Brantel

Brantel

Well Known Member
Update on my Legendary Dynon system issues....

For those that were following these threads:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=51615

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=51396

Here is an update on where I am at with the issues experienced with my brand new Dynon D100/D120/HS34/AP74 system.

Once I had done all of the troubleshooting that I could do, I contacted Dynon support and received assistance from Mike. After trying a few things Mike decided that this was not a setup or end user issue and he promptly issued an RMA and decided that since this system was new out of the box that Dynon would pickup the freight back to them.

So I boxed the entire system up and sent it out there.

On the way out there, Robert Hamilton, Sales and Marketing Manager of Dynon picked up my case and took ownership of ensuring that my system was diagnosed and ran thru their process as quickly as possible.

I received many emails from Robert along the way and he was updating me at every step. I even received emails from him all thru the Holidays.

Turns out that Dynon's techs were able to recreate my issue and then set out to finding the root cause. The RS485 transceiver chips were changed out and the system was ran thru a battery of test and the issue was not resolved.

At this point Robert made the call to replace my D100 (the unit causing the issue) with a brand new unit.

Dynon ran the replacement along with the rest of the system back thru the battery of test including some aggressive temperature functional test that are way more extreme than normal systems are subjected to. Apparently the issue was solved as Robert stated that the system performed as expected.

Robert ensured that my system was NDA'ed back to me and he emailed with tracking numbers on Monday. Yesterday I received the units and will reinstall them in the aircraft this Thursday.

The point of the book listed above is to show what good customer service is worth. Robert went above and beyond to ensure that I was taken care of with my issue.

I will report how the system performs in the aircraft. I do not expect to see any cold boot or firmware update issues after all this testing.

Thanks Dynon, Robert and Mike for all your help in getting my system fixed and turned around so quick right in the middle of the Holidays and your new launch of the Skyview system!
 
Last edited:
Brian, Thanks for the update on the situation. Good effort on the part of Dynon, for sure.

But... what really caused the problem in the first place? Your issue is resolved because you now have a D100 that works. What about the other D100's out there? How many of them have a latent issue that's only going to show up when the temperature drops... and is there any guidance from Dynon about how to tell, in advance?

--Paul
 
Paul,

Dynon stated that they have never seen this issue first hand before. In fact, they thanked me for allowing them the time to replicate the issue and attempt to find the root cause.

They originally thought it must be the RS485 transceiver chip but that was not it. (The physical DSAB bus is RS485 based)

I assume they will continue to swap chips in that original D100 in an effort to find the problem that is causing the issue. They gave me a new one in order to minimize my wait time for a fix. They may never find the exact issue as it might be buried deep within a chip somewhere and that would be hard to discover.

Hopefully my issue was unique. Apparently normal units go thru a temperature performance test but they put mine thru a more aggressive test since I had these issues.

I doubt there is a way to tell you are going to have this issue until you do have it. When my units were cold < ~ 30-35° F, they would have the issue a few minutes after boot up. Once they warmed up for about 15 minutes, the problem went away.

If you do not use DSAB, you would never know you had the issue.

Maybe Dynon will chime in with more about this...
 
Last edited:
Brian,

Excellent detective work, and a good point for the rest of us "Experimental EFIS users..."

ANY product with silicon can develop a 1-in-10,000,000 unique problem from a small crack or defect in manufacture, and these can be extremely troublesome to track down. As customers, it is very hard to not jump to the conclusion that the vendor is "covering up" or otherwise failing to give good customer service in such a case, as duplicating the problem can be time intensive and frustrating for everyone.

Kudos both to you and to Dynon for working this through!

:D
 
Good stuff Brian! Just saw this, and wanted to say thanks for the follow-up.

Robert, Mike and the Dynon boyz did ya right! :)

Got them babies fired up yet? Pics? :)

Cheers,
Bob
 
Brian,

I had a similar "cold start" issue with my D100 and ended up sending the unit back to Dynon. They replaced several "cold-sensitive parts" and I have not seen the issue return (but its only been a couple weeks). The issue I am now having is that Dynon updated my firmware to 5.2 on the D100. I was able to update my D120 just fine, but there is a communications issue that is preventing me from updating my autopilot servos. I don't think it has anything to do with the DSAB, but not sure. What happens is that my laptop will show that it is connected to *something* when I plug into the D100 (required to update servos to 5.2), but then just sits there and will not activate the D100 screen (yellow screen). Not sure what to do, but have been on the phone with Dynon before the holidays and have not had the time to get to the airport since returning from my trip. I'm hoping we (Dynon and me) can work this out!

Just thought I would put this out there in case anyone has had similar experiences.

cheers,
greg
 
Greg Arehart said:
Brian,

I had a similar "cold start" issue with my D100 and ended up sending the unit back to Dynon. They replaced several "cold-sensitive parts" and I have not seen the issue return (but its only been a couple weeks). The issue I am now having is that Dynon updated my firmware to 5.2 on the D100. I was able to update my D120 just fine, but there is a communications issue that is preventing me from updating my autopilot servos. I don't think it has anything to do with the DSAB, but not sure. What happens is that my laptop will show that it is connected to *something* when I plug into the D100 (required to update servos to 5.2), but then just sits there and will not activate the D100 screen (yellow screen). Not sure what to do, but have been on the phone with Dynon before the holidays and have not had the time to get to the airport since returning from my trip. I'm hoping we (Dynon and me) can work this out!

Just thought I would put this out there in case anyone has had similar experiences.

cheers,
greg
Click to expand...

