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Low Voltage Warning

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bakerocb

Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 727
Location: FAIRFAX VA

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:47 am Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

4/19/2009



Hello Fellow Listers,



A friend recently had an incident where the field wire to the alternator in 

his Beechcraft Sierra airplane failed. When the alternator stopped putting 

out amps the batteries (two 12 volt batteries in this 24 volt system 

airplane) eventually became depleted to the point that nothing electrical in 

the airplane would work.



He landed safely and had the alternator field wire repaired. Now he realizes 

that attempting to visually  monitor his ammeter constantly / frequently in 

order to detect a low voltage / alternator out situation is not a highly 

successful solution to such a problem.



The question is: "What is the best way to install a readily visable low 

voltage warning system in this standard type certificated airplane?" Already 

existing STC's or _____________ ?



'OC'

nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:52 pm Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

At 02:45 PM 4/19/2009, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



4/19/2009



Hello Fellow Listers,



A friend recently had an incident where the field wire to the 

alternator in his Beechcraft Sierra airplane failed. When the 

alternator stopped putting out amps the batteries (two 12 volt 

batteries in this 24 volt system airplane) eventually became 

depleted to the point that nothing electrical in the airplane would work.



He landed safely and had the alternator field wire repaired. Now he 

realizes that attempting to visually  monitor his ammeter constantly 

/ frequently in order to detect a low voltage / alternator out 

situation is not a highly successful solution to such a problem.



The question is: "What is the best way to install a readily visable 

low voltage warning system in this standard type certificated 

airplane?" Already existing STC's or _____________ ?


	


     An active low voltage warning system

     (flashing light) is what's being installed

     in most current certified aircraft. Unfortunately

     there's perhaps 100,000 airplanes that are no

     so blessed.



     If his airplane has a cigar lighter, it's pretty

     easy to craft something that plugs into it and

     avoids paper-generating mods to the aircraft.

     The low voltage warning hardware is stone simple.

     Getting permission to put it in is an entirely

     different matter.



     He might see if he can 337 an LR3-28 onto the

     airplane. It has the regulation, ov protection

     and independent LV warning in one box. On the

     other hand, if he'd like to Velcro something

     to the lower lip of the instrument panel for

     a whole lot less money, have him contact me

     directly.

        Bob . . .



        ----------------------------------------)

        ( . . .  a long habit of not thinking   )

        ( a thing wrong, gives it a superficial )

        ( appearance of being right . . .       )

        (                                       )

        (                  -Thomas Paine 1776-  )

        ----------------------------------------

JohnInReno

Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 150

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:44 pm Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

 	  Quote: 	
		  > 

>

> 4/19/2009

>

> Hello Fellow Listers,

> The question is: "What is the best way to install a readily visable 

> low voltage warning system in this standard type certificated 

> airplane?" Already existing STC's or ___________

While fumbling around in the Garmin GPS fields, I discovered a field 
	


that displays volts and an alarm with a settable value. If you are 

already blessed with a portable GPS, it is worth a look.



John Morgensen

RV9A - wiring

Grumman AA1B -  Building time.

_________________
John Morgensen
RV-9A - Born on July 3, 2013
RV4 - for sale

nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:11 pm Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

At 05:43 PM 4/19/2009, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  

>>

>>

>>4/19/2009

>>

>>Hello Fellow Listers,

>>The question is: "What is the best way to install a readily 

>>visable low voltage warning system in this standard type 

>>certificated airplane?" Already existing STC's or ___________

While fumbling around in the Garmin GPS fields, I discovered a field 

that displays volts and an alarm with a settable value. If you are 

already blessed with a portable GPS, it is worth a look.


	


   Good idea John . . . in fact, there are a number of

   similar opportunities offered by plug-in accessories.

   The "fly in the soup" comes from an increasingly

   intransigent interpretation of the rules for "modifying"

   a TC aircraft. If the airplane wasn't shipped from

   the factory with a cigar lighter, adding a power

   tap later causes some folks to suggest that the mod

   be blessed with piles of $paper$.



   Now if it were my airplane . . .

        Bob . . .



        ----------------------------------------)

        ( . . .  a long habit of not thinking   )

        ( a thing wrong, gives it a superficial )

        ( appearance of being right . . .       )

        (                                       )

        (                  -Thomas Paine 1776-  )

        ----------------------------------------

longg(at)pjm.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 5:47 am Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

Interesting you brought up this topic. I don't have a best answer for

you but I too have had this experience. Here we are spending all this

money on fancy alternators and the damn 2 cent connector on the field

wire vibrates off the end. How cheap is this (at)(%*? With all the BS

associated with aircraft why can't someone come up with an alternator

connector that is tough, supports the wires, the connector and doesn't

just vibrate off at the connector? Hell, why not run the field wires

through conduit?



Time to start inventing.

