Xkuzme1
Well Known Member
A couple weeks ago I finished a short flight and after when, I parked the airplane, I left the master switch on (duh). The next time I tried to fly, I noticed it was dead. I attempted to jump start the airplane, but thought about how fast that would charge my battery and decided it wasn't worth the risk. I had gotten as far as connecting the jumper cables. After I decided to squash the jump start idea, I noticed that my 60 ALT CB had popped. Weird.
So I charged the battery the proper way. 2 amps all the way up. All is well.
I flew the airplane a week later and all was well, until just prior to landing. I noticed that the ALT CB was popped again. So I turned off the ALT side of the master switch, and I turned off all electrical items, then turned back on the ALT side of the master switch. Volts were normal again @ 14v. So I turned electrical items back on one at a time so as not to overload the system. All seemed well again.
I tried to fly the airplane yesterday. Started it. Taxiing out I looked at the CB and all was well until I looked at the volt meter. The volt meter was showing 18 plus volts. I have a cigarette lighter volt meter for emergancy purposes (I carry one in every vehicle) and it displayed 18+ volts too. So I turned off the ALT side of the master switch and parked the plane. I plan to dive into it today.
Does anyone have any advice on where they'd start? To me it sounds like a voltage regulator, but I'm worried about the CB popping twice. The CB had never popped before... ever.
Details-
RV-4
0-320 D1A
60 amp alternator (internally regulated I believe)
Steam gauges
60 amp CB
2 sided master switch
Breaker switchs on each individual electrical item (and nothing else has popped)
Battery seems strong holding right now at 12.65 volts and cranks the engine good
Thanks for any ideas or help you can offer.
X
So I charged the battery the proper way. 2 amps all the way up. All is well.
I flew the airplane a week later and all was well, until just prior to landing. I noticed that the ALT CB was popped again. So I turned off the ALT side of the master switch, and I turned off all electrical items, then turned back on the ALT side of the master switch. Volts were normal again @ 14v. So I turned electrical items back on one at a time so as not to overload the system. All seemed well again.
I tried to fly the airplane yesterday. Started it. Taxiing out I looked at the CB and all was well until I looked at the volt meter. The volt meter was showing 18 plus volts. I have a cigarette lighter volt meter for emergancy purposes (I carry one in every vehicle) and it displayed 18+ volts too. So I turned off the ALT side of the master switch and parked the plane. I plan to dive into it today.
Does anyone have any advice on where they'd start? To me it sounds like a voltage regulator, but I'm worried about the CB popping twice. The CB had never popped before... ever.
Details-
RV-4
0-320 D1A
60 amp alternator (internally regulated I believe)
Steam gauges
60 amp CB
2 sided master switch
Breaker switchs on each individual electrical item (and nothing else has popped)
Battery seems strong holding right now at 12.65 volts and cranks the engine good
Thanks for any ideas or help you can offer.
X