Ragsf15e

Despite Skip’s description, the system as a whole is pretty simple. Juice goes into your VR from your bus (master switch and alt on, all breakers in). It should be full bus voltage. 12/24 if on battery, 14/28 with the alternator on and working. Juice comes out from the VR at a slightly lower voltage (~11.5v for a 14v system, but look at the troubleshooting guide). Juice from the VR goes into the alternator (make sure you didn’t lose any in transit). Skip’s magic happens. Juice comes out of the alternator at 14/28v and goes back to the bus where it feeds everything, including the VR and the battery. Follow the juice. Make sure you don’t have a broken connection spilling it or a corroded connection that spills just some of it - but this doesn’t seem like your issue since your alternator is totally off line.

That’s why going through a step by step troubleshooting guide is pretty beneficial. Some things are obvious but it’s harder when a connection looks ok but isn’t. The voltmeter doesn’t lie (usually). Im not the most mechanically inclined either, and I had to work on my electrical knowledge for sure, but I eventually got fed up with just throwing new parts at my problem. @M20Doc has a simple way to check the VR Voltage is making it to the alternator. Was that your paperclip check doc? He usually doesn’t like these threads because we bash A&Ps on electrical knowledge, but he’s a rare breed and definitely knows what he’s doing.

Cooling drag is a big deal for sure. On the older models, the big guppy mouth lets in too much air and can’t efficiently flow it all down through the cylinder fins. Evidently, Some of it even comes back out the front! I don’t remember the reference for that, but we’ve got it around here somewhere. The slight cowl flap opening minimizes this apparently by helping pull the air through, but better cowl design on later models probably helped a lot more.

You’re learning about old aircraft electronics. Some A&Ps are good at it, but many are not. You need a digital voltmeter and one of the troubleshooting guides like posted above. With the airplane off you can do most of the fault isolation yourself. While you’re at it, check the connections on the alternator carefully for wear. Those connections are notorious. You can also follow the voltage from the vr to the alternator and from the alternator out. Do this really carefully because the engine is running. You’ll likely need to follow the voltage through the system and find out where the problem is. I went through this a couple years ago and it got pretty expensive before I troubleshot it myself, found a corroded connection and fixed it. But at least I got an education and a new VR and alternator out of the deal…

Yeah, I agree it can mask a problem. I watched mine get its capacity checked (~2 hours on the tester), but if you’re not getting checked annually, starting the engine isn’t a great metric. Doesn’t really matter if you’re using a battery minder or not, starting the engine isn’t a capacity check.

Yes, mine does that to the 430W. Just can’t get it to the g5s as @Vance Harral explained.

Yes, I would like it. Funny thing is, I get the DA and winds from the 430W because it gets the oat from the jpi and the heading from the g5. It’s just a couple more knob turns, so the info is already there in an actual garmin device.

I agree that it’s a pia. I have a jpi temp probe and g5s… i opted not to put an additional temp probe on the g5s, so I don’t get TAS and winds. Apparently the jpi probe and garmin probe are different. Worst part is, the jpi does share the temp to my 430W, but that can’t be shared to g5s (which get other data from the 430w)?. And yes, my airplane came with two gps antenna and only one is used.

Yeah that looks really nice! Clean, great engine monitor position and data, etc. good choice on the audio panel too! Is radio 2 easy enough to reach? That’s the one thing with our panels, you run out of vertical space quickly. I’ve thought about putting my transponder where yours is when I upgrade my autopilot to a gfc500 since it has a control panel - i want that in my center stack. You rarely need to touch the transponder.

As doc said, you might want to check voltage several places before adjusting. Ideally check just off the alternator (carefully, with long cables), at your bus, and back at the battery. Good chance you see 14v off the alternator, but have a bad connection and are “losing” some through resistance somewhere else.

I’m still trying to picture this… what are the nails for? Just to see where each screw is going to poke through?

