Elevator Trim Cable Attach Brackets (WD-415)

There have been multiple cases of the elevator trim cable attach brackets (WD-415) breaking both during construction, and even at least one case reported during flight.  These parts were made by taking a metal nut and welding it to a small metal pad.  Supposedly they should be stainless steel, which is non-magnetic, but some builders are reporting that not all of them are stainless, and some of the parts are mixed stainless and non-stainless.  Even if you have good stainless ones, which are rumored to be stronger than the others, these parts should probably NOT be left as-is, as it is a critical part with a poor design for strength.  There's a lot of force possible on that weld joint, and it's basically only welding one edge corner of a nut to the plate below it.

My solution at the time, since some new replacement parts (produced and sold by a 3rd party) were just coming into existence, was to silver solder the nut to the plate, as well as leaving the weld intact.  Silver Soldering or brazing is nice in that it creates a really strong joint, but doesn't actually melt the base metals.  In effect, I was able to fill in the gap between the nut and the plate, and make a much larger area to connect those 2 parts.  It should be very strong.  Not everyone has silver solder around their house, or a connection to someone who does, but it's worth doing if you can get it done.  It should be very cheap to do.  If you have an acetylene torch, you should just get some flux and solder and you'd be all set.

The 3rd party replacement parts, made by Rivethead Aero, are probably the best way to go if you have time to wait on the parts.  These things should be really beefy.  See their site here for all of their RV-10 related replacement parts:  http://www.rivethead-aero.com/rv10_005.htm

There are some photos of these parts also available on Deems Davis's Site that you may want to check out.

So no matter which way you go, you will definitely be better off than the standard parts which will probably cause a service bulletin to be issued as they start to cause people more problems.  (just checking that crystal ball)

Zack posted these photos of the brackets in use on his cover plates.