Toddsanderson
Well Known Member
My 14A was built in 2017 and the panel installed by SteinAir which did a beautiful job. I bough the plane a few weeks ago and noticed the TCW IBBS was not powering up the EFIS when the switch was engaged. Pulled out the IBBS and measured 5.8V output. Sent the battery to Bob at TCW. He put it on his test bench and said it is working perfectly and battery capacity is 100%. He suggested I confirm that I have 12V on pin 5 of the DB15 connector.
Well, he was right. SteinAir wired pin 4 with 12V instead of pin 5, so the battery was never getting charged. The battery was originally installed n 2017 and replaced in 2020. It probably did not need replaced as it simply discharged since it didn’t have any input power. Everything else was wired correctly. I simply moved the pin over one slot and it was fixed.
Moral of the story - regardless of how good a shop is, double check their work. Also, check the work of your mechanic as well. The previous owner used a mechanic for everything on the plane with consistent maintenance. That mechanic should have checked for input power and the previous owner should have also known the system better.
Well, he was right. SteinAir wired pin 4 with 12V instead of pin 5, so the battery was never getting charged. The battery was originally installed n 2017 and replaced in 2020. It probably did not need replaced as it simply discharged since it didn’t have any input power. Everything else was wired correctly. I simply moved the pin over one slot and it was fixed.
Moral of the story - regardless of how good a shop is, double check their work. Also, check the work of your mechanic as well. The previous owner used a mechanic for everything on the plane with consistent maintenance. That mechanic should have checked for input power and the previous owner should have also known the system better.
