[roadrunner20]

I was on short final Sunday and my D10A crapped out with an apparent short. A noticible burnt smell was present while on taxi back.
After evaluation, I determined there was a short in the D10A unit.
I removed the unit and experienced the same action using the battery backup. The 10A was bad. The battery backup was of no use here.

This is disturbing to me as I have only been flying a year with the unit.
The support people at Dynon were very helpful but indicated to me it would be a 5-10 day turn around due to firmware update issues. I requested a loaner but none were available.

My question to the forum, has anyone else experienced this failure or is this an isolated incident?

For the record, I love the 10A unit.
This thread is not to trash Dynon, but just to share information.

 

[Mel]

I have one of the earliest D10s and it's been dependable from day 1. In the early days I had a few minor problems but Dynon has always taken care of them pronto. My only problem now is that I have decided to upgrade to the D10A and they are so busy with the new software that they have put off the upgrade program 'till October.

 

[Sam Buchanan]

My only problem now is that I have decided to upgrade to the D10A and they are so busy with the new software that they have put off the upgrade program 'till October.

Hang in there, Mel. The upgrade is really worth the wait. My D10 was upgraded several months ago and it is a vastly more capable unit now, especially with the latest firmware.

 

[Paul]

I too was just looking at the upgade for the D10 (Original)

How much does Dynon charge for the upgrade ?

 

[Bob Martin]

upgrade

Check their site.......
300 for 10 to 10A
100 more for the remote compass, if you have one there have to updated too.
plus shipping one way.
I sent mine in and they said one to two weeks.....I received it in 10 days!
They will ship back to you the way you send it to them.
Seems like great customer service to me.
Glad I got it done before the update surge.

 

[Dynon]

Just some minor corrections:

The D10 to D10A upgrade is $350. The remote compass is $50.

We've stopped the upgrades for now because our order backlog is so deep, not because of firmware update issues. We had delayed the updates long before we released the new software.

The software updates are causing us some issues. Lots of people are letting their laptop batteries die while doing an update. PLEASE don't let this happen. If it does, DO NOT turn off the EFIS. As long as you leave the yellow screen up, it can be recovered.

As for the original poster, sorry to hear about your failure. I think you'll hear that it truly is an isolated issue. We have thousands of units in the field that have been flying for years and have never been back to us.

 

[Sam Buchanan]

The software updates are causing us some issues. Lots of people are letting their laptop batteries die while doing an update. PLEASE don't let this happen. If it does, DO NOT turn off the EFIS. As long as you leave the yellow screen up, it can be recovered.

It might be helpful if the Dynon folks informed us of how long the backup/update process takes. Don't know if it was due to my ancient laptop, but the entire process took at least 45 minutes in my case. I had the laptop running on AC so it wasn't a problem but was still longer than I anticipated.

 

[N941WR]

It might be helpful if the Dynon folks informed us of how long the backup/update process takes. Don't know if it was due to my ancient laptop, but the entire process took at least 45 minutes in my case. I had the laptop running on AC so it wasn't a problem but was still longer than I anticipated.

Sam,

45 minutes? I upgraded both my EFIS D100 and EMS D10 in less than 20 minutes, "30 at the most" my wife tells me. I didn't time it but it didn't seem to take long at all. Could the speed difference a result of our different notebooks?

Sorry to hear about all the problems.

 

[Sam Buchanan]

45 minutes? I upgraded both my EFIS D100 and EMS D10 in less than 20 minutes, "30 at the most" my wife tells me. I didn't time it but it didn't seem to take long at all. Could the speed difference a result of our different notebooks?

Might be, Bill (10 yrs old, 100mhz processor, and whoppin' 32M of ram!) but I was thinking the serial stream would be the bottleneck, not the ancient box. The backup took about as long as the upgrade. I just grabbed a soda and a chair and watched the airport traffic while the old machine churned.

But the upgrade was flawless and is working perfectly.

 

[roadrunner20]

Update:
Talked to Dynon Support today to alert them they will be receiving my D10A on Friday.
Eric informed me they would do the best they can in getting it back to me and that they were really cranking out the firmware issues and are nearly caught up. He said they would work with me in getting it back as soon as they can.
I have to say, it's a pleasure dealing with a company that prides itself in great customer support. The operator answers the phone immediately and transfers you to support without going through a long series of menus.

 

[N941WR]

...I have to say, it's a pleasure dealing with a company that prides itself in great customer support. The operator answers the phone immediately and transfers you to support without going through a long series of menus.

Ditto!!!

These guys are great!

 

[scottg]

Just some minor corrections:

The software updates are causing us some issues. Lots of people are letting their laptop batteries die while doing an update. PLEASE don't let this happen. If it does, DO NOT turn off the EFIS. As long as you leave the yellow screen up, it can be recovered.

Guys,

Please, please, please provide us with details on how to revover with the yellow screen. Last Saturday, my laptop bluescreened during the update. The D-10A would not shut down. I had to remove the internal battery. I was lucky and able to get the software loaded after this incident. This was a Saturday with no tech support available. I really wish there was an alternate procedure available that could have prevented a possble 'Return to Dynon for Repair" and resulting grounded aircraft.

