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Finding the Cause of an Intermittent

 
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bobair8(at)msn.com
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:40 am    Post subject: Finding the Cause of an Intermittent Reply with quote
<?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" /><![endif]--> I have a Garmin GNC250XL GPS/Comm, Garmin GTX320 transponder and PS Engineering intercom in my VFR-only GlaStar. After about 140 hours, the GPS/Comm has started to shut down and restart intermittently. It happened once a couple of widely spaced times but is becoming more frequent. Now it will shut down, restart and then shutdown less than a minute or so later, repeating this cycle several times. It doesn't happen on all flights and I may be able to fly for up to an hour before it happens.

At first I thought it might be caused by heat (I don't have a cooling fan). But it has happened under enough varying circumstances (and the fact that the unit starts right up again immediately after it shuts down), that I now wonder whether either the power or ground wire is intermittent.

Before I start tearing things apart, I thought I'd ask the group for their experience, thoughts and suggestions.

My first step would be to turn the radio on in the hangar and simply start wiggling harnesses to see if I can induce a shut down. The transponder and intercom (and other electrically driven items) all work fine.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Best regards,

Bob
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ceengland(at)bellsouth.ne
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:00 am    Post subject: Finding the Cause of an Intermittent Reply with quote
r falstad wrote:
Quote:
I have a Garmin GNC250XL GPS/Comm, Garmin GTX320 transponder and PS
Engineering intercom in my VFR-only GlaStar. After about 140 hours,
the GPS/Comm has started to shut down and restart intermittently. It
happened once a couple of widely spaced times but is becoming more
frequent. Now it will shut down, restart and then shutdown less than
a minute or so later, repeating this cycle several times. It doesn't
happen on all flights and I may be able to fly for up to an hour
before it happens.

At first I thought it might be caused by heat (I don't have a cooling
fan). But it has happened under enough varying circumstances (and the
fact that the unit starts right up again immediately after it shuts
down), that I now wonder whether either the power or ground wire is
intermittent.

Before I start tearing things apart, I thought I'd ask the group for
their experience, thoughts and suggestions.

My first step would be to turn the radio on in the hangar and simply
start wiggling harnesses to see if I can induce a shut down. The
transponder and intercom (and other electrically driven items) all
work fine.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Best regards,

Bob

I'd say that you've got the right idea. Just start out by gently tapping
stuff instead of giving it a hard yank or whack. Reason is not so much
to prevent damage, as to prevent re-seating a connector that might be
intermittent. If that happens, you might make the problem disappear for
weeks or months before it comes back.

One thing to watch for is sub-D pins that have partially backed out of
their shell. Another is having a component not completely seated in its
tray & the lock screw tightened. Either of these situations can cause an
intermittent that's really hard to find.

You could have an intermittent inside the radio. If external checks
don't reveal anything, try to borrow someone else's radio & plug it in
your tray (swap with them for a few flights).

Charlie

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rv8builder



Joined: 02 Jan 2009
Posts: 56
PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:36 pm    Post subject: Finding the Cause of an Intermittent Reply with quote
before you do too much, try changing the Circuit Breaker (assuming that the device is protected by a CB rather then a fuse). Or checking the conections on the CB or fuse.

Just some thoughts.

Dale

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N81JG(at)aol.com
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:18 pm    Post subject: Finding the Cause of an Intermittent Reply with quote
This is a known problem with an older version of the operating system in the 250XL. I had the same problem and could reproduce it in the hangar without any engine running, so no loose connections. I took it out of the tray and took to the avionics shop. A call to Garmin said to update the system version and that took care of it. It is not the data base card, but an internal program that the avionics shop had to order and install for me. My 250XL was purchased in 97 and started "rebooting" like you describe after I updated the data base card. It's probably an incompatibility between the old operating system and new data base. Easy fix, though a shop charge for the installation.

John Greaves
Redding, CA
VariEze N81JG and RV7A N781JG


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