Vertical Power Reliability

[Carl Froehlich]

Originally Posted by flion

My VPX-200 failed during construction; probably my fault. But since it is orphaned, I had no recourse. Aerotronics is now rebuilding my panel with a dual VPX-Pro .... If I were starting from scratch again, I would go with a normal electrical system with breakers.

I can understand the need to go with dual VPX-Pro units to avoid single fault casualty risk, but at a cost of $4000+ I suspect the old fashion way would be a lot less expensive.

Carl

[Sledrider]

Bank A of my VP-X Pro failed while I was sitting in my RV-9A practising to use the new Dynon Skyview. This was about 1 week before my scheduled first flight in 2015.

The failure of Bank A cut power to my left Skyview screen, the audio panel, com 1, the transponder, flaps and some lights. Bank B kept powering the right Skyview screen and com 2, which was useless without the audio panel. I was thankful to be sitting inside my hangar.

Removed the VP-X Pro and called Vertical Power. Was told to call Chad Jensen who was in Germany at a trade show. Chad was excellent! Told me to send the unit back immediately and they would repair it.

Two weeks later, I was still waiting for the VP-X so that I could do my first flight. Chad tried his best to keep things moving. Finally, I could no longer wait and ordered a new VP-X Pro from Aircraft Spruce.

First flight was two days later. (Excellent flight, by the way!) A few days later, the repaired VP-X Pro arrived from Vertical Power. No charge for the repair or shipping even though it was out of warranty. (Thanks, Chad!)

Since the failure of the VP-X Pro, I put the audio panel and com 1 on their own circuit breakers. The alternate electronic airspeed and altitude indicator is on an inline fuse.

I checked the repaired VP-X Pro and it was fully operational. It is now in a box that I will take with me as a spare on overnight trips.

Would I design my electrical system around the VP-X Pro again? Definitely, yes. I like all the features it gives me like programming the trims, the wig-wag landing lights and the airspeed limiter on flap function. The best feature of the VP-X Pro is that I can see the status of electrical devices on my Skyview panel.

[Bill.Peyton]

This lack of reliability is sure cause to think about relying solely on the vp. Without a secondary buss, it is the most critical single point failure item of the entire system. I have a secondary buss, although if I loose the VPX, I am out of luck with the flaps and trim control.
Garmin now makes a box to compliments the g3x system that performs the same function as the vp wrt flaps and trim, in addition, it has multiple analog inputs for accessories and eliminates the need for a light dimmer module.
My plan is to remove the vp and replace with two additional fuse blocks, one for avionics, and one for everything else and use the Garmin box to manage the other items.
Carrying a backup VPX should not be required!

[Ivan Kristensen]

6 Years and just under 800 hours on my VP-200 with it having worked perfectly the whole time. I absolutely love the way it works, especially the mode switching but also having a separate screen with a check list feature and constant presentation of the electrical system plus a host of other information. All this without taking up screen space of your main displays.

However, should my unit fail I have nowhere to go to have it fixed and this is obviously a serious concern. At least the VPX is still in production and can be sent to the Mfg. for repair.

It is really a shame that Ballard Technology did not acquire the VP-200 at the time when they purchased the Vertical Power technology from Marc Ausman.

Can anybody tell me why they dropped this unit from the lineup?

[AJ85WA]

INSTALLED JAN 2014

120Hrs working brilliantly (Trim and all)

[RViter]

Originally Posted by SmilingJack

... snipped ...
I was lucky to buy a "new" backup VP100 from a builder who is going with the newer stuff.

Knock on wood....my VP100 has 300 hours/6 years of good ops.

John: glad to hear you're doing well and I can only say the transition FROM the VP-100 to the VP-X Sport was a non-trivial project. I had to re-think the electrical system because the VP-100 was more sophisticated than the Sport.

During the time the VP-100 was installed (building) there were several occasions that the 'stupid gene' kicked in and the VP saved a lot of time by annunciating the trouble, identifying the circuit, and made troubleshooting and reset a breeze. Never had any problem with the unit.

The VP-X Sport was the replacement to 1) provide a spare to another RV'er, and 2) move on quickly to the successor model as the build time was still almost two more yrs. Transition difficulty aside, the VP-X Sport has integrated well with the SkyView 10" and performed flawlessly in all respects. Again, it did exactly what was expected when the 'stupid gene' re-occurred during build of the electrical systems. Quickly identified the faulted circuit and cause. Reset the breaker and moved ahead.

The information on device (current) loads is a major benefit and the load planning is PC based and provides good 'as built' documentation, too. IF there is a weakness in the VP product, it's the incongruous (compatibility) between the web-based configurator, and the PC-based configurator used to finalize configurations. The PC-based app does not print the changes without re-visiting the Web-based configurator.

Powering down the EFIS in the SkyView system leaves the comm components with by-pass power from the VP-X, but no way to 'see the status' of circuits. However, loss of 'seeing the status' does NOT degrade the operation of the input switches to the VP-X. They continue to operate as advertised. I've considered eBUS options but have not done anything in that direction. Have over 40 hrs of buttonology time, in prepations for engine start this week.

[flion]

Originally Posted by Ivan Kristensen

Can anybody tell me why they dropped this unit from the lineup?

As I understand it, they did not want the mode switching feature. Too much automation, I guess.

[cjensen]

Originally Posted by Ivan Kristensen

Can anybody tell me why they dropped this unit from the lineup?

Good thread and information everyone, please keep it going.

The VP-200 was last produced in 2010 I believe (Marc, correct me if I'm wrong), four years before Astronics purchased Vertical Power.

[DanH]

Current tally:

11.4% failure rate for the Pro, 9% for the Sport, and 30% for the 200.

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Originally Posted by DanH

Current tally:

11.4% failure rate for the Pro, 9% for the Sport, and 30% for the 200.

One word: "Yikes!"

Been noodling on a panel rebuild to coincide with ADS-B in 2019 or so. Guessing I should start sketching out a fuse and circuit breaker infrastructure.