Alternator issues

[poadeleted21]

Alternator "goes offline" sporadically. Cycling the switch does nothing to bring it back. Once it's off, it stays off until I completely shut down then start it back up. Then, the alternator starts back working again, for a while. Then "goes off" again.

Mechanic is out of town for the next week. Wondering what I'm in for.

Alternator is an older InterAv conversion. Replaced Voltage Regulator about a year and a half ago, no issues with it, until recently.

2 Failures in 1.5 years is not making me happy. Thinking about a Plane Power conversion.

 

[mondtster]

With that description and the fact that you replaced the regulator recently I'd be checking brushes...

 

[Geico266]

You don't need the head ache of having this happen every year and half. Bite the bullet and get a Plane Power, keep the old one as a back up for 3 years then throw it out like I did. The one on my -10 is going on 8 years, 650 hours, I don't even know it is there.

 

[frfly172]

Go with the plane power conversions. A little pricey to some ,but well worth the money.

 

[hindsight2020]

plane power bud.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Is the voltage regulator one of those flat little ACU's? Like this?

They have a hypersensitive overvoltage circuit. If one of the Comm antenna cable connectors is corroded or dirty, it allows RF to escape when you transmit, and that RF generates little spikes in the aircraft's electrical wiring, and the ACU thinks it's an overvoltage condition and shuts everything down.

The other possibilities include a separate overvolt sensor that has a loose ground wire (it loses its ground reference and acts up like that) or an alternator with worn-out brushes. They can get intermittent.

Dan

 

[poadeleted21]

Is the voltage regulator one of those flat little ACU's? Like this?

They have a hypersensitive overvoltage circuit. If one of the Comm antenna cable connectors is corroded or dirty, it allows RF to escape when you transmit, and that RF generates little spikes in the aircraft's electrical wiring, and the ACU thinks it's an overvoltage condition and shuts everything down.

The other possibilities include a separate overvolt sensor that has a loose ground wire (it loses its ground reference and acts up like that) or an alternator with worn-out brushes. They can get intermittent.

Dan

No, it's an InterAv conversion.

Ordered the Plane Power conversion today.