 

[mannanj]

D10-A

Another precaution.--------------------
Today, while a friend was helping me update mine I was getting bored just sitting there so I turned on my GPS. Bad idea as it is hooked up to provide the GPS input to the Dynon for the HSI function. This action commandeered the serial port and dumped the update. After I fugured out what happened when the computer went "dumb --- you goofed" (ding), I turned the GPS off and it started the update again. Too bad we were 85% into the upload.

Moral of the story-----Make sure that anything connected to the Dynon serial in is off or disconnected and once the upload starts, DO NOT touch anything.

 

[roadrunner20]

Another Update:
What else can go wrong?
UPS 2 day delivery scheduled for Friday? No Go.
UPS has lost my D10A package to Dynon.
Hopefully, it will turn up on Monday but at this time, they lost contact with my package on Thursday.

What does that mean? Stay tuned, but it does not look good.
I may be grounded for awhile to build a claim against UPS.
Fortunately, I insured the package for 2k. Not enough for a new 10A, but happy I did insure it/

 

[dealfair]

D-180 update

All,

I updated my D-180 yesterday; and was very apprehensive about a possible shutdown and having to send it back to the factory.

Hooked up a 2 amp battery charger to the battery and provided ac power to the laptop. Wanted to make sure there was a consistent power source all around.

The backup took about 10 minutes and the upload only about 5 minutes. All went well.

Good luck to all,

Deal Fair
RV-4 flying
George West, TX

 

[David-aviator]

I was on short final Sunday and my D10A crapped out with an apparent short. A noticible burnt smell was present while on taxi back.
After evaluation, I determined there was a short in the D10A unit.
I removed the unit and experienced the same action using the battery backup. The 10A was bad. The battery backup was of no use here.

This is disturbing to me as I have only been flying a year with the unit.
The support people at Dynon were very helpful but indicated to me it would be a 5-10 day turn around due to firmware update issues. I requested a loaner but none were available.

My question to the forum, has anyone else experienced this failure or is this an isolated incident?

For the record, I love the 10A unit.
This thread is not to trash Dynon, but just to share information.

Mine is 4 years old and running fine, but what happened to yours is a good reason not to hang your IFR hat on these things.

 

[roadrunner20]

Another Update:
What else can go wrong?
UPS 2 day delivery scheduled for Friday? No Go.
UPS has lost my D10A package to Dynon.
Hopefully, it will turn up on Monday but at this time, they lost contact with my package on Thursday.

What does that mean? Stay tuned, but it does not look good.
I may be grounded for awhile to build a claim against UPS.
Fortunately, I insured the package for 2k. Not enough for a new 10A, but happy I did insure it/

UPS delivered my package to Dynon today. Eric at Dynon called me late this afternoon. What a relief. UPS did not have clue where the package was located. Normally, they have been so dependable for me.

I went through the whole UPS claim process which would have me wait 8 days to qualify as lost. Also, I would have had to wait the 12 week leadtime from Dynon to get a replacement.

Thanks to SteinAir & Bill Vontane at Creativair, who attempted to get me a replacement off their shelf as my plan B. Great RV guys and great companies who would go the extra mile to help a fellow RV flyer.


This brings another issue into play. What happens when your EFIS or EMS craps out? Are replacements available while they are reworked. These aren't the days with the steam guage where you could go out and get a replacement from another mfgr.

 

[Walt]

That's precisely why I like "steam gauges"!

Although glass is great, and I drool over it constantly, I built my panel with individual engine instruments, dual coms, GPS etc.. I could lose anything in my panel and still keep flying comfortably while it's out for repair. The thought of being grounded for a month or 2 waiting on a repair/replacement is totally unacceptable!

 

[Ironflight]

Build with Redundancy in Mind....

Although glass is great, and I drool over it constantly, I built my panel with individual engine instruments, dual coms, GPS etc.. I could lose anything in my panel and still keep flying comfortably while it's out for repair. The thought of being grounded for a month or 2 waiting on a repair/replacement is totally unacceptable!

I agree 100% Walt - I get very bothered when my plane is grounded for a maintenance reason. But if you design with redundancy in mind, any single box failure shouldn't take you out of service. Granted, that makes for a bit more equipment, but just because you have glass doesn't mean you have to be down. I can lose any single component and still be airworthy - maybe not IFR capable, but airworthy.....

Paul

 

[Dynon]

The thought of being grounded for a month or 2 waiting on a repair/replacement is totally unacceptable!

The thought of that bugs us too, which is why we have a maximum 10 day turnaround, and we usually do much better. In most cases, shipping takes longer than the repair, so you can make it really quick by using air shipping. We ship back to you the same way you shipped to us, so people often see 3-4 day total turnarounds.

 

[roadrunner20]

Final Update:
Dynon shipped me a replacement 10A after my rebuilt one failed calibration. They could have sent it back to reprocess but due to a time crunch on my part, they(Eric in support) agreed to send me a reconditioned one. Since I had planned a trip to Key West, Dynon sent it back to me overnight. Dynon went the extra mile to insure I was satisfied and supplied me with the reconditioned EFIS in time for me to install and flight test prior to my trip.

Elapsed time. 7 day turn around.

Good job & Thanks Eric.