vlittle
Well Known Member
I've just experienced my second and possibly third switch failure in 95 hours.
On my first flight, my master switch failed... leading to overvoltage alarms. It was intermittent, and it took me a while to diagnose. B&C replaced the switch, and I sent them the failed switch for analysis.
Last week, my Strobe breaker kept popping when I switched the strobes off. Today, I went into diagnosis mode and found:
- Strobes did not work.
- Breaker was permanently open.
- Nylon insulation on the fast on terminals at switch were burnt black.
- Brass switch terminals were discolored.
- switch terminal rivets were loose (same failure as Master switch).
I tested the failed B&C (Carling) switch at home with a power supply in current-limit mode (5 amps) and it got quite warm. I measured the voltage across the terminals and got widely varying measurements as I wiggled the terminals.
Conclusion: switch failure.
Yesterday, I also had a flap system failure... I suspect a switch problem as well, but no conclusion yet.
Anyone else seen these failures with the B&C sourced Carling switches?
Vern Little
On my first flight, my master switch failed... leading to overvoltage alarms. It was intermittent, and it took me a while to diagnose. B&C replaced the switch, and I sent them the failed switch for analysis.
Last week, my Strobe breaker kept popping when I switched the strobes off. Today, I went into diagnosis mode and found:
- Strobes did not work.
- Breaker was permanently open.
- Nylon insulation on the fast on terminals at switch were burnt black.
- Brass switch terminals were discolored.
- switch terminal rivets were loose (same failure as Master switch).
I tested the failed B&C (Carling) switch at home with a power supply in current-limit mode (5 amps) and it got quite warm. I measured the voltage across the terminals and got widely varying measurements as I wiggled the terminals.
Conclusion: switch failure.
Yesterday, I also had a flap system failure... I suspect a switch problem as well, but no conclusion yet.
Anyone else seen these failures with the B&C sourced Carling switches?
Vern Little