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ground power

N

N258RE

Active Member
has anyone put a piper (or military) ground power adapter in there RV?

Got any pics? I have a piper unit just not real sure how I want to go about it,and thinking it might be easier to do before I rivet the fuse together

Thanks :cool:
 
Yup! I have a piper style plug, modified per the little set of instructions on Bob Knuckolls web site. I mounted it int he belly of my -8, just to the left of the rear-mounted battery. Use a doubler on the belly skin (on the inside, of course), and wire it in - I'll have to look for pictures, but it really is pretty simple.

I love having external power available with a simple plug if I need it. Also great for working on an all-electric, glass-panel airplane, without worrying about running the battery down!
 
Mike,
That is a beautiful job on the external power. Would you please share your "I would do a few things differently next time" thoughts?

David Maib
RV-10 40559
wings
 
dmaib said:
Mike,
That is a beautiful job on the external power. Would you please share your "I would do a few things differently next time" thoughts?

David Maib
RV-10 40559
wings
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Thats not my aircraft, just one web site that I refer to due to the excelent pictures!
 
Mike - Really nice install. Thanks for the pictures and ideas.

Does anyone know where folks usually put the ground power jack for aircraft with front-mounted batteries? Somewhere under the cowl, I guess, although I have no idea how hard/easy it would be to snake a ground power cable through the oil door... hmm.

mcb
 
Here is one I installed on my RV-6.
Can access through the oil door and does not require and complicated fabrication. Couple of small tack welds to the engine mount for the tabs.
Short fat wire to the starter relay and your in business.
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I'm not familiar with the Piper style and was just about to ask prior to the above post. Does the Piper style have provisions for reverse polarity protection?

David's website shows the Cessna style, where Kahuna's shows the Piper style. I have a set of jumper cables with the Cessna style plug on one end and the alligator clips on the other. With this I can provide power to the plane from any automobile. If someone screws up the cables with my Cessna style plug, the worst thing that would happen is no power.
 
Add a diode....

w1curtis said:
I'm not familiar with the Piper style and was just about to ask prior to the above post. Does the Piper style have provisions for reverse polarity protection?

David's website shows the Cessna style, where Kahuna's shows the Piper style. I have a set of jumper cables with the Cessna style plug on one end and the alligator clips on the other. With this I can provide power to the plane from any automobile. If someone screws up the cables with my Cessna style plug, the worst thing that would happen is no power.
Click to expand...

Aerolectric Bob shows a separate contactor (master relay) installed for the aux. power input. It is activated by applying 12 v. to the input plug. I think most certified planes also use this approach.

If you added a suitable diode in series with the contactor you would get the reverse polarity protection.... :)

A low cost safety solution....

gil in Tucson
 
I also have over volt protection (crowbar) on my ground power contactor just in case somebody plugs a 24v aux cart in without me looking.
 
Interesting location Pete....do you provide asbestos gloves to the guy that has to unplug the power cord after you have the engine running?! :p
 
Can anyone tell me if its common for the ground power contactor to get very hot when charging my earthx etx 680 battery ,using the eletrical circuit , the optimate charger and the contacter shown below.
Til recently, I had installed the Piper ground power plug, directly to battery pos and neg , so the centre pos pillar in the Piper plug was always live. This has functioned well in my RV7A for 7 years, but really had only been used to top up the battery after long use of EFIS on ground.

Recently, I decided to install a 100amp 12v constant load contactor to isolate the ground plug from potential shorts (as shown in picture) using Bob Nuckolls Aero Electric diagram. The idea was to only only have a live circuit when charging or jump starting.

I decided to top up my Earthx 680 battery after extended EFIS use on ground . I used the Earthx recommended Optimate Lithium model TM 275 ( it can charge up to 10 A for 12v system).

After charging for an hour or so , I felt the newly installed ground power contactor was so hot that I could not keep my hand on it. Is this normal? I suspect not. Can someone suggest what I may be doing wrong.

thanks in anticipation
Jeff R
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Can any one tell me if its normal for the
 

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Definitely not normal to get that hot! I’ve had that same installation for twenty years on my RV-8, and very occasionally I’ll notice a very slight warmth (just over body temp) to the plug when I extract it - but only if I had a really discharged battery that charged a long time.
 
fwiw,
30 yrs ago the plug in my piper seemed identical to an aux. supply plug found in a lot of semi trailers. freuhauf or a similar trailer dealer sold them for a third of what aviation got for them
 
bobnoffs said:
fwiw,
30 yrs ago the plug in my piper seemed identical to an aux. supply plug found in a lot of semi trailers. freuhauf or a similar trailer dealer sold them for a third of what aviation got for them
Click to expand...
Yup….the trucking stores are where to get them!
 
Ironflight said:
Definitely not normal to get that hot! I’ve had that same installation for twenty years on my RV-8, and very occasionally I’ll notice a very slight warmth (just over body temp) to the plug when I extract it - but only if I had a really discharged battery that charged a long time.
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Thanks Paul. Maybe I'll change the contactor and see if that is the problem. Jeff Australia.
 
I put a hot bus 50 amp connection point in my cockpit so that I could easily jumpstart my plane. The battery is on the firewall and would be dangerous to jumpstart without this receptacle. I bought a L-ion pocket jump starter and it has the matching corresponding plug. I also have a wall trickle charger, and mobile 25w solar panel, as well as a real set of jumper cables all with that matching plug.
 

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bardample said:
Thanks Paul. Maybe I'll change the contactor and see if that is the problem. Jeff Australia.
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You might need to use a different contactor, depending on coil holding current some can get hot like a starter contactor has a much higher current than a continuous one.
 
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