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nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
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 Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:50 pm Post subject: Ground Power Lite |
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| Quote: | | The genesis of this idea was that in an electrically dependent airplane (EDA), one should have a GP jack, rather than having to pull the cowling to get to a battery with jumpers, and the GP contactor is dead weight for most of it's life. Why not make it pull it's weight by having it be the aux alternator contact as well? |
Keep in mind that the "electrically dependent" airplane
can generally be operated on a few tens of amps . . . perhaps
even 20 or less. So a ground power connector suitable
for both charging a battery -OR- operating a cockpit full
of electro-whizzies doesn't need to be the same device that
you might use to crank an engine using the FBO ground power
cart.
In about 1000 hours of flying over a period of 20 years,
I've had only two occasions to seek ground power assist
for getting an engine started. Both times the weather was
0F or below and neither airplane had an RG battery or
a modern high performance starter.
So allow me to suggest that since all readers of the
AeroElectric-List know how to craft a cranking system that
will get them going 99.99% of the time without a ground-
assist, a boss-hogg ground power connector and contactor
offers marginal to negative return on investment.
You can build your own ground power cable from say 6AWG
wire and use a trailer connector to mate it to the airplane.
[img]cid:.0[/img]
Mount the connector close to the battery to minimize
length of always hot wire. Connect three pins to battery
contactor input using 12AWG wire. Three other pins to
battery(-) ground. If it makes you feel better, put
a mini-ANL 60 in series with the (+) wire right
at the battery contactor.
Now, since this is a ground power connection under YOUR
control, you can be sure that polarity issues are dealt
with for every instance. You can hood this cable set
to an automobile with the engine running and wait
10 minutes to recharge a dead battery before you attempt
engine cranking. You can use a similar cable assembly
permanently wired for proper polarity to your switch-mode
ground power supply to light up the panel on the ground.
[img]cid:.1[/img]
Lighter, simpler, and likely to meet 99.99% of all your
ground power needs. Actually, stay home in front of the
fireplace when the weather goes to 0F and this rig
will cover 100% of your ground power needs.
Bob . . .
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jonlaury
Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:48 am Post subject: Re: Ground Power Lite |
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This setup is probably much more appropriate for my purposes, but I thought the aircraft-practices gods would smite me for suggesting such heresy. And then there was the gospel of St. Nuckolls, preaching Ground Power Jacks in Z-31(2?). So I nuckolled under and installed the Piper version and am now capable of sucking the lights out of a nuclear power plant without breaking a sweat.
And I'm glad of it.
I like knowing that I can cart-start my engine without pulling the top cowling and having a line boy dragging heavy cables over my paint job and then having to disconnect them near a spinning prop, even though I don't expect to have to do it often. And I bet system installed weight differs by about a pound. A small price to pay for start capability. As you pointed out at one time, the mission of most of our airplanes is to have fun boring holes in the sky and occasionally going somewhere. An extra pound or two of convenience doesn't materially affect accomplishing that misson and can greatly enhance it in certain circumstances. Like when my battery is drained by my stupidity and an FBO or mechanic can plug in a standard connector and get me on my way. And when that happens I can already feel the satisfaction of having installed the start-capable GPJ.
Maybe I'll have to "forget" to turn off the master a few times to get over flying around with an extra pound of GPJ hardware. 
John
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petehunt(at)earthlink.net
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:22 am Post subject: Ground Power Lite |
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Bob, your message embedded attachments all showed up as “Emacs!” on my computer. Thought that problem got solved a while back.
Pete H.
[quote][b]
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user9253
Joined: 28 Mar 2008
Posts: 1929
Location: Riley TWP Michigan
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| Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 4:52 am Post subject: Re: Ground Power Lite |
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| Quote: | | your message embedded attachments all showed up as “Emacs!” on my computer. |
Emacs! always shows up in the daily digest received in my email. But when I go to the website, http://forums.matronics.com/viewforum.php?f=3, the pictures appear.
Joe
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