Mailing List lml@lancaironline.net Message #27455
From: Skip Slater <skipslater@earthlink.net>
Sender: Marvin Kaye <marv@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: [LML] Re: Electric Problems
Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 07:21:37 -0500
To: <lml@lancaironline.net>
Just wanted to provide some feedback on my alternator problem, which I
solved late today.

   After conferring with Bill Bainbridge at B&C, we agreed that my problem
was most likely due to a wiring issue.  Even so, the first thing I did was
start the engine to confirm that the problem was still there, which it was.
I started running B&C's troubleshooting checklist and unlike the last time
this happened, I quickly found that I was getting no bus sensing voltage to
my regulator.  Without that, it won't work.
   I pulled my circuit breaker panel out to where I could get a look at the
back of it to see if I'd broken a wire.  The first thing I noticed was that
the bus sensing wire was hooked to the back of my pitch trim circuit breaker
and it seemed to be firmly attached.  Almost immediately after that, I
looked at my lower center instrument panel and noticed that the master trim
power switch I installed was turned OFF.  (Why it was turned off, I don't
know - my front seat passenger may have bumped into it getting out of the
plane last time I went flying)  That's when the light came on that my
sensing wire was attached to a part of the main bus that wasn't powered as
long as the trim switch was off.  I started up the engine again and verified
that the alternator was still not working.  Then I turned the trim power
switch back on and voila, the volts started flowing.
   I moved my sensing wire to an unswitched part of my bus and put
everything back together, feeling like the village idiot for putting it
where I did in the first place.
   The only lingering question is whether this had anything to do with the
first occurrence of this problem.  My gut feeling is that it didn't, but
that some connector that I moved during troubleshooting may have made the
difference.  At any rate, the problem's solved and it had nothing at all to
do with B&C's products.
    Hope the weather's good tomorrow so I can slip the surly bonds again!
   Skip Slater
   N540ES


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