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Plane Power standby alternator

H

hobby_rv6

Member
I see on the Plane Power website that they are now selling their 30A vacuum pad mounted standby alternator through dealers. But when I go to the various dealers' websites, no one is showing this alternator yet (FS1-14).
Does anybody have any idea what the price will be on this alternator? And when it will be available?
Thanks,
Hobby Stevens
RV6 flying
Abilene, TX
 
Osh

I talked to them at Oshkosh and price was about $200 less than B&C ~ $495 if I remember correctly. Plus 30A instead of 20A. Also internally regulated. They said it would be available in less than 6 months.
 
FLYSAFE by Plain power

hobby_rv6 said:
I see on the Plane Power website that they are now selling their 30A vacuum pad mounted standby alternator through dealers. But when I go to the various dealers' websites, no one is showing this alternator yet (FS1-14).
Does anybody have any idea what the price will be on this alternator? And when it will be available?
Thanks,
Hobby Stevens
RV6 flying
Abilene, TX
Click to expand...

Go to the Spruce site and search on "FLYSAFE" and you'll find it....
or goto: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/flysafealt.php
Spuces listed price is $568.00
 
Beta tester here!

Hey Fellas:

I've been running an early unit on my 550 for a while. Ran it during the last Rocket 150 (Nov 2010) and it stood up to a slight overspeed very nicely. The coupling is the weak point on any vac pump drive device, but my testing has shown no problems with this one. The alternator appears to be a clone of the normal Denso we run with a belt on the front of our Lyc, so I would suggest the heart of the unit is quite robust.

I'll run it at Reno in a couple weeks - same overspeed condition. I expect no problems.

The unit behaves like a generator on a big ol' round motor in that it doesn't put out usable amps until the engine is turning 1000+rpm, but that has not impacted the operation of my plane at all. I can see it being a potential problem at night with a long taxi in a ship equipped with a PC680 sized battery, unless the ship is equipped with LED taxi lights.

I do not know about pricing, but this unit would be worth $600+ easily:no maintenance ever, and no belts to watch or brackets to keep tight!

I'm not sure this unit would be classified as a back-up only - I'm not using it that way.

I hope this helps!

Carry on!
Mark
 
F1Boss said:
. . . I'm not sure this unit would be classified as a back-up only - I'm not using it that way.
Click to expand...
Can you clarify what you mean by this statement. I am interested in a backup alternator mounted on a vacuum pad such as this one is designed but your statement above is confusing me concerning this alternator.

Are you saying it would not serve well if your primary alternator failed and you switched over to using this alternator until you landed?
 
update

RVbySDI said:
Can you clarify what you mean by this statement. I am interested in a backup alternator mounted on a vacuum pad such as this one is designed but your statement above is confusing me concerning this alternator.

Are you saying it would not serve well if your primary alternator failed and you switched over to using this alternator until you landed?
Click to expand...

I am saying that I use it as the primary alternator and it fits that job just fine. So, I suspect it would do fine as a backup, but the charging voltage would be set a bit lower (so it doesn't normally provide a charge). So, if your primary, set at 14.2V, goes out, the backup would give a voltage of ~13.8 or so. The different voltage setting in the backup alternator regulator is done so the ship does not need the alternators set up with exactly parallel voltages, as is required on twin engine aircraft.

I told the fellas that this would be a primary alt, so they set the regulator at 14.2. If your planned use is primary, best you tell them so yours would be set correctly.

As for never needing maintenance, I stand by that statement. It may need REPAIRS, but no maintenance.

Carry on!
Mark
 
On the Plane Power website and ACS, they list FS1-14 ($698) as a standby alternator and FS1-14B ($700) as a primary.
 
I emailed PP about their FS-14B as I've got an H2AD and their standard alternators won't fit.

The reply I got indicates these will work, *but*, due to the slower turning vacuum drive, they won't start producing useful amperage until about 1600 RPM. Probably not a big issue for day VFR, or even night VFR if you've got LED lights, but certainly something to be aware of.

As long as it fits between the engine and my recess-less firewall I'm going to give it a go.
 
i installed the unit as a backup. Works as described, only supplying power if the main alternator output drops below a certain point.

Easy installation, had to trim a small amount of aluminum flashing off the backup unit to ensure clearance from oil filter.

Nicest thing is that it's basically set and forget. I test about every 10 hours by turning off main alternator and confirming still getting a charge.
 
Maybe!

KRviator said:
I emailed PP about their FS-14B as I've got an H2AD and their standard alternators won't fit.

The reply I got indicates these will work, *but*, due to the slower turning vacuum drive, they won't start producing useful amperage until about 1600 RPM. Probably not a big issue for day VFR, or even night VFR if you've got LED lights, but certainly something to be aware of.

As long as it fits between the engine and my recess-less firewall I'm going to give it a go.
Click to expand...

