I had an alternator failure a couple weeks ago while doing a practice instrument approach in VFR conditions. And wow, did that little Odyssey battery drain fast with all my electrical stuff going, even after shedding load. On short final the 430W actually blinked out from low voltage.
Anyway, last Monday I shipped the alternator down to Plane Power via 2nd Day Air to have it looked at. Dick took a look at it when it came in on Wednesday and gave me a call. Dick said that it appeared to have a loose internal wire so he said he'd cover it under warranty and send it out the same day via 2nd Day Air at no charge. I received it on Friday and it was back on the plane that night. I need to check the serial number but I think he may have sent me a new one. Now that's what I call service!
Keep in mind that this alternator came with the firewall forward kit from Van's and was probably 5 years old with about 500 hours on it in the last 3 years that I've been flying.
The experience did open my eyes to flying IFR with only one alternator. I also found out 5 year old back-up battery in the EFIS didn't have much life left to it as well so I've replaced it. I think I'll be installing a back-up alternator now. I've got my eye on the FS1-14 Plane Power back-up alternator that mounts on the vacuum pad on the back of the engine.
Anyway, last Monday I shipped the alternator down to Plane Power via 2nd Day Air to have it looked at. Dick took a look at it when it came in on Wednesday and gave me a call. Dick said that it appeared to have a loose internal wire so he said he'd cover it under warranty and send it out the same day via 2nd Day Air at no charge. I received it on Friday and it was back on the plane that night. I need to check the serial number but I think he may have sent me a new one. Now that's what I call service!
Keep in mind that this alternator came with the firewall forward kit from Van's and was probably 5 years old with about 500 hours on it in the last 3 years that I've been flying.
The experience did open my eyes to flying IFR with only one alternator. I also found out 5 year old back-up battery in the EFIS didn't have much life left to it as well so I've replaced it. I think I'll be installing a back-up alternator now. I've got my eye on the FS1-14 Plane Power back-up alternator that mounts on the vacuum pad on the back of the engine.
