Vertical Power VP-100 Alternator Current Fault

I've had a recent issue with my (obsolete) VP-100. I'm getting an ALT OVR CURRENT fault. If I acknowledge the fault, the display shows the amperage is well below 20 and I have a PlanePower 60 amp alternator. My Dynon Skyview shows about 30 amps through the shunt. If I reset the fault, it often comes back fairly quickly - although on a few flights it's gone away for the remainder of the flight. I can't even find this fault in the Installation or Operators Manual. Seems like a nuisance fault, but it's worrisome. Any ideas from the Vertical Power users? Thanks.

If you haven't left voice mail or email for Chad, I would do so immediately. He may read it over this holiday weekend.

You have two avenues to pursue. Either you're getting a false positive from the VP-100 or you really have an issue that the Skyview isn't logging properly.

Can you adjust the sample rate for logging on the Skyview to be something like 1 or 2 seconds? I don't know their default setting. It may be that there may be a spike that the VP sees that is happening between the sampling times of the Skyview. If this turns out to be a dead end, then you'll have more data to give Chad when you do get to speak with him. But this is an action you can take today to assist with troubleshooting.

I would be suspicious of the alternator, but I wouldn't recommend randomly replacing components until you can get more facts. There are dozens of threads on VAF about Plane Power failures and the failure symptoms.

Thanks. I haven't talked to Chad for a few years, but the last time is when he explained that they would no longer provide any support for the VP-50/100/200.

Check all connections on the shunt to be sure that they are clean and tight. The vast majority of electrical problems are due to bad connections.
Alternator current is determined by the loads, not by the alternator or regulator. The loads take what they want and the alternator obliges. However, if there is something wrong with the voltage regulator circuit that causes the voltage to increase above normal, then current will go up. So make sure that all connections for the voltage regulator circuit are also clean and tight.

Good ideas. I've got to go check the plane, but previously I had an interesting problem where the pin I used for the alternator field and assigned to switch 1 was continuously powered and wouldn't turn off. The only solution I came up with was moving the alternator field to a different pin. Chad had no other solution either, but it was after they stopped supporting the units so I didn't get much help. According to the VP-100 manual, if there is a short circuit or over-current condition like I'm seeing, the VP-100 should turn off the device. If it's really the alternator, the field should turn off. But according to my Dynon data, the alternator is still working fine. So I suspect it may be a problem with the original pin. I'll have to see if I changed the name in the setup. If not, I'll change it just to make sure I know which pin is causing the problems. If it is the weird pin, I'm not sure what to do to fix what would be a nuisance fault.