---------------------------------------------------------- AeroElectric-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Fri 07/27/12: 6 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 09:14 AM - Re: troubleshooting help needed (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 2. 09:47 AM - Re: troubleshooting help needed (Bill Hibbing) 3. 12:18 PM - Re: troubleshooting help needed (Charlie England) 4. 04:48 PM - Re: troubleshooting help needed (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 5. 05:58 PM - LED installations (Jay Pearlman) 6. 08:28 PM - Re: Inspection 'scopes (Robert Borger) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 09:14:24 AM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: troubleshooting help needed Your original squawk: When I'm flying at cruise power, or even idling, the voltage wanders up and down from 14.4v to slightly less than 13v. It does go down enough that my Garmin Aera 796 will drop off of ships power and go to it's internal battery. This would indicate to me that this is not a problem with the voltmeter. This does not seem to have any measurable cycle. The amps stay constant at about 16 amps. When I've had the plane flying I've tried turning off equipment one at a time to see if that might have any effect...it didn't. So now I think I may have some sort of a problem here so I hooked everything back up and went back to step 4 and checked pin 4 again. This time it was 1.73 volts at both pin 4 and at the alternator field terminal. You didn't tell us where your ammeter was connected . . . in other words, what current does it measure? The fact that your bus voltage falls so low (13.0 or below) suggests the alternator is going off line completely and that the bus voltage is falling to battery delivery voltage. Your narrative also suggests that your ammeter is looking at ship's loads and not alternator output which would explain the relatively constant ammeter reading. So now I think I may have some sort of a problem here so I hooked everything back up and went back to step 4 and checked pin 4 again. This time it was 1.73 volts at both pin 4 and at the alternator field terminal. This is consistent with an intermittent disconnect of alternator field supply which. If the voltage at pin 4 ever drops so low while pin 6 and 3 are at battery voltage points to failure within the regulator. Suggest you arrange to return it to B&C for inspection/repair. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 09:47:46 AM PST US From: "Bill Hibbing" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: troubleshooting help needed Thanks Bob, That's about what I was thinking also. I was hoping that I would find the alternator was the problem as it's a heck of a lot easier to change. Another question for you...I currently have the LR3C mounted on the cabin side of the firewall. Do you see any problem with relocating it to the engine side of the firewall? As long as I have to take it out, a real PITA, I thought I might change the location to a location that is easier to work on it in the case of another failure. Thanks, Bill So now I think I may have some sort of a problem here so I hooked everything back up and went back to step 4 and checked pin 4 again. This time it was 1.73 volts at both pin 4 and at the alternator field terminal. This is consistent with an intermittent disconnect of alternator field supply which. If the voltage at pin 4 ever drops so low while pin 6 and 3 are at battery voltage points to failure within the regulator. Suggest you arrange to return it to B&C for inspection/repair. Bob . . . No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 07/27/12 ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 12:18:56 PM PST US From: Charlie England Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: troubleshooting help needed On 07/27/2012 11:10 AM, Robert L. Nuckolls, III wrote: > Your original squawk: > > When I'm flying at cruise power, or even idling, the voltage wanders > up and down > from 14.4v to slightly less than 13v. It does go down enough that my > Garmin > Aera 796 will drop off of ships power and go to it's internal > battery. This would > indicate to me that this is not a problem with the voltmeter. This > does not seem > to have any measurable cycle. The amps stay constant at about 16 amps. > When I've had the plane flying I've tried turning off equipment one at > a time to > see if that might have any effect...it didn't. > > So now I think I may have some sort of a problem > here so I hooked everything back up and went back > to step 4 and checked pin 4 again. This time it > was 1.73 volts at both pin 4 and at the alternator > field terminal. > > You didn't tell us where your ammeter was connected . . . > in other words, what current does it measure? > > The fact that your bus voltage falls so low (13.0 or below) > suggests the alternator is going off line completely and that > the bus voltage is falling to battery delivery voltage. > > Your narrative also suggests that your ammeter is looking at > ship's loads and not alternator output which would explain > the relatively constant ammeter reading. > > > So now I think I may have some sort of a problem > here so I hooked everything back up and went back > to step 4 and checked pin 4 again. This time it > was 1.73 volts at both pin 4 and at the alternator > field terminal. > > This is consistent with an intermittent disconnect of > alternator field supply which. If the voltage at pin 4 > ever drops so low while pin 6 and 3 are at battery > voltage points to failure within the regulator. Suggest > you arrange to return it to B&C for inspection/repair. > > Bob . . . > Since the field voltage at the alt wasn't there, & came back after the disconnect/reconnect, it might be worthwhile to disconnect it again & do a resistance check while wiggling the wire & terminations, prior to returning the regulator. Charlie ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 04:48:25 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: troubleshooting help needed At 11:45 AM 7/27/2012, you wrote: >Thanks Bob, > >That's about what I was thinking also. I was hoping that I would >find the alternator was the problem as it's a heck of a lot easier >to change. Another question for you...I currently have the LR3C >mounted on the cabin side of the firewall. Do you see any problem >with relocating it to the engine side of the firewall? As long as I >have to take it out, a real PITA, I thought I might change the >location to a location that is easier to work on it in the case of >another failure. Thanks, Many of them are located on the engine side of the fire wall and seem to do just fine. We designed that critter 25 years ago and I never did an on-purpose thermal study. I should probably get one from Bill and put it in the chamber to see what the real ambient limits are. Actually, temperatures on the fire wall while in flight are quite benign. That's another real data gathering exercise that would be useful to conduct. All it takes is time and $ . . . but you're okay if you move it. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 05:58:06 PM PST US From: Jay Pearlman Subject: AeroElectric-List: LED installations ________________________________ Bob, For the B&C wig-wag, I see a modification on the B&C site putting a resistor in parallel. I was told you are working on an alternative solution for using LEDs. Is there something in the works? ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 08:28:56 PM PST US Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Inspection 'scopes From: Robert Borger Eric, I ordered one. Will let you know what it's like and how it works. Blue skies & tailwinds, Bob Borger Europa XS Tri, Rotax 914, Airmaster C/S Prop. Little Toot Sport Biplane, Lycoming Thunderbolt AEIO-320 EXP 3705 Lynchburg Dr. Corinth, TX 76208-5331 Cel: 817-992-1117 rlborger@mac.com On Jul 26, 2012, at 7:44 AM, Eric M. Jones wrote: FYI: Flexible Endosopes with lighting and video is very cheap now. They have now become USB pluggable and simply plug into your laptop computer...no screen, no nothing. See DealExtreme. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/waterproof-usb-2-0-cmos-300kp-4-led-illuminated-snake-camera-endoscope-110228?item=8 $36.80 FREE SHIPPING (Holy criminy!) Do not archive -------- Eric M. Jones www.PerihelionDesign.com 113 Brentwood Drive Southbridge, MA 01550 (508) 764-2072 emjones(at)charter.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message aeroelectric-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/AeroElectric-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/aeroelectric-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/aeroelectric-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.