Toobuilder
Well Known Member
My former RV-8, which served me flawlessly for 11 years, is now giving the new owner fits (of course).
The airplane is equipped with 2 B&C alternators (60 amp and pad driven 40) and two LR3C regulators.
The new failure mode is the primary alternator field breaker (terminal #6 on the regulator) will pop early in the flight. Charging is good up to that point. Attempts at reset result in near immediate pop. Standby alternator will pick up all load when selected.
I ran a separate wire from the breaker, bypassing the "alternator" switch in an attempt to rule out intermittent shorting somewhere in the bundle. No change in behavior.
I also switched the regulators to see if the problem followed. No change in behavior - "new" regulator pops the breaker with same frequency.
New Battery (PC925) seems to have taken a beating during all this and will accept a charge and top off, but has very limited capacity.
Battery cables cleaned and inspected.
Looks like the last suspect is the alternator itself, but not sure how an unregulated unit can drive that behavior.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
The airplane is equipped with 2 B&C alternators (60 amp and pad driven 40) and two LR3C regulators.
The new failure mode is the primary alternator field breaker (terminal #6 on the regulator) will pop early in the flight. Charging is good up to that point. Attempts at reset result in near immediate pop. Standby alternator will pick up all load when selected.
I ran a separate wire from the breaker, bypassing the "alternator" switch in an attempt to rule out intermittent shorting somewhere in the bundle. No change in behavior.
I also switched the regulators to see if the problem followed. No change in behavior - "new" regulator pops the breaker with same frequency.
New Battery (PC925) seems to have taken a beating during all this and will accept a charge and top off, but has very limited capacity.
Battery cables cleaned and inspected.
Looks like the last suspect is the alternator itself, but not sure how an unregulated unit can drive that behavior.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.