Bill.Peyton

Bill.Peyton

Well Known Member
After 12 years and 1500+ hours, I decided to upgrade my flap actuator to the newer product now provided by Van's. Not that the old one had failed, I just needed a project!

The installation was straight forward and the calibration with the Vertical power system was quick and easy. After flying with the new actuator for a couple of months, on day when deploying the flaps I get a "flap fault" displayed on the EFIS. I did a quick reset and didn't see it for another month or so. and then again a month later or so. I suspected that the built in potentiometer must have and issue, and that could be triggering the fault, but decided to do a little investigating. The VPX flap motor ECB current had been set to 5 amps. When I instrumented the motor I was able to see some instantaneous surges of almost 5 amps. The flaps were not under any load whatsoever. I suspect that in spite of the running current of the motor averaging around 1 amp, the surge current was tripping the electronic CB flagging a fault when in flight and under aerodynamic load.

Sounds like a simple fix. Wrong! Checking the latest IM for the VPX I find a note that limits the Flaps ECB to 5 amps for VPX units under S/N 1350. Mine is S/N 895. The VPX set up software has an available selection of 1-10 amps. The note says to contact them for an upgrade.

Anyone had a similar issue or sent in there unit for an upgrade?
 
I have VP Sport and G3X system with PH Aviation flap motor. It has worked fine until a couple months ago. I started betting flap faults so I adjusted the numbers through the VP program and screwed it all up. Now the way I have it working is I hold the flap lever down and look out the window to see the location. The location display on the G3X is not accurate anymore.

It is a pain and I have tried everything I can think of. I’m ready to try a different motor or power it directly and skip the VP. Ugg!
 
Bill.Peyton said:
After 12 years and 1500+ hours, I decided to upgrade my flap actuator to the newer product now provided by Van's. Not that the old one had failed, I just needed a project!

The installation was straight forward and the calibration with the Vertical power system was quick and easy. After flying with the new actuator for a couple of months, on day when deploying the flaps I get a "flap fault" displayed on the EFIS. I did a quick reset and didn't see it for another month or so. and then again a month later or so. I suspected that the built in potentiometer must have and issue, and that could be triggering the fault, but decided to do a little investigating. The VPX flap motor ECB current had been set to 5 amps. When I instrumented the motor I was able to see some instantaneous surges of almost 5 amps. The flaps were not under any load whatsoever. I suspect that in spite of the running current of the motor averaging around 1 amp, the surge current was tripping the electronic CB flagging a fault when in flight and under aerodynamic load.

Sounds like a simple fix. Wrong! Checking the latest IM for the VPX I find a note that limits the Flaps ECB to 5 amps for VPX units under S/N 1350. Mine is S/N 895. The VPX set up software has an available selection of 1-10 amps. The note says to contact them for an upgrade.

Anyone had a similar issue or sent in there unit for an upgrade?
Click to expand...
If it's any help, I can confirm that my relatively new VPX Pro (April '23 sn 4063) can be configured from 1A to 10A for the flap motor. Sounds like an upgrade is in order.
 
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the VPX configuration software will allow me to set the current up to 10 amps. The question is can the circuitry stand the additonal current

Ive tried contacting Vertical power, but can’t get them to answer their phone
 
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Bill.Peyton said:
the VPX configuration software will allow me to set the current up to 10 amps. The question is can the circuitry stand the additonal current

Ive tried contacting Vertical power, but can’t get them to answer their phone
Click to expand...
I have the PH flap actuator and VPX. No issues.
 
Bill.Peyton said:
the VPX configuration software will allow me to set the current up to 10 amps. The question is can the circuitry stand the additonal current

Ive tried contacting Vertical power, but can’t get them to answer their phone
Click to expand...

I also didn't know about the change to the flap circuit capability until I reached out to Astronics during my research.

I had read about few failures of solder joints on the earlier boards and inquired with VP-X about it. This is part of the reply I received:

"When Astronics bought the assets of VP, we began upgrading the board components, and it is a superior product now compared to what it was. We manufacture them along the same lines as our certified products, so, many components had to be upgraded to meet the QC standard of ISO 9001 in order to retain that rating or better for the facility.

There have been failures in these older boards, but we have that under control now and 99% of what we see on RMA’s these days are installation issues that are done outside of the installation manual standards. We can put a new board in your VPX for $600 that will be the latest revision that all new VPX’s are being built with. That serial number also has the 5 amp flap circuit in it, which was superseded by the 10 amp circuit in 2014. The upgrade is your choice and decision, but it would be recommended for longevity."

I sent my unit to Astronics and had the board updated. I've never seen a VP-X open on the bench but I believe the board update basically replaces all of the internal components.
 
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Dad's RV-10 said:
I also didn't know about the change to the flap circuit capability until I reached out to Astronics during my research.

I had read about few failures of solder joints on the earlier boards and inquired with VP-X about it. This part of the reply I received:

"When Astronics bought the assets of VP, we began upgrading the board components, and it is a superior product now compared to what it was. We manufacture them along the same lines as our certified products, so, many components had to be upgraded to meet the QC standard of ISO 9001 in order to retain that rating or better for the facility.

There have been failures in these older boards, but we have that under control now and 99% of what we see on RMA’s these days are installation issues that are done outside of the installation manual standards. We can put a new board in your VPX for $600 that will be the latest revision that all new VPX’s are being built with. That serial number also has the 5 amp flap circuit in it, which was superseded by the 10 amp circuit in 2014. The upgrade is your choice and decision, but it would be recommended for longevity."

I sent my unti to Astronics and had the board updated. I've never seen a VP-X open on the bench but I believe the board update basically replaces all of the internal components.
Click to expand...
That's what I suspected.... In fact, I don't believe that the new VPX configuration software, which shows a current adjustment of 1-10 amps for the flap circuit, does anything to that circuit. My guess is it is fixed at 5 amps on these early boards. I tried setting it to 1 amp and watched the flap motor draw a couple of amps, and it never faulted.

Who did you speak to at VP/Astronics and do you have a valid phone number? I could not raise anyone on the support number.
 
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