Okay guys shall type what I lost yesterday.
Again thanks for the replies.
This bird is 1225lbs empty!
The previous owner was an ex Military fast jet instructor so had the plane set up with traditional steam gauges & a Military style cockpit, it's impressive but very complex. I'm not a fan of glass even though my 'office' is same.
It's not as easy as it sounds to do a schem diagram, this RV8 is one complex electrical machine ! It's got the works? Everything is elect, even has a CD player & CCTV permanently wired in viewing underneath. the previous owner spent a fortune getting the machine wired to military specs, every connection & multi pin plug is of Military types, the wiring bundle/s under the panel would make a grown electrician cry! It's even got an AoA & a device to record & download all parameters onboard (yet to look into that!) The paperwork I got with the plane would sink the Titanic but no schematics….sob sob sob:-(
Ok what I have done so far.
I pulled the Cessna type switch (been flying for 40 years, never had an issue with same type of switch) my switch looks fine, no arcing evidence (which is odd considering that where the magic smoke came from), I will however replace the switch regardless of the outcome here. Power goes to the switch & leaves the switch as advertised. Every EI gauge has it's own CB, again none popped during the event in fact no CB's popped. This beast has more CB's than a B747!
I found the bus bar (terminal strip) that supplies power to all the EI gauges & my multi-meter shows 9.5 volts at every terminal, seems odd that low voltage but there is power there. I've looked high & low for additional in-line fuses, it's difficult for my frame (220lbs & 6ft 1") to get right under.
The previous owner an elderly gent who lost his medical & had the plane 17 years & rarely flew it (370 hrs TT when I bought is as a 19 yr old aircraft). The Maint Co that did all the original work many years ago have long since gone.
As previously mentioned everything else elct in the plane works just not the EI gauges other than the internal lighting which is off a sep dimmer switch, in fact the plane is set up for IFR flight with back up lighting, it's a masterpiece of work the whole plane!
My way of thinking is that obviously there is a loss of power to each gauge (a common power loss) or that each gauge has blown internally, unlikely (hopefully not!) I've not pulled the cowls off as yet to check firewall connections (multiple Military plugs) cause that's a PITA!
So here I am around Xmas time with my plane AOG, happy days.....NOT!
...............….more to come, watch this space