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brian
Joined: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
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 Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:46 am Post subject: alternator health |
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Bob, I loved your original alternator health-O-meter. How about a new
one that measures:
1. alternator load;
2. alternator voltage;
3. field voltage;
4. alternator frame temperature;
all in a single, compact, 2.25" instrument.
Brian Lloyd 361 Catterline Way
brian-yak AT lloyd DOT com Folsom, CA 95630
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) +1.270.912.0788 (fax)
I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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_________________
Brian Lloyd
brian-yak at lloyd dot com
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) +1.270.912.0788 (fax)
I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery |
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Jerry Grimmonpre'
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 144
Location: Huntley, Illinois 60142
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:17 am Post subject: alternator health |
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I'll second that motion ....
It'll make trouble shooting easier.
Jerry Grimmonpre'
Do no archive
Bob, I loved your original alternator health-O-meter. How about a new
one that measures:
1. alternator load;
2. alternator voltage;
3. field voltage;
4. alternator frame temperature;
all in a single, compact, 2.25" instrument.
Brian Lloyd
| | - The Matronics AeroElectric-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
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frank.hinde(at)hp.com
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:38 am Post subject: alternator health |
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Just suck the data into an engine monitor like a Dynon and set an alarm
on each parameter.
Frank
--
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brian
Joined: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:45 am Post subject: alternator health |
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On Jul 6, 2006, at 2:35 PM, Hinde, Frank George (Corvallis) wrote:
| Quote: |
(Corvallis)" <frank.hinde(at)hp.com>
Just suck the data into an engine monitor like a Dynon and set an
alarm
on each parameter.
|
The only problem with that is, at least in the case of field voltage
or field current, it varies all over the map. It is proportional to
load (goes up when load is increased) and inversely proportional to
RPM (goes down as RPM increases). This means you have to know what
both the load and the RPM are doing to make sense of the field
voltage reading. I suspect that people will poke at the button and
get a feel for what the field voltage should be in cruise with a
normal load. If it jumps up then they will know that something has
changed in their alternator. This is not something you can set a hard
limit on.
BTW, Bob, I want one in a 24V flavor too. Maybe we should just use a
4-digit DVM.
Brian Lloyd 361 Catterline Way
brian-yak AT lloyd DOT com Folsom, CA 95630
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) +1.270.912.0788 (fax)
I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
| | - The Matronics AeroElectric-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List |
|
_________________
Brian Lloyd
brian-yak at lloyd dot com
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) +1.270.912.0788 (fax)
I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery |
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nuckollsr(at)cox.net
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:14 pm Post subject: alternator health |
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Hmmmm . . . I thought about this and I'm not sure that there's a
very good return on investment. An alternator is like prop-governor
or fuel pump, it's either working or it isn't. It's a really good
idea to see how hot you're getting under worst case conditions as-installed
and if those numbers don't make you mess yer drawers, then it's
unlikely that any form of instrumentation would give you an advance
warning of impending failure. The most likely scenario is that your
supper-whizzy alternator watch-dog will bark the same time the low-voltage
warning light comes on.
Now, if a builder was interested in monitoring how close the alternator
is to being maxed-out for present loads -AND- RPM the simple field voltage
tap I've described in the Z-figures is a good thing to watch.
Most alternators on Lycomings run a field voltage of less than 8 volts
even at max load while in cruise conditions. Anything over 8 volts
says that you might have a stator lead or a diode opening thus crippling
the alternator.
I helped chase a rat out of a Falco's alternator system a couple of years
ago. We
put a temporary field voltmeter wire on the alternator and strung it
back to the cabin by taping it to the outside of the airplane. It took
about ten minutes in flight to observe field voltage surging upward at
the same time the loadmeter was going down. This told us that the brushes
were intermittent. On teardown, the brushes were not worn but one of them
would hang up in the holder due to some kind of gucky on the side of the
brush that didn't get tacky and troublesome until the alternator was warmed
up and subject to engine vibration at the same time. Several bench tests
at the parts store failed to spot the problem.
Bob . . .
At 03:40 PM 7/6/2006 -0400, you wrote:
| Quote: |
On Jul 6, 2006, at 2:35 PM, Hinde, Frank George (Corvallis) wrote:
>
>(Corvallis)" <frank.hinde(at)hp.com>
>
>Just suck the data into an engine monitor like a Dynon and set an
>alarm
>on each parameter.
The only problem with that is, at least in the case of field voltage
or field current, it varies all over the map. It is proportional to
load (goes up when load is increased) and inversely proportional to
RPM (goes down as RPM increases). This means you have to know what
both the load and the RPM are doing to make sense of the field
voltage reading. I suspect that people will poke at the button and
get a feel for what the field voltage should be in cruise with a
normal load. If it jumps up then they will know that something has
changed in their alternator. This is not something you can set a hard
limit on.
BTW, Bob, I want one in a 24V flavor too. Maybe we should just use a
4-digit DVM.
Brian Lloyd 361 Catterline Way
brian-yak AT lloyd DOT com Folsom, CA 95630
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) +1.270.912.0788 (fax)
I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
--
-- incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
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Bob . . .
---------------------------------------------------------
< What is so wonderful about scientific truth...is that >
< the authority which determines whether there can be >
< debate or not does not reside in some fraternity of >
< scientists; nor is it divine. The authority rests >
< with experiment. >
< --Lawrence M. Krauss >
---------------------------------------------------------
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nuckollsr(at)cox.net
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject: alternator health |
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At 01:14 PM 7/6/2006 -0500, you wrote:
| Quote: |
I'll second that motion ....
It'll make trouble shooting easier.
Jerry Grimmonpre'
Do no archive
Bob, I loved your original alternator health-O-meter. How about a new
one that measures:
1. alternator load;
2. alternator voltage;
3. field voltage;
4. alternator frame temperature;
all in a single, compact, 2.25" instrument.
|
We could program a version of the AEC9011 to
watch load (hall effect sensor), field voltage
and temperature and light a warning light.
Bob . . .
---------------------------------------------------------
< What is so wonderful about scientific truth...is that >
< the authority which determines whether there can be >
< debate or not does not reside in some fraternity of >
< scientists; nor is it divine. The authority rests >
< with experiment. >
< --Lawrence M. Krauss >
---------------------------------------------------------
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http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List |
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