Re: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group Re: Alternator Warning Light

Thanks Mike. This is exactly what I was hoping to find.

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Michael Huckle

To: Sport Aircraft

Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 12:00 PM

Subject: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group Re: Alternator Warning Light

 

> Posted by: "Bill Hobson" wrhobson@aol.com
>
> I don't mean to be defensive here, but I don't think some of you get the point. And, for the record, before buying the plane (a bank repossession) I did, in fact, download and read every manual ever produced by the manufacturer and they never explained the function of these particular switches (other than to say that they should be turned ON after engine start). One of the many problems in buying a plane this way is there is nobody available to go over the airplane systems with you. After having a mechanic annual the plane, I drove 8 hours in a one-way rental car, and flew the plane the 400 miles home without any familiarization from someone knowledgeable. It was on my fourth local flight that I rushed through the checklist while stopping at a self-serve fuel stop and skipped the item as explained. While on this short flight to relocate the plane to a paint shop I failed to notice the gradual declin e in volt meter indication on my analog gauge. When flying by myself I spend most of my time looking for traffic, the airport and focusing (probably too much) on not sounding stupid on the radio. Obviously, I have to improve my instrument scan technique, but a warning light could have reduced my workload. I have seen some digital volt meter gauges (on the Internet) that include the ability to set alarm points right within the gauge and I was hoping a member of this group could offer a suggestion (other than the obvious "be smarter"). (Mine is a Part 23 airplane so replacing the gauge is probably not an option.) I can't really see the harm in having a warning indication appear in the cockpit for any critical systems failure (alternator, vacuum pump, oil pressure, oil temperature, etc, etc.). Cars have them (and even low fuel indicators) and they are far less dependant on their critical systems than airplanes. If I had gotten a low voltage warning indication I could have kill ed all the lights (it was daytime), the 430 and the transponder and probably had radios all the way to the end of the flight. It may have even caused me to examine the alternator and field switch positions. I was just coming up to the pattern when everything died and it became a tense time.


Bill,
I have to agree with you, a red blinking light when your battery gets low
would help tremendously.
On my electronic instrument panel the battery voltage is there
but I would need to look for it very specifically to read it, eg: "12.7V"
(and it's in small print ;-)

I think it would also be good for you to have a written (Typed) "before-take-off" checklist.
And then on this checklist you'd mention that switch, and the need for it to be "on".

I found this $4 monitor: (used by radio model guys)

Hobby King Battery Monitor 3S
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/product_reviews.asp?idproduct=7223
h ttp://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/HK_movies.asp?idmovie=e7882deb54354a3c9d4c432315600afa

Note:
We flyers with our 12V batteries would need to fit two or three diodes in series
with the monitor to raise the voltage monitored up by 1.2 or 1.8V.
(adding three diodes is small, simple, easy, and cheap)
(for the guys who know how to do this kind of thing ;-)


Cheers!
Mike



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