jpr
Figured out how to edit this.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2016
- Messages
- 189
- Reaction score
- 52
Greetings all,
Toward the end of last flyin' season I had an intermittent issue where the volt gauge would show ~12 volts in flight, rather than the typical (and marked) 14. If I cycled the master switch, that would fix it temporarily. On a hunch, I took the alternator to a specialist who said the regulator was dead and replaced that. That worked great for 20-30 flight hours. During the same downtime, I installed an LED fuel gauge.
Well, fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. Not only is the volt meter showing the same symptoms again, but the new fuel gauge went kaput. Ordered a new fuel gauge, and that one lasted a whole flight hour before blowing up too - this time in flight.
Can't help but think there is some root cause that's making the regulator fall over, and maybe taking the fuel gauge with it. Probably a high voltage spike of some kind. But what might that be/what steps could I take to eliminate that possibility? Replacing a $75 fuel gauge every flight hour could get expensive and labor intensive, even by airplane standards!
Cheers,
jpr
Toward the end of last flyin' season I had an intermittent issue where the volt gauge would show ~12 volts in flight, rather than the typical (and marked) 14. If I cycled the master switch, that would fix it temporarily. On a hunch, I took the alternator to a specialist who said the regulator was dead and replaced that. That worked great for 20-30 flight hours. During the same downtime, I installed an LED fuel gauge.
Well, fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. Not only is the volt meter showing the same symptoms again, but the new fuel gauge went kaput. Ordered a new fuel gauge, and that one lasted a whole flight hour before blowing up too - this time in flight.
Can't help but think there is some root cause that's making the regulator fall over, and maybe taking the fuel gauge with it. Probably a high voltage spike of some kind. But what might that be/what steps could I take to eliminate that possibility? Replacing a $75 fuel gauge every flight hour could get expensive and labor intensive, even by airplane standards!
Cheers,
jpr
