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Huge discharge showing on my Dynon

cardinalflier

Well Known Member
Yesterday, in the run up area, I noticed a 4-5 amp negative discharge showing on my Dynon Skyview that I installed 3.5 years ago in my RV6. Back at my hangar, I started checking simple connections, starting at the alternator. The only thing I found was a snug, not tight, but not very loose positive battery cableconnection at the battery ( an Odysse 680). I tightened the connection, fired up, and everything read normal. Today, I got a negative 55 amp reading, with the engine running or not running, but with the master turned on. No smoke, no fire, no hot wires, no popped circuit breakers, no obvious clues. Any thoughts as to where to start trouble shooting. Battery is 3 years old and the Plane Power alternator is about 3.5 years old. Do the Dynon shunts go bad? Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.
Bruce Estes
 
The shunt reads current going through it by a voltage drop across the bar. 1 millivolt of voltage drop equals 1 amp of current.

You could start by using a good digital voltmeter, turning on the system and putting the test leads on the top and bottom connections of the shunt, and measuring the voltage drop across the shunt directly instead of relying on what the EMS is reporting. That will tell you, for real, how much current is going through the shunt and let you start troubleshooting what is really going on.

If your alternator stator or diode pack is shorted, the 55 amp draw is possible from that source.
 
Shunts do go bad. But more likely is a bad connection on the shunt.
Remove all terminals from the shunt, clean and reconnect.
 
Shunts do go bad. But more likely is a bad connection on the shunt.
Remove all terminals from the shunt, clean and reconnect.

Adding to this, the most common culprit, in your scenario, is that one of the small wires from the shunt to the SkyView is either loose or dirty. Make sure these connections are good from the shunt all the way to the DB37 plug on theSkyView EMS module.

:cool:
 
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