Gretz Pitot

My name is Andrew Leopold and I am the owner of Angus Aviation. We purchased the rights to manufacture the Gretz Pitot in 2008 and since that time we have been supplying the Gretz Pitot and providing support for all Gretz Pitot owners. I feel that I need to take this opportunity to respond to Mr Lupnacca's post.

Mr Lupnacca advised us of the issues he was having with his aeroplanes pitot installation on 30 Dec. Due to New Year holidays we replied on the 4th of Jan, "You are describing a number of problems there. We would be more than happy to test all components if you wish. Our address below". While we do offer complete support for the installation of our products, we do not offer training or instruction to trouble shoot possible problems with our components. We do this function ourselves in our own workshop. We think think this policy is both fair and reasonable.

Once Mr Lupnacca pitot and controller was returned to us, we placed immediately placed them on our testing equipment. They did not present any issues or failings whatsoever. We then ran the pitot and controller together in our test environment for over 12 hours and even in it's damaged condition it is operating perfectly, cycling as designed and keeping the pitot head heated as required.

Mr Lupnacca has been offered free replacement parts for his damaged Gretz pitot. We hope this resolves his issue. We are proud of the fact that to the very best of our knowledge every buyer of the Gretz Heated Pitot has been able to achieve a successful installation.

Andrew Leopold
Angus Aviation

jlupnacca said:

During my phase one testing, I took the my plane to have it IFR qualified. Since I could not prove to the technician the pitot was operational he recommended I come back later when I can.

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Aside from your other issues, find another technician. Whether or not the heat works is not an IFR certification issue.

Thanks for the comments. Mr Leopold has offered to provide a new pitot and controller and I expect to have no further problems.

one in the box

I bought mine a while back through SteinAir as well, exchanged it later for a heated unit, have yet to install it. Good to know the company is standing behind the product and will look to reference this thread if I experience any problems with the final installation.

kbehrent said:

Got a response in a couple of days explaining the cause and the quick fix. The fix worked perfectly and so far so good...

Click to expand...

What was the cause and the quick fix?

GusRV8 said:

I bought mine a while back through SteinAir as well, exchanged it later for a heated unit, have yet to install it. Good to know the company is standing behind the product and will look to reference this thread if I experience any problems with the final installation.

What was the cause and the quick fix?

Click to expand...

The cause of the leak was due to the inside of the composite shell not entirely bonding to the very tip of the metal tube. This can produce a very "small" leak if checked, but probably not enough affect you airspeed in flight. I just happened to perform a pitot/static check to test my system to hopefully avoid either faulty airspeed indication or none at all that seems to plague first flights.

Not knowing what was causing the leak, I contacted the new owners by email who immediately sent me a description of the fix. I had to laugh at first, but it actually makes sense and it works. The new owners are aware that "some" older models "may" have this issue and they now check for this before they ship the news ones out.

The fix is simple. You place a drop of thin or medium superglue into the opening of the pitot tip while applying a little suction to the metal tube. This draws the glue into the hairline crack in the composite shell surrounding the tip of the metal tube and seals it. All I can say is it works and I have 50 hrs on it now and it's still working great.

If you perform a pitot check, which I HIGHLY recommend for all first flights, and find that it slowly drains down, you may have the same issue. Don't panic! Contact the new owners by email and they will send you a PDF with the description of the fix.

I especially recommend a pitot check if you are using the Dynon pitot as a couple members in our EAA chapter have accidentally switched the pitot/static connections around and have lost airspeed indications @ 30kts. Not something I wanted to have happen on my first flight.

I had a leak in my Gretz pitot in the same location, and was advised to make the same repair. While I thought it was a clever way to seal the leak, I had some concerns about the durability of super glue long term. I contacted tech support for the glue manufacturer and was told that super glue has a very narrow operating temperature range. I don't recall the exact numbers, but remember that super glue will likely fail at temps that we would see flying on a cold day, and also at temps that the pitot would reach when the heater is turned on. After some teeth gnashing on both ends, they finally agreed to send me a new pitot.

Jim Berry
RV-10

Drain Hole??

I would like too have the answer on why no drain hole???

Gretz pitot leak. Anybody have the procedure to fix it?

Hi.
I have a early gretz heated pitot 2006 or 2007 or 2008. ( inam not the builder).
I have a leak at the tip between the composite and the tube as describe in earlier post.

Somebody post that there was a pdf document to fix it with glue. Does anybody can send me this procedure? I can?t find gretz website or contact.

I don?t think it is affecting the speed at all but at every 24 month they tell me that i have a leak. Isolated the leak just there.

Let me inow if you have the procedure.

Thank you.