Al Downs Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 My right position light works most of the time but occasionally it won't light up. So far I have been able to tap on it and get it working again. I tried to remove the screw and take if it off but it seems to be glued in place and I don't want to create damage removing it. I am guessing it must be a wire problem going into the light. Anyone else experience problems with these lights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Meade Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Use a piece of dental floss or light fishing line to "saw" behind the "glue" and take the position light out to inspect it, if you wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddieB Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 This ended up in "For Sale/Want To Buy". Probably not the right place for it and it may get missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Downs Posted October 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Thanks Eddie. I guess I messed it up. Maybe the moderator can move it to the correct place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 The position light can be removed and hooked up to a 12v battery directly (polarity sensitive!). If the control circuits are going bad, sometimes it won't light. Repeatedly touch it to the battery terminals to try and see if you can replicated the problem. In addition, you might need to chuck the LED in the freezer or put it in front of a heater to see if it's a temp sensitive issue.The sealant (glue) is just a clear silicone RTV. It needs to be used to prevent water from getting into the wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Before you remove the position light check the switch in the console! We've replaced four of the position lights since we owned our CTLS. Each time one lamp was working the other wasn't or was intermittent. As a matter of fact, I was working on another instance of the red light flickering and not working today. I just couldn't believe another lamp had gone bad. They're LED for crying out loud! We wasted a bunch of time tracing wires and connections without success. We got to the point of giving up. We moved on to a problem with our flap control board (detailed in another thread). While removing the center console panel we suddenly noticed that the red position light was on! Some experimentation narrowed the problem to the switch. The strange thing is that only one light of three on the circuit was not working. That's why we never looked at the switch. Slowly manipulating the switch brought the lamps on brightly. We removed the switch sprayed in some contact cleaner and worked the switch for a while. The lights are now brighter than I've ever seen them and all we did was clean the switch with contact cleaner! While you may be having a different problem, it's certainly worth your while to double check the switch before you replace the lamp! Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Downs Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Catching it not working at a time when it can be checked has been a challenge. I did check the switch but will do it again before I take the light off to check it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT_MATT Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Al, Mine recently went and I found that they were cracked along the circuit board edge which, lets moisture in to the boards ruining them and the LEDs. The crack was very difficult to see even after the lights were off the plane. It appears that the clear potting material is very thin at the edges of the board making them susceptible to cracking. May be worth a look to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 As Stuart points out, I've found switches to be the cause for intermittent light problems and have corrected this with a squirt of contact cleaner into the switch combined with 8 to 10 cyclings of the switch. I've also found the circuit breakers to be the cause of intermittent equipment. I cycle the circuit breakers every few months and this seems to keep them trouble free. In some instances, I've also found barrel and blade connectors to be the cause for poor continuity and a squirt of cleaner on these with a few disconnects/connects resolve this and keeps these connections operational. Matt's comments about developing cracks which permit water to enter the LED is good info. I currently have a few individual LED's which are not working on my right position light and will take a look to see if this might be cracked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT_MATT Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Dick, That is exactly how mine started to go. A few rows of LEDs went and then eventually the whole light. I never saw the crack until the light was off and I was looking really close at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Matt, I'll do some pushing and pulling on the light while it's still on the wing and use a bright flashlight to see if I've got a crack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opticsguy Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 I replaced mine with Aveos (have a MRA for it) and one doesn't work. It seems that that wing (right) gets 11V and the left gets 12.5V or more. It looks like a partial short. The wing lights have very thin 26ga wire. Since the carbon fiber conducts electricity somewhat, I'm wondering if the insulation has rubbed off of the wires inside the wing. The wings are coming off for this year's annual, so I'll get some thicker wires run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 I replaced mine with Aveos (have a MRA for it) and one doesn't work. It seems that that wing (right) gets 11V and the left gets 12.5V or more. It looks like a partial short. The wing lights have very thin 26ga wire. Since the carbon fiber conducts electricity somewhat, I'm wondering if the insulation has rubbed off of the wires inside the wing. The wings are coming off for this year's annual, so I'll get some thicker wires run. There are connectors in the wing roots. Check for corroded connection. If it is shorting to the frame, you will read it with a voltmeter. You can also find poor connections this way. To test for bad ground: touch *after* the LED, and to a reliable ground source other than the return wire (run your own to battery if need be). You should read next to 0 for a good ground. To find a short to ground: disconnect the LED and any other loads on the circuit (anything that comes between the switch and the LED in series, don't worry about paralleled loads), and touch positive to reliable ground. You should read bus voltage. Anything else means there is a voltage drop occurring in the circuit, and you need to back trace. To find corroded connection: with LED connected, touch across the LED from positive to ground. You need the current draw from the LED to create a voltage drop across the corroded connection. Record the value. Now, disconnect the LED and touch them again. The value should be almost the same if it is a reliable connection and the LED is not shorting internally. If inconclusive, test with a similar LED to eliminate a fault with the LED itself. If still inconclusive, put a reasonably heavy load on the circuit for the duration of the test. As some extra tidbits for those that play with electricity: to test a bad switch, turn it *on* and touch across the switch (terminal to other terminal). A good switch will read very very close to 0 volts. Anything else means it is dropping voltage across the connection inside the switch, or a bad terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Downs Posted November 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 I just received my replacement light from Flight Design yesterday. I guess it is somewhat of a common problem. Mine finally went completly dead so I have to replace it. $342 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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