Your post listed a higher initial RPM than what I have experienced, but I see you are looking at amps and not voltage. I see the 540 vac pad drive ratio at 1.3:1, and my TCM 550 as 1.5:1. I can get full voltage at 1100RPM if the battery is 'up', as in after landing. Indeed, full AMPERAGE is available around 1700RPM in my case, where the alt can provide 25A or so (I see this during the run-up).

The 550 is a cantankerous beast to get running when it is hot (think lots of cranking - the PC680 is up to the job!), so I watch the alt charging rate after a hot start - impressive output for a relatively slow turning machine.

I have been using this alt as the primary for almost 2 years now with no issues.

Carry on!
Mark
 
No worries Mark. Since you've got 2 years using it as your primary, it obviously works well in such an application, notwithstanding you've a bigger donk. :D I can't see the harm in pasting the email I got from the folks at PP for reference.

The folks at Plane Power said:
We suggest you consider these things if you are planning to us the FS1-14B as your primary alternator:
- Vacuum Port alternators are small in both physical size and in AMP output regardless of manufacturer.
- The vacuum port gear spins the alternator slower than a pulley system and thus the power curve is extremely limited at lower RPM.
- Plan on needing to reach about 1600 RPM to start meaningful AMP production.
- Or, another way of saying it - plan on relying on battery power below about 1600 RPM.
- The concept is for the vacuum unit to be near cruse RPM for it to produce 30 AMPS.
- I suggest you assume a straight line power curve between 1600 and cruse RPM with 1600 being perhaps 5 to 10 AMPs.
- If your mission includes night flying we suggest you give serious consideration to the limitations of a vacuum pad primary alternator.
- Know very well your AMP requirements.

We designed the FS1-14 to be a backup and to be set for 13.6 volts. Instantly we got request to increase the voltage to 14.2 so it could be used as a primary. We did that and labeled the 14.2 system as the FS1-14B. We want to sell these alternators but we also want you to understand their limitations. We are builders too.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Spot on!

The PP comments are spot on. I would fly at night with this unit, but I would worry about the taxi in, as the engine would be at idle, and thus the alt would not be helping much. I'm used to this with the big round motor ships (nearly worthless generators on those), but they carry much larger batteries, and can support the taxi in easily.

LED taxi lights would be the answer to the low amperage requirement, along with shutting down un-necessary elec load items (transponder, etc).

Carry on!
Mark
 
PIREP

I've got the FS1 as my primary on an RV4. I'm only pulling about 9A in cruise and my SV datalog shows a nice charging profile, 30+amps in the beginning of flight and then down to 9A once the battery is topped off.

As Mark mentioned, the shear coupling may be the weak link. I had mine shear yesterday after 12 hours. PP asked about kickback (it appears to have sheared at start up) but the engine started fine, though it was hot from 2.5 hours flying so the engine compartment (and thus alternator and coupling) would have been heat soaked. I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has issues with their coupling. Those bitty plastic couplings aren't cheap - $41! (though mine is still under warranty) It is a clean, light install but if something goes wrong you can't run to NAPA and have a new one in an hour. FWIW, I may try putting a small heat shield with blast tube around the neck of the FS1 to try and keep the coupling cool. However, on initial install PP said it did not need dedicated cooling.

Eric
 
shear coupling

Hey Stewie:

Another manufacturer stopped selling vac pad alternators to any of the Rocket guys with 10:1 pistons - seems the coupling just can't handle the amplitude of vibration in that system. They would never go past ~10 hrs...yours sounds similar - modded engine? Wood prop? Battery type?

Yep - those sheared at start-up too.

My guess is Plane Power is gonna figure out the same thing the other fellas did, and exclude certain configurations from their application list.

Now, it seems to me that a softer coupling would help this problem, but what the heck do I know??!!

Hmmmm...I wonder if leaving the alt OFF during start might help? Wait for stable idle RPM before switching the thing on (remember - the unit is not really charging at idle, so the rotational loads would be low). I might be grasping at straws here?

Carry on!
Mark
Spare coupling in the plane always - not needed in 200hrs.
 
Does anybody have a picture of the FS1-14 installed? I have one without the connector. I found an automotive connector that fits (don't want to spend $150 on a new one from Hartzell), but I need to know which 2 pins get the field power.

Thanks in advance.
 
Jesse said:
Does anybody have a picture of the FS1-14 installed? I have one without the connector. I found an automotive connector that fits (don't want to spend $150 on a new one from Hartzell), but I need to know which 2 pins get the field power.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Jesse,
I just sent you an e-mail with a pic. Hopefully it shows what you need.
 
Removed PP gear drive alternator yesterday

Fellas:

I had to remove the PP gear drive unit yesterday. It sheared the original coupling about 2 weeks ago, and has also sheared 3 replacement couplings since then. I am replacing that unit with the B&C unit over this weekend. I notice that the B&C shear couplings are different - I hope they are up to the job!

TT on the PP unit was 235hrs. I have no idea why this has happened - the PP unit spins freely.

Carry on!
Mark
 
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