Glenn

--

nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:10 am Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

At 08:46 AM 4/20/2009, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Interesting you brought up this topic. I don't have a best answer for

you but I too have had this experience. Here we are spending all this

money on fancy alternators and the damn 2 cent connector on the field

wire vibrates off the end. How cheap is this (at)(%*? With all the BS

associated with aircraft why can't someone come up with an alternator

connector that is tough, supports the wires, the connector and doesn't

just vibrate off at the connector? Hell, why not run the field wires

through conduit?



Time to start inventing.


	


     If the "2-cent terminal" is properly selected/installed

     it won't vibrate off.



     This is but one of the variables I spoke about when

     it comes to the selection of materials and accessories

     based on perceived quality, robustness or purchase

     price. There are a variety of terminal configurations for

     alternators that range from threaded studs to fast-on

     tabs, etc. No matter what materials  are selected,

     probability of failure to perform has more to do with

     the user/installer than on the product. Failure to offer

     a comfortable termination of flight when something breaks

     has more to do with system architecture and operator

     understanding than it does with the capabilities of

     equipment suppliers.



     In the case of the alternator failure in the Sierra,

     that alternator could have shut down for a host of

     reasons. The tense experience the pilot suffered was

     more a function of architecture (no active notification

     of low voltage and lack of a well considered plan-A/plan-B

     escape route) than it was of sleazy materials.

        Bob . . .



        ----------------------------------------)

        ( . . .  a long habit of not thinking   )

        ( a thing wrong, gives it a superficial )

        ( appearance of being right . . .       )

        (                                       )

        (                  -Thomas Paine 1776-  )

        ----------------------------------------

Eric M. Jones

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 565
Location: Massachusetts

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:41 am Post subject: Re: Low Voltage Warning

Perihelion Design sells a very cheap LV-Annunciator called a 13V Idiot Light. We sell lots of these to helicopter pilots among others. It uses a blinking 10 mm red LED.



See: 

periheliondesign.com/moreproductsfiles/LV_Annunciator%20Manual.pdf 



If you want to build your own, I'll email you a schematic on request. It's better to have live potential customers.



"THE VERY BIG STUPID" is a thing which breeds by eating The Future. Have you seen it? It sometimes disguises itself as a good-looking quarterly bottom line, derived by closing the R&D Department. 

      --Frank Zappa

_________________
Eric M. Jones
www.PerihelionDesign.com
113 Brentwood Drive
Southbridge, MA 01550
(508) 764-2072
emjones(at)charter.net

Peter Laurence

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 50

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:18 am Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

Glenn



I too had this issue with B&C's 60Amp alternator. The connector would

disconnect do to vibration.



I safety wired the connector and it's been fine for the last 400 hundred

hours

Peter

Interesting you brought up this topic. I don't have a best answer for

you but I too have had this experience. Here we are spending all this

money on fancy alternators and the damn 2 cent connector on the field

wire vibrates off the end. How cheap is this (at)(%*? With all the BS

associated with aircraft why can't someone come up with an alternator

connector that is tough, supports the wires, the connector and doesn't

just vibrate off at the connector? Hell, why not run the field wires

through conduit?



Time to start inventing.

Glenn

bob.verwey(at)gmail.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:19 pm Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

Eric, I wouldn't mind a copy of that schematic myself. Another potential customer?<grin>



We find here in South Africa that shipping on small items far exceeds the cost, making it difficult sometimes. I have however perused your "helmetted" site as few times and find it very interesting.

 



Bob Verwey

A35 South africa



On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Eric M. Jones <emjones(at)charter.net (emjones(at)charter.net)> wrote:

 [quote]--> AeroElectric-List message posted by: "Eric M. Jones" <emjones(at)charter.net (emjones(at)charter.net)>

  

 Perihelion Design sells a very cheap LV-Annunciator called a 13V Idiot Light. We sell lots of these to helicopter pilots among others. It uses a blinking 10 mm red LED.

 

 See:

 periheliondesign.com/moreproductsfiles/LV_Annunciator%20Manual.pdf

 

 If you want to build your own, I'll email you a schematic on request. It's better to have live potential customers.

 

 "THE VERY BIG STUPID" is a thing which breeds by eating The Future. Have you seen it? It sometimes disguises itself as a good-looking quarterly bottom line, derived by closing the R&D Department.

       --Frank Zappa

 

 --------

 Eric M. Jones

 www.PerihelionDesign.com

 113 Brentwood Drive

 Southbridge, MA 01550

 (508) 764-2072

 emjones(at)charter.net (emjones(at)charter.net)

 

 

 

 

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mp.gamble(at)tiscali.co.u
Guest

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:01 am Post subject: Low Voltage Warning

Yes please Eric. I'll take you up on your offer. Would you send me a copy of 

the LV light schematic?

Thanks

Mike Gamble

UK Europa builder

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