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Construction Types
Who are some common manufacturers?
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)
Firestone / AmFuel
BF Goodrich / AmFuel
US Rubber / Uniroyal / AmFuel
Goodyear Aerospace / Loral / Engineered Fabrics Corporation
Replacement part manufacturers (PMA)
Graham Lott Ent. / Duraflex / A/C Fuel Cells Worldwide / A/C Team
Aero-Tech Services / ATS
A.I.R. / Duralite / FFC Mfg
Eagle Technologies Co. / Eagle Fuel Cells-ETC, Inc.
Which construction types are repairable?
Goodyear / Loral / Engineered Fabrics (multi-ply urethane) |
Repairable? |
Pre 1960 |
Pliocel |
All nylon construction, becomes very brittle |
Rarely |
1960-70 |
BTC-39 |
Condemned - AD 78-05-06 |
No |
1970-72 |
BTC-54A |
Soft urethane similar to BTC-39 but thicker |
No |
1973-78 |
BTC-67 |
Urethane becomes stiff & brittle, nipples break off |
Not worth it |
1979-88 |
BTC-85 |
Better urethane construction with nitrile nipples |
Sometimes |
1988-on |
BTC-99 |
Latest construction very durable |
Yes |
A.I.R. / Duralite (1-ply urethane) / FFC MFG. (1-ply nitrile) |
Repairable? |
1979-94 |
P-2315 |
Low-grade urethane, nipples break off body crumbles |
No |
1994-on |
P-2393 |
Similar to 1975-91 Uniroyal, weak nipples |
Usually |
US Rubber / AmFuel (multi-ply nitrile) |
Repairable? |
1946-55 |
US-538N |
Durable military construction becomes stiff with age |
Sometimes |
1956-on |
US-566R |
Durable military construction |
Usually |
1956-59 |
US-584 |
Nitrile coated cotton fabric, dries out, shrinks, and tears |
Not worth it |
1956-61 |
US-588 |
Durable military construction |
Usually |
1959-62 |
US-907 |
Extremely thin material |
No |
Uniroyal / AmFuel (1-ply nitrile) |
Repairable? |
1963-74 |
US-943 |
Durable, gusseted corners, medium weight fabric |
Usually |
1975-91 |
US-943 |
Less durable, stiff folded corners lower quality fabric |
Usually |
Aero-Tech Services / A.T.S. (2-ply nitrile) |
Repairable? |
1976-90 |
201 |
Blisters and separations, shrinkage, not ozone resistant |
Not worth it |
1991-on |
201 |
Shrinkage issue similar to US-584 |
Not worth it |
Graham Lott Ent. / Duraflex / A/C Fuel Cells Worldwide /
A/C Team (1-ply nitrile) |
Repairable? |
1985-2002 |
Made of diaphragm material, dries out easily, leaks extensively, weak seams (Unapproved parts notice #96-269 April 13, 1999) |
No |
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