What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Alternator alignment - Spacer kit

bill@fusion4.net

[email protected]

Well Known Member
He I know Vans was sending out the the wrong spacer kit, that caused people to have to order a new one to bring the alternator back towards the firewall to align it with the flywheel. Evidently they have changed them to be aligned for the 2 pully flywheel.

Does anyone have the OLD spacers?

I ordered the single pully flywheel for use with the Lightspeed mini-sensor.

Alignment of the belt looked good until I just torqued the prop. Now my alternator (plane-power 60 amp) is 5/32 too far back. I need to move the alternator forward 5/32.

My spacers are part numbers 99-1001 and 99-1002
 
[email protected] said:
He I know Vans was sending out the the wrong spacer kit, that caused people to have to order a new one to bring the alternator back towards the firewall to align it with the flywheel. Evidently they have changed them to be aligned for the 2 pully flywheel.

Does anyone have the OLD spacers?

I ordered the single pully flywheel for use with the Lightspeed mini-sensor.

Alignment of the belt looked good until I just torqued the prop. Now my alternator (plane-power 60 amp) is 5/32 too far back. I need to move the alternator forward 5/32.

My spacers are part numbers 99-1001 and 99-1002
Click to expand...

I am considering doing the same thing. Where did you get the flywheel from?

Plane Power might be able to get you the original spacers. Let me know where you find them as I am going to need them too.
 
Lycoming

I exhanged the flywheel with Lycoming. I had asked for them to build the engine with the single pully, but they did not want to change their production line, but told me they would exchange it for me after I received the engine.

I ended up forgetting about it until I started my actual work on the engine (mounted it about 3 months after I got it, but then did all the cowl work and painting before doing any real work on the engine), so it was 14 months before I thought to exchange it, they exchanged it right away.

I have it on my list for today to call plane-power and see if they have different spacers, but thought some RV'ers might have some they removed.
 
Bill,

I have the names and email address for the guys that worked with me to create the spacer kit.

I would assume that the spacers that came on the plane power alternator should work fine. The spacer kit has you take them off and install one new one and swap the location for an existing one.

Drop me a email if I forgot to send them to you in the next day or so. They are at home, so I have to remind myself when I get home tonight.

bob
 
Solved

Talked with Dick at Plane-Power, and he was very helpful and concerned about the alignment issue. He wanted me to double check everything and take pictures for him, and he offered to cut down a bushing for me if it was really needed. But he said the spacers I had should work with the single pully ring gear I have.

When I got home I double checked everything, and was still out of alignment by 5/32.

I then moved on to finish my propeller installation. I had snugged the prop bolts to ~ 40 ft lbs, but not torqued them as I did not have a torque extension wrench. (on order). Last night I tested my propeller track, and it the blades track was off by 1/4 inch. I removed the prop, made sure all the mounting surfaces were clean, and remounted the prop. After remounting, the track was right on, and the alternator alignment was also right on. So I must have not had my ring gear on straight before.

So if you do go with the LW-16471 (single pully ring gear), the
99-1001 and 99-1002 spacers do work perfectly.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.
 
I ordered the engine from Van's with the single grove flywheel. Just called Ann and she took care of it. It may have delayed the motor a bit, but it came with the right flywheel.

The alternator did not align. I had to machine .063 off the front bushing and add a washer at the rear to get it right.
 
Hmmmm.

My engine is from Aerosport and the Plane Power alternator came with the VANS FWF kit. Installed as per the instructions and as far as I can see, everything lines up fine.
 
Last edited:
paul330 said:
Hmmmm.

My engine is from Aerosport and the Plane Power alternator came with the VANS FWF kit. Installed as per the instructions and as far as I can see, everything lines up fine.
Click to expand...

Paul,

There isn't an issue with any of the major kit built engines.

The problem was created by Van's when they decided to use the dual ring gear for everyone to keep the folks in Brazil happy. This caused belt to be out of alignment for the standard alternator mount. Plane Power made a kit that Van's sells to resolve this alignment issue.

Bill facilitated getting the more appropriate ring gear (the one that Van's should be selling to everyone, but I don't what to go down that hole at the moment). This also aligns just fine with the spacers that come with the alternator. No spacer kit required. Bill just went through a bit of a learning curve, much like I did when the original issue was discovered.

Again, just for clarity, you only need the new spacer kit if you ordered your engine through VANs and didn't custom request the single belted ring gear.

bob
 
I just fabricated my own alternator mounting bracket for my V4A5 engine and off the shelf Nippon alternator. Took less than an hour.
 
rleffler said:
Paul,

There isn't an issue with any of the major kit built engines.

The problem was created by Van's when they decided to use the dual ring gear for everyone to keep the folks in Brazil happy. This caused belt to be out of alignment for the standard alternator mount. Plane Power made a kit that Van's sells to resolve this alignment issue.
Click to expand...

Bob

That's what I understood but there are people here saying they have one pulley drive and yet are still having alignment issues - I don't see.......
 
Last edited:
paul330 said:
Bill

That's what I understood but there are people here saying they have one pulley drive and yet are still having alignment issues - I don't see.......
Click to expand...

Bill thought he had an issue, but he learned that he didn't properly install the prop. Once he fixed that issue, everything is fine. I suspect the same may be true if there are others. But without specific facts, it's difficult to comment.

The good news is that the Plane Power folks are very customer centric and will be all over the issue if somebody believes they have an alignment issue and gives them a call.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top