Canopy Latch gas strut

[Rick]

It's all good... yes, we all have a long gas strut that supports the rear door when it's open, but that was not the one I was referring to. Starting with 40.500, the spring inside the front canopy latch was replaced by a tiny gas strut, which simply holds pressure on the latch to keep it in the closed (or opened) position. If your s/n is less than 40.500, you don't have this strut, which I think has led to some confusion in this thread. To add to the confusion, the AMM was never updated to show this new assembly, and the parts manual was also never updated. So even if you look up the latest serial numbers, you will still see the old diagrams and reference to the (non-existent) spring - and NO reference to the gas strut.

This strut is not involved in holding the door closed (or opened), but simply applying pressure to the red lever to hold it in the desired position. In my case, the red lever wants to move slightly away from the flush closed position, just enough to move the locking pin off of the closed switch. The canopy is still a long way from actually opening in flight. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for Diamond to have the part in stock so I can order one...

[Rick]

The new strut from Diamond finally arrived at the shop. If any of you who said you disassembled the latch without removing the canopy would care to offer any advice, I'm all ears! Looks like I'll be tackling this project in the near future...

Canopy Latch Strut

[Diamond13]

The compression gas spring in canopy is made by Dictator Technik GmbH, p/n D4-12-10-1/160N-60-70-GZ03-A03, the Diamond p/n is D41-5211-60-91_01

[mhoran]

Hey Rick, not sure if you managed to get this installed yet, but I just wanted to follow up if not (or for others).

There are a few screws around the lever in the cockpit. Those screws can be removed, allowing the assembly to be removed from the door. Once exposed, if I recall correctly, we had to disconnect the "fork head" that connects to the "bowden cable". This can be released with a pair of tweezers, very carefully. I think you'll also have to disconnect the fork head that connects to the "operating rod" that runs to the locking bolt on the pilot side of the canopy.

Once everything has been disconnected, the lever assembly should be free to be removed from the canopy. The gas strut is located behind the lever, and should be easy to replace.

My mechanic misunderstood my instructions at our annual and didn't manage to order the right part, so I have yet to do this replacement myself. However, we did have to remove this assembly for other reasons.

See the attached parts diagram for more details.

[Rick]

Thanks, Matt. I haven't done this yet - my wife is working on her PPL and had lessons scheduled almost every day, since it's been like spring here all last week. I did get to sit in the plane for an hour over the weekend and stare at the latch from the inside. I think I can see how to remove the roll pin from that position, and then the latch mechanism, so one day when my shop is not too busy and my wife is not flying, I'll try to get it done. We're both pretty used to the door alarm now...

[BkFlyer]

Matt and I did finally get the repair fully completed. It was so annoying, but now it works so well.

I recommend not waiting too long because that canopy annunciator covers both the front and rear doors. Make sure to be in the habit of visually checking that the REAR door bolt is engaged during run-up. Very important.

[Rick]

I see I never reported back in this thread (sorry), but we did in fact get the gas strut replaced, and without removing the canopy (thanks, Matt - your instructions were very helpful!). And, as you noted, the replacement process is very annoying - but doable... The latch is quite solid again, and no more warnings.

Thanks again for your help!

[MarkA]

I'm in the process of getting the gas compression spring replaced on the canopy latch of my 2010 DA40 XLS.

I ordered a replacement strut from a Diamond service center in southern California who has some experience replacing this part. Apparently it can be a real pain in the rear to replace. The strut is supposed to arrive here in Portland, OR sometime next week. Unfortunately there are no Diamond service centers nearby so I'm doing some of the background research on how to replace this part before I hand it off to the local shop that's doing the maintenance for me.

The Diamond service center sent a copy of the maintenance practice instructions on how to "Remove/Install the Canopy Door Handle if MAM 40-139 is installed" that may be helpful to others. There are no pictures in the .pdf but it does provide some step-by-step instructions that might be helpful for replacing this part in both the canopy and the rear door.

A copy of the maintenance practice instructions .pdf is attached.

door latch AMM-TR-MAM-40-846.pdf

(48.7 KiB) Downloaded 153 times

[Colin]

Gorge Aviation Services, Dallesport, WA did work on my DA42 at KHIO and they were great.

Northwest Aviation on the field at KHIO was also really good and helpful.

[smoss]

Any comment on the cost of that tiny gas strut from Diamond?