A Captain and First Officer report an aborted takeoff due to aileron binding on their DHC-8-100.

Narrative

Aileron binding. Aborted takeoff. Weather enroute was to be considered ice and snow. 'PL BR' with visibility. The aircraft had been written up by the previous crew for flooding in the flight deck. Maintenance had been working on the aircraft to dry out and seal the hatch. The weather overnight in ZZZ had been rain to freezing rain. Upon request from Maintenance Control; the First Officer and I taxied the aircraft around to check for any additional leaks with the pressurization on. Even with making hard turns and hard braking; we only had some residual water with glycol dripping slightly from the flight deck corners. We returned to the gate where Maintenance signed off the aircraft. I talked several times with Dispatch; Mrs. X; concerning the limited time we will have in ZZZ1 with the PL (ice pellets). We both came to the conclusion that we could go and would have only 25 minutes to get deiced with Type IV fluid to get airborne again. Tower cleared us for takeoff. In position; I applied power to 50-60% to make sure the aircraft had the right power. Rolling down the runway; all was normal. Just before rotation; I slightly moved the ailerons for crosswind and aileron check and felt a heavy resistance. I checked again and decided to abort the takeoff. We advised Tower of the abort; no assistance needed and we wish to return to the gate. At the gate after shutdown; I felt the controls again; and again a heavy resistance was present. With the controls all the way forward; the ailerons felt less resistant than in the central or neutral position. In center; I moved the aileron to the left and then right. While in the right movement; the controls jammed at a 45 degree angle unable to move further. I returned the wheel to center and tried again with the same result. I then called Maintenance Control. At that time; Mr. Y (the Mechanic) showed up and asked what was going on. While talking to Maintenance Control; I advised both of them what happened. Maintenance Control advised to unlock the roll disconnect and I moved both wheels and reconnected the roll disconnect. Behold; the jam was gone. The controls still moved heavy. About 1 hour later; Maintenance Control asked me to help out with checking out the controls. While Maintenance was under the floor; we all checked the controls and found no defects. The controls were lighter than before but still had a heavy grinding feel. They also found quite a lot of water under the floor enough they said to keep 'gold fish.' They reinstalled the panels and called Maintenance Control. Maintenance Control asked me what I thought and if I would ferry it. I advised yes; as long as we do not have any severe icing that might cause a problem. I suggested that it might have been ice in the flight deck area that might have caused this problem; and while we moved the controls we dislodged the ice. While we were talking; a cell phone went off under the floor. Somehow; one of the mechanics had lost his phone under the floor and the 'gold fish' were calling. Supplemental information from ACN 819071: The Captain (Pilot Flying) began the takeoff roll. All was normal until approximately 3 kts below the V1; when the Captain initiated a rejected takeoff. As we slowed; the Captain expressed that the controls felt heavy. While waiting to be marshaled in to our gate; the Captain once again checked the flight controls; noting heaviness (more so when the yoke was aft rather than forward) in the ailerons. In addition; he noted a slight grinding sound and a binding when the yoke was positioned approximately 45 degrees to the right. He had me try the same thing; and I concurred with his evaluation. At the Captain's request; I pulled the roll disconnect and we each rechecked our own flight controls still noting a measure of 'heaviness' but no binding. Reconnecting the controls; the binding seemed to have returned. The Captain was the first to note a problem with the ailerons during the takeoff roll and subsequently rejected the takeoff. When checking the flight controls while taking the runway; I did not feel a problem with the ailerons or any other part of the aircraft. On the takeoff roll; the Captain did notice a problem; resulting in a good; safe; timely rejection of the takeoff. Speaking to maintenance during their initial inspection; aside from an accumulation of water under the floor of the flight deck; there was nothing notable. There did not seem to be anything other than a heaviness in the controls; and the binding seemed to have been at least reduced to the point that it was safe for ferrying. Due to the above information and the fact that I had not felt anything in my initial flight control check; I am left to conclude that the symptoms of the problem were somewhat intermittent. Inspection of the flight control by Maintenance; resulted in the discovery of one or more worn pulleys in the ailerons; there most certainly was a problem with the aileron controls. Due to the fact that only 1 in 4 pilots related to the problem; it is reinforced in my mind just how important it is to be vigilant at all times -- a potentially serious problem might initially be manifested in an intermittent symptom. Callback conversation with reporter ACN 819071 revealed the following information: Reporter stated the DHC-8-100 they were scheduled to fly had a previous write-up for the overhead ditching escape hatch leaking around the pressure seal. Enough water appeared to have run down along the inside of the cockpit sidewall and pooled up under the cockpit floorboard. Whether the pooled water partially froze; causing the heaviness in the aileron control; was never really confirmed. The roll and pitch disconnects are located at the forward end of the center pedestal and the vertical center panel. Reporter stated disconnect is achieved by pulling and rotating the left handle (roll) or right handle (pitch) 90 degrees. Reconnecting the controls is accomplished by rotating either handle 90 degrees in the opposite direction and pushing the handle back into position. Reporter stated if there is a jam in the aileron control from the copilot's yoke; the disconnect will allow the pilot to fly aircraft with hydraulics from the left wheel. If the jam is from the pilot's side; than the disconnect will allow the copilot to input roll to the ailerons using the cable system from the right yoke.