T

todehnal

Well Known Member
Thought I would take a deep breath today, and turn on the master. I have the complicated Skyview installation, with the conversion harness from the old D180. Some success, and some failures.

All fans run.
Fuel pump runs
ELT check worked
Wing pin light works and the lights on the switches look okay

No display on the 1000 Skyview
No display on the SL40

Wiring is installed. Engine is installed. I am working in my basement, so I do not have the wings on, nor the tail or canopy. I just wanted to do everything that I could in my nice environmently friendly shop before taking it to the hot hangar. Am I missing something here, are should I have gotten a display.

So, where do I start?? Tom
 
The SL40 won't come on until you turn on the avionics switch. Ditto for the transponder and ap servos for later reference. You should have had the display come on though. Assuming you installed the Dynon backup battery, with the master off try holding down the leftmost dynon button for a few seconds. that turns on the d1000 using that battery (takes a few seconds for the display to appear even after you turn on power) If that doesn't work, check the voltage on the backup battery and probably call Dynon for DOA advice.
 
Battery Backup Intalled

Bill, I do have the battery backup installed, but still no display, even after holding the Skyview button in. I'll check the voltage on the backup battery. But it sounds like Dynon may be getting a call

Thanks.............Tom
 
The D1000 is DOA

Good call Bill. I called Dynon first thing this morning and talked with Mike in tech support. It didn't take him long to come to the conclusion that I had an OBF (out of box failure). I boxed and shipped it off today. Just my luck!

Tom
 
No Ethernet Lights

By the way, the cincher was when Mike had me look at the little LEDs by the Ethernet port on the back. No lights told him that the Skyview was totally dead.......Tom
 
No Battery Backup Voltaage

DonFromTX said:
Are we to assume you found voltage on the backup battery though?
Click to expand...

No, Don, I must admit that it was a little challenging measuring the output of the backup battery, but the best that I could tell, it had zip. I finally took two male pins and plugged them into the mini connector to be able to take a reading. I told Mike that, and he said that it would not have any at this time. My guess is that this must be in the control of the Skyview, and since it is dead, it never receives a initial charge. Your thoughts??

Tom
 
Well, I had some similar problem, and think I learned a thing or two hopefully. That standby battery will not run the display if too far down on charge, and IT WILL NOT CHARGE BACK UP until the master battery is at some preset higher voltage, higher than just standing. This becomes a problem in the building stage, since the engine alternator is not putting out the voltage required to recharge the standby. The only solution to charge the standby is to put a battery charger on hi on the main battery (which I am not too comfortable with), so the higher voltage will charge the backup.
 
Interesting! Do you know if it will charge with the master off? At any rate, Mike was not surprised at no power from the backup battery. I even put my scale on milivolts, and got nothing...........Tom
 
The cause and effect seems off kilter. If the standby battery was stone cold dead, OF COURSE there would be no lights on the Skyview, and all you needed is a battery or voltage source, not a new or different SV unit.
In my setup if the master relay is off, there is no charging to the backup battery, I am pretty sure the Rotax setup is the same. This is bad for building stage, since you can recharge your main battery, but none of that charge gets to the backup. Mine for instance right now is showing about 8.6 volts on the backup battery, even though I have a battery charger hooked to the main to keep it up.
I am unhappy that the backup battery therefore is left discharged most of the time.
Somewhere the exact voltages are listed, but this is a quote from the Skyview installation manual:
"An SV-BAT 320 is fully charged when it reaches 12.25 volts. Charging a completely discharged battery may take up to 4 hours. To conserve your aircraft battery, the SV-BAT-320 is only charged with Skyview detects your alternator/generator to be online"
 
The Fans Run

All of this is good, but please understand that the Skyview fans were running fine. Many of the switch indicator LEDs were also lit,, but turning the Avionics master on did nothing for the Skyview. But, now, you are making me wonder. I do not recall hearing the avionics master solenoid pull. I did try the fuel pump, and it worked fine. Man that thing is sure noisy. I'm sure glad that I added a control switch for that thing. Right now, I will just have to wait to hear from Dynon. Man, I sure hope that I didn't holler Wolf too soon. Oh well!!

Tom
 
The SV comes on with the big master, not the avionics "sub-master." (BTW the avionics bay fans also do. They come through the starter fuse because if you blow that fuse they stop!) Bet you were DOA. Because if the fans on the back of the SV were running it was obviously getting ships power - they are controilled and powered THROUGH the SV. The backup battery was just another test and it will not really charge up until you have flown the plane for awhile.
 
