stec 50 to 55x upgrade. Is it worth it?

[rbridges]

They are selling refurbs. I believe it's a $2800 upgrade. The auto pitch trim is $3800 extra. Plus cost of install/removal. BTW I have manual trim in my mooney. Does the 55x offer enough capability to make it worth it? I'm getting ready to cut my panel, and the form factor is different. Just don't want to change my mind later and have to redo the panel.

 

[Grum.Man]

Upgrading will probably cost 1/3 of a new instal of a trio or the likes. You get the benefit of climbs and altitude capture. It’s a good unit that I think is worth the upgrade as long as your servos are still good.

 

[weilke]

We went from 55 to 55X. The cost was $2200 for the re-programmed box and a few hours of labor. This was done at the same time as a 430 to 430W upgrade and gave us GPSS and LPV approaches. Well worth the money.
With a 50-->55X upgrade you would see even more of a gain. I don't believe the 50 has a VS mode.

 

[Jamie Kirk]

We went from 55 to 55X. The cost was $2200 for the re-programmed box and a few hours of labor. This was done at the same time as a 430 to 430W upgrade and gave us GPSS and LPV approaches. Well worth the money.
With a 50-->55X upgrade you would see even more of a gain. I don't believe the 50 has a VS mode.

$2,200 for the unit and install? Where?

I’d do that tomorrow.

 

[weilke]

$2,200 for the unit and install? Where?

I’d do that tomorrow.

- $700 for the box from one of the shops that install DFC90s in Cirri
- $1500 for genesys to reprogram it from SR22 to A36 and to issue a STC for our airframe
- a few hours of labor as part of a larger avionics project

We already had 3 servos, an HSI and the correct size hole in the panel. It was more than a ‘slide in’ upgrade, but given the modest expense it made sense to do it.

 

[Jamie Kirk]

- $700 for the box from one of the shops that install DFC90s in Cirri
- $1500 for genesys to reprogram it from SR22 to A36 and to issue a STC for our airframe
- a few hours of labor as part of a larger avionics project

We already had 3 servos, an HSI and the correct size hole in the panel. It was more than a ‘slide in’ upgrade, but given the modest expense it made sense to do it.

I have a 55 and all good servos are good and I have a 430w

 

[weilke]

I have a 55 and all good servos are good and I have a 430w

We had the work done at Lancaster Avionics. Work was completed within the bounds of the estimate. Cash price for the 55x upgrade $2,948.40 incl labor. No complaints.

 

[flyingron]

I have a 55X (and have had for 15 years or so). Electric trim is real nice to have.

 

[Grum.Man]

Especially on airplanes with a wide speed envelope.

 

[Tommar98]

This is interesting. I have the 50 and have been battling alt hold issues. All the servos are fine and unit was checked by Stec. I just upgraded 430 to waas. Guessing I would need electric trim added to make use of glide slope and VS functions? Any idea of cost on that?


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[Grum.Man]

This is interesting. I have the 50 and have been battling alt hold issues. All the servos are fine and unit was checked by Stec. I just upgraded 430 to waas. Guessing I would need electric trim added to make use of glide slope and VS functions? Any idea of cost on that?


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You don’t need electric trim. It will give annunciations to trim up or down.

 

[weilke]

This is interesting. I have the 50 and have been battling alt hold issues. All the servos are fine and unit was checked by Stec. I just upgraded 430 to waas. Guessing I would need electric trim added to make use of glide slope and VS functions? Any idea of cost on that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Call Lancaster avionics and talk to Todd the gentleman who does the estimates. I found him to be very helpful and knowledgeable. We were considering different options on adsb and possibly a glass upgrade. He got back to me with a spreadsheet of what the cost for the different options would be. You could probably do a 50--> 55X upgrade with and without a automatic trim option. While I prefer the automatic trim, I could certainly live with re-trimming using a trim-light.