Greg,

Try moving the D100 & D120 down to the last software version you had, probably 5.1. Then upgrade the entire system to 5.2. That will get the other network devices all on the same version.

(Do you keep your software versions and backup files so you can go back?)
 
Bill,

I would do that except that I don't have a backup 5.1 on the D100 (I sent it in with 5.1 on it not knowing it would come back with 5.2). I'm sure I have an older version (4.x?) that might work once communication is established. The problem really is a communication issue - my laptop (Dynon software) says it is seeing something at the end of the wire, but it apparently cannot tell what that something is. I can't even get started with any changes until I get the yellow screen that says I am communicating.

Next time I get to the hangar during regular hours, I'll call Mike again and see what we can figure out.

Thanks,
greg
 
Greg Arehart said:
Bill,

I would do that except that I don't have a backup 5.1 on the D100 (I sent it in with 5.1 on it not knowing it would come back with 5.2). I'm sure I have an older version (4.x?) that might work once communication is established. The problem really is a communication issue - my laptop (Dynon software) says it is seeing something at the end of the wire, but it apparently cannot tell what that something is. I can't even get started with any changes until I get the yellow screen that says I am communicating.

Next time I get to the hangar during regular hours, I'll call Mike again and see what we can figure out.

Thanks,
greg
Click to expand...

Greg,

Contact Dynon, they should have 5.1. I can't send you a copy as all the 5.x copies I have are Beta versions.

Maybe someone who has the same hardware as you can send you a copy of their 5.1 backup file.
 
Greg,

Before you go back to 5.1, I just thought of something I didn't think to check when we were working on it before the TX trip.

Turn your GPS off, or move the GPS/SL-30 switch to the off position, if that switch has an off selection.

Remember I said that a similar thing happened to me once? When it did, after some hair pulling, I realized my 396 was still on (comes on with the Dynons when I turn on the Av Master sw.) I don't have a switch, I just have to make sure the 396 is off when I do the updates. Once I did that, it went through fine.

I just did 5.2 earlier this week, and remembered to do that. Can't believe I didn't think of this for your update.

Give it a try...it might be one of those "dooohhhhh" simple fixes!

And Bill...the idea of going back to 5.1 is sound...we discussed it a bit when we were trying to troubleshoot. In this case, the DS program sees a unit, but as soon as you try to do anything (detect firmware, backup, update, etc), it just starts looking for the unit on all comm ports, and never finds it again. I believe its the DS program data running head-on into the serial data from the GPS.

Cheers,
Bob
 
Last edited:
Other 5.2 issues....

Recently, I installed 5.2 on my AP74, D100, D180, DSABed installation. It seemed to go well and I flew it for approx 2 hours. I experienced 1 or 2 reboots on the D180 which is expected since 5.2 did not address the reboot issue Dynon is aware of. They promise to fix it in 5.3.

As of two days ago, the system went completely haywire. When the units power up, the AP74 LEDS remain on, I get DSAB errors, OAT on the D100 is no longer found, and none of the information that enters thru the D180 seems to get to the D100. At one point in flight, OAT reported 139 degrees. No, I don?t live in the Sahara.

I ohm?ed all wires, checked for loose pins, no resolution. To my aging mind, it appears to be a networking problem. It reports network problems at boot up (it always did that) but now reports them after boot up.

I tried to DSAB the units, the D180 found only 1 unit one time, 2 units the second attempt, then all 5 units on test #3. We took it all apart, reseated all connectors, DSABed, and the system appeared to be working normally as of yesterday. The servos had to be recalibrated but all was normal. Turned it on and off three times & it still worked.

So today I planned a trip. Pack up the airplane, get the wife ready, turned on the units, and the original abnormal conditions reoccurred. AP74 LEDS remain solid on, OAT is not found, etc., etc.

My choices are to return to 5.1 (which I retained) where the major problem was rebooting of the D180 (I will not fly IFR until that issue is resolved), swap the D180 with another D180 a friend is willing to loan me, wait for Dynon on Monday, or down a bottle of whiskey given the endless grief this system has caused for two years.


Suggestions are welcome. If anyone has any ideas, please send me a number so we can talk or call me at 520-797-0265.
 
Barry, the only thing I would suggest is box up the entire system and send it in for an eval. Nothing helps them more than for the system to act up on their bench.

I ran mine for several hours today and all was well. Fingers are crossed!
 
MrNomad said:
To my aging mind, it appears to be a networking problem.
Click to expand...

I have had an intermittent network issue with my AP74. The system is running 5.1.1, and consists of EFIS D-100, EMS D-120, HS34, AP74, 2 servos. The system will occasionally lose the AP74. I can fly all day and it won't happen, or I can fly 30 minutes and it might happen. I ohmed all wires...Dynon insists a wiring issue....I insist it's not. After reading your post I'm hesitant to go to 5.2. What I currently have is far better than what you're seeing.
 
Glad I don't have some of these issues. Bob was correct for my connection issue - gotta have both radio and GPS off or they are feeding extraneous data into the line. Updated AP servos and all appears OK (not test flown yet, got some tire and brake replacement to do first...)

greg
 
Update

After a cold soak in the cold hangar for a few days below 20?F, I ran my system last evening for about 2 hours and had no issues with anything.

Thanks Dynon!!!
 
Jamie,

Dynon received my system on 12/21 and I got it back in my hands on 1/5.

This fell right smack dab in the middle of Christmas and New Years holidays.

They also had to cold soak my system several times so that took some time as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.