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AeroLED Trouble Shooting

Auburntsts

Auburntsts

Well Known Member
So my left NS90 is acting up. Here's the symptoms:
- Strobe on - weak flash and flash pattern not sync'd with right wing or tail.
- Nav on - weak or no Red position LED
- Both Nav and Strobe on - the Red position LED strobes and the White Strobe is weak and intermittent

I've got 98 hours on the system to date and fly with the strobes on all of the time. To this point it's worked flawlessly. So before I go yanking off the wingtip or potentially the cabin flap torque tube cover panel (where the wiring for the wingtips and tail splice together) anybody got any suggestions as to where I should focus my initial efforts and what the potential issue is? I'm thinking the culprit is a grounding issue. My next guess, if the gorund proves OK, is a failed unit.
 
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The vast majority of electrical problems are caused by bad connections. It is easier to find those bad connections when the circuit is fully loaded. I like to use an automotive lamp to load the circuit while using a voltmeter to find voltage drops (bad connections).
 
Auburntsts said:
So my left NS90 is acting up. Here's the symptoms:
- Strobe on - weak flash and flash pattern not sync'd with right wing or tail.
- Nav on - weak or no Red position LED
- Both Nav and Strobe on - the Red position LED strobes and the White Strobe is weak and intermittent

I've got 98 hours on the system to date and fly with the strobes on all of the time. To this point it's worked flawlessly. So before I go yanking off the wingtip or potentially the cabin flap torque tube cover panel (where the wiring for the wingtips and tail splice together) anybody got any suggestions as to where I should focus my initial efforts and what the potential issue is? I'm thinking the culprit is a grounding issue. My next guess, if the gorund proves OK, is a failed unit.
Click to expand...

Todd,

I'm sharing the obvious. Give AeroLED a call. They've been extremely helpful in the past, plus nobody else will be familiar with the stereotypical symptoms than them. Dean has always willing to go the extra mile to assist a customer.

bob
 
Oh I know and I plan to give Dean a call soon unless he posts something first. One of the intents behind my post is to create a VAF record of my issue in case someone has a similar problem in the future.
 
I agree with you, pull the wingtip and check ground, then the flap panel to check those connections.

What kind of splices did you use? Solder or crimp?

I am interested in hearing the fix since I too have those units.
 
The nav and strobe circuits share a common ground. For both functions to be having a problem like this, the most likely cause is a resistive ground connection, which could be a bad crimp or a dirty or pushed pin connection in the connector, or a bad connection to the aircraft ground. If in doubt, remove the light and bench test it using a 12 V battery. Make sure that the ground pin in the connector isn't dirty. If you want to bypass the connector you can use metal pins to poke through the insulation on the wires themselves to get to the conductors for a direct to wire test.
 
Thanks for posting

Thanks for posting this, Todd. I am having the same issue with the tail light. Very weak strobe and no white. Yesterday I removed the rudder bottom, cut off the connectors and installed new ones and now nothing lights up! :eek: on my way to the airport today to try to resolve that issue. Thanks, Dean, for the input as well. Love my AeroLeds.
 
Epilogue. ..

So I finally got back out to the hangar to pull the wingtip and trouble shoot. Turns out I had a couple of problems: 2 pins on the molex connector weren't seating properly and there was also a nut on the mounting bracket (that was also a ground point) that was loose. The molex was giving me fits so I replaced it with a D-sub and tightened the nut and that solved my problem.
 
I also found my problem

We also had a bad molex connection. Replaced with D-sub pins and small heatshrink. Second problems was the main ground wire had a bad crimp in the terminal end. We didn't use the whole D-sub as ours was in the rudder bottom for the tail light/stobe and would not fit through the hole to remove it if needed. I now have a service loop long enough to pull the light off and get to the connectors without removing the rudder bottom.

Thanks,
 
Dsub pin amp capacity

A question for the experts:

What is the current capacity of a standard Dsub pin like the ones that Stein sells?

I used molex connectors for my Aeroled Pulsar NS and Aerosun VX lights because of the 5 amp each max draw and 18 Ga wire.

I'd like to change to Dsub pins if they can handle the 5 amp current.
 
I believe the d-sub pins/sockets are designed for 20-24 ga wire. They can certainly handle the max current for those guages. For 18ga you might have to use pins/sockets made for CPC connectors which are come in sizes for larger guage wires and can handle the commensurate larger current loads.
 
Dsub pins are typically rated at 5A with 20 gage pins. The ones manufactured to Mil are rated at 7.5A with 20 gage pins and 20 gage wire.

But why not use the Deutsch DTM series connectors that are weather sealed, use crimp pins and cost about the same?
 
RVDan said:
Dsub pins are typically rated at 5A with 20 gage pins. The ones manufactured to Mil are rated at 7.5A with 20 gage pins and 20 gage wire.

But why not use the Deutsch DTM series connectors that are weather sealed, use crimp pins and cost about the same?
Click to expand...

Does the Deutsch DTM take a special crimping tool, and if so, what does it cost and does it work for all pin configurations?
 
jnmeade said:
Does the Deutsch DTM take a special crimping tool, and if so, what does it cost and does it work for all pin configurations?
Click to expand...

I use the same crimped as the Dsubs. B&C and others have a crimp tool with an adjustable depth setting that works for both. They are #20 pins.
 
Taildrgr said:
A question for the experts:

What is the current capacity of a standard Dsub pin like the ones that Stein sells?

I used molex connectors for my Aeroled Pulsar NS and Aerosun VX lights because of the 5 amp each max draw and 18 Ga wire.

I'd like to change to Dsub pins if they can handle the 5 amp current.
Click to expand...

Digikey is a great resource for finding information on electronic and electrical parts, such as datasheets and ratings. Here is a typical 9 pin D-Sub that has a 5 Amp rating found on Digikey: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/171-009-103L001/209ME-ND/858099
 
Dean_aeroleds said:
The nav and strobe circuits share a common ground. For both functions to be having a problem like this, the most likely cause is a resistive ground connection, which could be a bad crimp or a dirty or pushed pin connection in the connector, or a bad connection to the aircraft ground. If in doubt, remove the light and bench test it using a 12 V battery. Make sure that the ground pin in the connector isn't dirty. If you want to bypass the connector you can use metal pins to poke through the insulation on the wires themselves to get to the conductors for a direct to wire test.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. Try grounding that black wire locally and see if it changes...and then I finish reading the thread and see you've already fixed it. I use D-subs for up to 5A. If more is needed, you could split an 18AWG wire to 2 20AWG's, 2 pins, then back to 18AWG on the other side of the connector.
 
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