William Mills a crit :
>Do you consider the Rotax regulator could develop an intermittent fault so
>that it is not always charging at full capacity? I have noticed in flight
>that sometimes the voltmeter drops to about 13 V and other times it stays at
>14 V (13.8, I presume). Last time I brought the aircraft home the battery
>was not full charged and needed some time on the charger to top it up. The
>battery is an Odyssey PC680 and is only one year old.
>Many thanks,
>
>
Richard and all,
It would be interesting to study what electrical devices are on, and
what the engine RPM are, versus voltmeter readings. It is normal to see
the bus voltage drop when the current draw is high. It also depends on
the battery state of charge.
Now, if there is a problem, yes the regulator could be the culprit, but
there are so many other causes to investigate.
Frequent problems are faulty wiring, especially the connection between
the regulator case and the ship's ground. Remember your 14-18 charging
amps flow through this connection.
Every connection in the circuit should be checked for tightness, absence
of corrosion, correct wire gauge, etc.
Also, you need a thorough load analysis in order to be sure your
permanent draw does not exceed 10-12 amps. And remember the alternator
delivers power when RPM is sufficient, that is around 5000 RPM.
Do you have a schematic of your aircraft circuit ?
Regards,
Gilles Thesee
Grenoble, France
http://contrails.free.fr
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