I would bet that the skyview fans were NOT running, only the panel floor fans, that make such a roar. i have yet to hear my Skyview fans run, I think you have to get it pretty darned hot for that to happen, they are on thermostats you know.. Easy to confuse, at first I also thought my skyview fans were running, then noticed the fan blades were standing still
There are normally NO LED lights on the back of the Skyview, unless you have some power to them by the master being on.
 
Tom, don't let Bill and I get you worked up about it. We just enjoy trouble shooting from long distance just for the fun of it (and for any help we might give you on the way).
 
My Skyview Observations

DonFromTX said:
I would bet that the skyview fans were NOT running, only the panel floor fans, that make such a roar. i have yet to hear my Skyview fans run, I think you have to get it pretty darned hot for that to happen, they are on thermostats you know.. Easy to confuse, at first I also thought my skyview fans were running, then noticed the fan blades were standing still
There are normally NO LED lights on the back of the Skyview, unless you have some power to them by the master being on.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the help, and your thoughts, but Bill is correct. You do not need the avionics switch on to have power to the Skyview. Second, with the top cover still off, I can clearly see the back of the Skyview. I guarantee that all fans run with just the master on; both the huff, and the puff avionics deck fans run, in addition to the fans on the back of the Skyview. There was no thermostat in control of these fans in my 75 degree basement. Turning on the avionics switch made no difference. I cannot say for certain that I will have Ethernet LEDs lit with a functioning Skyview. Mike, from Dynon tech service, stated that I should have a light. That is all that I know at this point. When I hear from Dynon, I will post the answers.
 
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The running skyview fans may have indicated a fault in itself. I have my battery charger on mine right now, kicking out about 15 volts, has been for a couple of hours, just to charge the backup battery. The Skyview fans have not yet come on once, although the skyview is on of course, I also am in a 75 degree air conditioned garage.
Your comments did however get me to watch them closely, I had not noticed before, but for just an instant when you turn on the Skyview, the fans turn on for a half second, like maybe a check of them is going on.
For what it is worth, with the voltage to maximum on the main battery, it has taken one hour and 30 minutes to increase the standby battery from 8.67 to 8.84.
I can only report on mine and the book, but does anyone else have any charging time indications for the standby battery? I am trying to get it to full charge, so I can run the battery check in version 6.0 (which will probably run it back down to zero and take hours to recharge again).
 
Skyview Backup Battery

Don, what is your secret for being able to test the backup battery voltage? My method was to disconnect the little mini plug, carefully insert a couple of male pins into the the female pins, and reach down into the wire maze with a couple of meter leads. Sure hope you have a better idea.

This is interesting. I did notice a slight change in the pitch of the sound coming from the Skyview fans; like the speed changed. This would happen shortly after turning on the master; maybe 15 or 20 seconds afterward.

As far as the little green LED on the Ethernet port goes, it was my understanding that this light meant that the port was active, but what do I know??

Hopefully Dynon will figure all of this out, and then we can grade our diagnostic skills, but it is fun to speculate.

Tom
 
Good heavens yes I have a better way. Just push 7 and 8 at the same time, and there is this screen, that is the only way to check the voltage, screen shot attached:
vi1rq0.jpg
[/IMG]
todehnal said:
Don, what is your secret for being able to test the backup battery voltage? My method was to disconnect the little mini plug, carefully insert a couple of male pins into the the female pins, and reach down into the wire maze with a couple of meter leads. Sure hope you have a better idea.

This is interesting. I did notice a slight change in the pitch of the sound coming from the Skyview fans; like the speed changed. This would happen shortly after turning on the master; maybe 15 or 20 seconds afterward.

As far as the little green LED on the Ethernet port goes, it was my understanding that this light meant that the port was active, but what do I know??

Hopefully Dynon will figure all of this out, and then we can grade our diagnostic skills, but it is fun to speculate.

Tom
Click to expand...
 
After I posted the above, I realized how stupid the answer was! The whole problem is that you have NO skyview display, so how could you ever do the voltage readout that way. Duh!
 
Battery Backup Testing

Don, I appreciate your efforts for trying, and I will use that when I get a screen, so a Thanks is still due. My way did work with no screen available.

Tom
 
No Display Continued

After a chat with a Dynon tech, and a few tests, I was asked to remove the Skyview and send it in. I just talked with the repair tech and he assured me that there was no fault found. My Skyview is on it's way back. Since I am at Oshkosh, I took the opportunity to chat with both Steinair, and Vans. Neither took ownership of the problem, but I was given two test points to verify +12V; Pins 1 and 20 on the 37 pin "D"sub. After that is chased down, I will be on the phone with Vans for help. I sure hope that this turns out to be a simple screw-up on my part. Gus, at Van's assured me that over 90% of Skyview issues turn out to be builder error. I hope he is right, and I will post more on this continuing saga.

Till later.........Tom
 
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