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Tach/regulator problem

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williamtsullivan(at)att.n
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:23 am Post subject: Tach/regulator problem

Dana- Was the base of the regulator grounded?  I don't have experience with your particular hardware, but I have run across situations where a couple of extra ground wires will fix things.  Is your engine grounded to the airframe?  Regulator grounded to the engine?  Gauge cases grounded?  Just my first thought.

  

                                                    Bill Sullivan

                                                    Windsor Locks, Ct.

                                                    FS 447

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Dana

Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 1047
Location: Connecticut, USA

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:40 pm Post subject: Tach/regulator problem

At 02:45 PM 6/28/2010, Richard Pike wrote:

  	  Quote: 	
		  I had a similar situation several years ago when I went through months of weirdness with my tach and my Key West regulator. Ended up buying a Tiny Tach and have had no more problems. You wrap a sensing wire around the spark plug lead and it counts the actual pulses. Simple, reliable and a digital readout. 	


 I use the Tiny Tach or the similar but better ENM tach on my PPGs, and it's one alternative I've considered (since I know it will work).  Before I do, though, I'd like to try to get the existing setup working.



 At 03:20 PM 6/28/2010, william sullivan wrote:

  	  Quote: 	
		    Dana- Was the base of the regulator grounded?  I don't have experience with your particular hardware, but I have run across situations where a couple of extra ground wires will fix things.  Is your engine grounded to the airframe?  Regulator grounded to the engine?  Gauge cases grounded?  Just my first thought. 	


 Nothing is grounded... the lighting coil is not grounded to the engine, nor [I think] should it need to be.  The engine isn't grounded to the airframe (it's on rubber mounts), and there's nothing in the Key West instruction sheet about grounding it (two AC lines in, two DC lines out).



 -Dana

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George Alexander

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 245
Location: SW Florida

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 4:03 pm Post subject: Re: Tach/regulator problem

 	  Dana wrote: 	
		  



< < < <SNIP> > > > 

Nothing is grounded... the lighting coil is not grounded to the engine, nor [I think] should it need to be.  The engine isn't grounded to the airframe (it's on rubber mounts), and there's nothing in the Key West instruction sheet about grounding it (two AC lines in, two DC lines out).



 -Dana

	




Dana:

Couple of thoughts..... 



Grounding...  since it is your intent to use the KW Reg/Rect to power your radio, you may want to do what most with a similar set up do.  Ground strap from the engine to the airframe.  After strap is installed, check to see if the case of the KWR/R is grounded through its mounting hardware to the engine block.  It should be, but if not, add a strap to make it so.



Wiring.... you had said in your first post that you wired the tach and the KWR/R in parallel.  Don't know what the input stage of both the tach and the KWR/R are and even if I did, don't remember enough of my basic electronics to mean anything, but that configuration just doesn't sound right to me.  May be pulling too much of a load for the lighting coil.



I have a vague recollection that instructions with the KWR/R called for wiring it in series if you were using a lighting coil driven strobe. I know that this is not what your situation is, but the circuitry might be similar enough to warrant doing it the same way.



Another alternative is to connect the tach to something other than the lighting coil.  If you don't have a tach lead on the Cuyuna, maybe the kill switch?????   Westach can give you information that is far more valuable than mine.

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George Alexander
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Dana

Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 1047
Location: Connecticut, USA

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:10 pm Post subject: Tach/regulator problem

At 08:03 PM 6/28/2010, George Alexander wrote:



  	  Quote: 	
		  Grounding...  since it is your intent to use the KW Reg/Rect to power your radio, you may want to do what most with a similar set up do.  Ground strap from the engine to the airframe.  After strap is installed, check to see if the case of the KWR/R is grounded through its mounting hardware to the engine block.  It should be, but if not, add a strap to make it so. 	


 Shouldn't matter, but it's one thing I'll try if nothing else works.  It's only power to a handheld radio and GPS, so they don't need an airframe ground.



  	  Quote: 	
		  Wiring.... you had said in your first post that you wired the tach and the KWR/R in parallel.  Don't know what the input stage of both the tach and the KWR/R are and even if I did, don't remember enough of my basic electronics to mean anything, but that configuration just doesn't sound right to me.  May be pulling too much of a load for the lighting coil.



 I have a vague recollection that instructions with the KWR/R called for wiring it in series if you were using a lighting coil driven strobe. I know that this is not what your situation is, but the circuitry might be similar enough to warrant doing it the same  way. 	


 Lighting coil strobe is a different animal.  The tach (according to Westach, who also suggested some things to try) needs at least 7VAC to operate, and unlike a strobe, it won't pass enough current to the regulator.



  	  Quote: 	
		  Another alternative is to connect the tach to something other than the lighting coil.  If you don't have a tach lead on the Cuyuna, maybe the kill switch?????   Westach can give you information that is far more valuable than mine. 	


 No tach lead on the Cuyuna; the lighting coil is where it's supposed to go.  Hopefully tomorrow's weather will be good enough to spend some time at the airfield.



 -Dana



 

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