Aaronp07 Posted December 3, 2019 Report Share Posted December 3, 2019 As I was flying pattern work today my Dynon D100 announced "Current Low" and my Generator Light came on about 1 hour or so into my flight. I saw the amps were in the yellow, but the volts were still in the green. I turned off my landing light and it the light went out. As I contined to fly the pattern the announcement came on again during takeoff and climb, and the amps again dropped. I turned off my landing light but the warning and light continued this time then finally went off, but my amps appeared low, just above yellow. Does this mean I need a new battery or is this possibly something worse? I keep my battery on a trickle charge in the hanger when I am not flying. I had no problems starting the plane today, but that may have been because I keep it on the charger. It is definitley unnerving to have the warning lights on in flight and see the amps in the yellow and red. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdarza Posted December 3, 2019 Report Share Posted December 3, 2019 I will venture to suspect the recifier/regulator might be bad. Ive replaced mine twice over a 10 year period. First time was the rectifier/regulator itself, and the second was the connector that burned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted December 8, 2019 Report Share Posted December 8, 2019 The halogen landing lights take up an enormous amount of power and will draw down the battery during idle. Keep their use limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vance Posted December 8, 2019 Report Share Posted December 8, 2019 I would start by making sure the grounds are working properly, as has been prescribed many times by several people on this site. I had a low current warning once that was cured by cleaning the ones at the starter solenoid. Remove one side at a time, Scotch-brite all the surfaces, put dielectric grease on them & reassemble. Once you’re sure the grounds are working, then move on to replacing parts if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronp07 Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Thank you all for the assitance! Based upon your comments, I think I may have found the problem. I found two issues so far. The ground wire on the solenoid was defiinitley lose. I cleaned it and made sure it was tightened. Also, I took the rectifier/regulator harness connector off and the plugs inside seemed to be corroded, as I saw a white residue inside and around the plugs. I sprayed WD40 in the plug and scubbed it with a soft nylon brush. After spraying it out with compressed air, I plugged it back in. After a short initial test flight, my low voltage alarm has not sounded. As soon as I get some good VFR weather I will be doing some more test flights to ensure the problem has been corrected. I have attached a pic of the solenoid and lose ground wire that I found. I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I am extremley thankful I sought assitance here instead of buying a new battery right away like I had planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 There's a bolt that goes through the firewall above that, follow a wire to it. It grounds a plate on the inside where all the instrument grounds go to. Make sure it's not loose and if you can, run a large gauge wire (match the size or larger of the wire going to the battery, 8 gauge I think) from the inside under the head, contacting the plate, to the outside and contact the terminals near the nut. The bolt is steel and corrodes, destroying the ground capability. I did this to several aircraft and it solved a whole slew of electrical gremlins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vance Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 15 hours ago, Anticept said: There's a bolt that goes through the firewall above that, follow a wire to it. It grounds a plate on the inside where all the instrument grounds go to. Make sure it's not loose and if you can, run a large gauge wire (match the size or larger of the wire going to the battery, 8 gauge I think) from the inside under the head, contacting the plate, to the outside and contact the terminals near the nut. The bolt is steel and corrodes, destroying the ground capability. I did this to several aircraft and it solved a whole slew of electrical gremlins. Corey - Does the avionics bus actually ground to the head of the solenoid bolt on the inside of the firewall, rather than going through the FW to the solenoid flange? If so I can see why that’s a problem. I think I understand but a sketch would help! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted December 10, 2019 Report Share Posted December 10, 2019 No, there is a single bolt with a nut poking through the engine side of the firewall off on its lonesome self above and behind the plenum. Follow the ground wires coming off the solenoid case (not the terminals, those are positive) until you find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vance Posted December 10, 2019 Report Share Posted December 10, 2019 Got it - thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vance Posted December 5, 2020 Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 On 12/9/2019 at 2:03 AM, Anticept said: There's a bolt that goes through the firewall above that, follow a wire to it. It grounds a plate on the inside where all the instrument grounds go to. Make sure it's not loose and if you can, run a large gauge wire (match the size or larger of the wire going to the battery, 8 gauge I think) from the inside under the head, contacting the plate, to the outside and contact the terminals near the nut. The bolt is steel and corrodes, destroying the ground capability. I did this to several aircraft and it solved a whole slew of electrical gremlins. Corey - I had a momentary “low current” alarm yesterday, while voltage was reading between 13.5 to 14.1. I’m ready to give your ground jumper a shot. Do you run this through the firewall with the main wire bundle on the right side or create a new path? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
procharger Posted December 5, 2020 Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 My amp meter mostly reads a little negative goes up and down + and - been like this for years ever since owning plane I think its normal for my plane never been a problem so far. Volts do same once in a while. I've done the ground things and it never changed anything. Done the rectifier a couple of times no change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vance Posted December 5, 2020 Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 57 minutes ago, procharger said: My amp meter mostly reads a little negative goes up and down + and - been like this for years ever since owning plane I think its normal for my plane never been a problem so far. Volts do same once in a while. I've done the ground things and it never changed anything. Done the rectifier a couple of times no change. Mine does the same, but it doesn’t normally dip into the red and trigger an alarm. Have you experienced this? Maybe it’s no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted December 5, 2020 Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 Dynon says the Rotax is a dirty electronic engine. All this means is the amp meter will fluctuate. usually between -3 - +5 is normal. So long as it doesn't go way up or down you're fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vance Posted December 5, 2020 Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 2 hours ago, Roger Lee said: Dynon says the Rotax is a dirty electronic engine. All this means is the amp meter will fluctuate. usually between -3 - +5 is normal. So long as it doesn't go way up or down you're fine. Thanks, Roger. My amp meter has always fluctuated just as you mention. On this flight, the max and min values ranged a bit wider and it bumped into the red on the low side, setting off the alarm. It was just one momentary incursion in a 1.3 hour flight. I have maintained the connections at the shunt and starter solenoid, but the ground connection for the avionics bus is a PIA to access on the engine side of the firewall. I can see what Corey was getting at regarding this connection, though - if the bolt threads corrode where the nut contacts it, the ground won’t be very good. That being said, I might be reading too much into this. Is an occasional low current alarm something to be expected? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted December 6, 2020 Report Share Posted December 6, 2020 These fluctuations can be minimalized bu just a couple easy things. First behind the pilot panel there is a huge shunt. Disconnect all 4 wires and scotchbrite them and a apply a dab of dielectric grease. This area is a big culprit after a number of years in service. Then make sure the voltage regulator big brown plug is securely in its mount. It must be squeezed in its socket with quite a bit of force. Takes me two hands to make sure it's fully seated. Then tighten the 5 grounds in the engine compartment. They all stem from the battery right there on the fire wall. Put a wrench on each one. Then behind the passenger panel there is the main grounding block and a bolt that goes out into the engine compartment. There is a 10mm nut just above the square engine mount tube just to the right of the parachute strap. Put a wrench on it and make sure it is nice and tight. You must put a wrench on all of these because they may feel hand tight, but are wrench loose. These won't make the ammeter perfect, but can help narrow any fluctuations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vance Posted December 7, 2020 Report Share Posted December 7, 2020 Thanks, Roger.should dialectric grease be used on the rectifier plug’s pin connections in addition to all the others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted December 7, 2020 Report Share Posted December 7, 2020 Hi John, That's one area I have not used dielectric grease, but I don't see why it would hurt anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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