And while you’re in there, the wing attach bolts are under the aft part of that fairing. The duct tape mentioned above is supposed to keep them water tight, but they are often a little rough… maybe some corrosion x, lps 3 or whatever while you have it open.

Clarence are there supposed to be tinnermans behind all those little screws holding that fairing on at the wing root? I swear mine are straight into the sheet metal… but maybe that’s why they don’t hold well. Are they clip on “U” tinnermans or the flat ones that are just on the back of the hole? If the flat ones, how do you hold them on to install them? I want to remove the fairing to look at my wing attach bolts again and spray some more lps3 on them, but I’m afraid of that fairing!

Nice one! I’ll have to try that. I also looked through the map/menu settings on my way home from Boise today and do not see a specific setting. In either case, I’m not sure I’d trust it even though it’s probably accurate. I think I’ll stick to my faa published maps on FF.

You shouldn’t need an additional gps antenna for a g5 or -275. Is your 430 waas? If not, possibly glareshield antenna under your panel, but not external. If you have a waas gps, then you can just use input from that. I read your priorities, but… if you’re going to do it, do enough to really enjoy it and get the benefits. That means get 2 g5s or 2 -275s. No more vacuum, you get a nice new hsi, automatic backup, etc. possibly you can do the same with an av-30 x 2? I don’t know, but in either case, Id do enough to see good improvement. Adding the gmu in the tail or wing isn’t a huge deal. personally, ive read enough on MS about people having issues with lag in AV-30s that id probably stick with Garmin, but others are happy. I really like my 2 G5s connected to my -430W. @PT20J has both products (av-20s), maybe he can comment?

I think you’ll find it useful in your J as well if you ever fly higher. Down low you can just pull to 9gph ff / 75% as you indicated and be pretty good. Up higher where you’re limited by the MP, it’s nice to know exactly where peak is. If you get high enough, you’ll probably want to run ROP just for want of more power, but 9-11000’, LOP still works ok, but there’s a noticeable speed difference between peak and 30 LOP. Either setting is likely cool enough on the CHTs as you’re only making 60-65% power. I like to set mine just barely LOP up there and then see how that works for chts and speed. If you’re impatient, you can add 4-6kts by going back to 100ROP. Its nice to be able to be relatively precise with it when power is limited.

I leave mine connected to a battery minder any time it’s in my hangar. It’s wired to their special connector, connected directly to the battery. The connector is run into the baggage area near the hatch so it’s easy to hook up. Never had an issue. What did the lights on the minder show when you hooked it up? It gives you a basic indication. Also, -27 amps sounds like it wasn’t charging… like your alternator wasn’t on yet?

Well than either will work with your current autopilot. If i was thinking future g3x, I’d go with the g5. If i was going any other direction, I’d probably do the gi-275 as it’s newer, has more options and fits round holes.

The G5 is designed to work with the g3x and is seamless. The gi-275 is not. @PT20J has details. But stuff like setting the altimeter on a g5 crossfills to the g3x, but not the -275? Skip has more info. What autopilot do you have now though? The -275 is compatible with more legacy autopilots than g5.

Looks great! I’m curious… airspeed indicator is nice, but why’d you keep it? Another gi-275 there as an mfd would be great! Maybe even one that could double as an asi?

The takeoff and climb performance is highly dependent on weight and weather. Also, Mooney’s performance tables were not always accurate. It’s pretty tough to tell just from takeoff/climb if something is wrong, but if you really only see 2550, that isn’t right.

You know the airplane and have been flying it for years, so your reaction is different than mine, but if I saw that on takeoff roll vs my normal 2650 increasing to 2700, I would abort. Granted, that could be a fine distinction on your gage.

Yeah that’s not good. You’re gonna need to dig into that. Step one is probably checking that gage.

Is that a static runup or rolling ~50mph? Usually static is a little lower than max, but you should be able to hit max rpm during takeoff. Someone will be along with the specific numbers for you. I believe there’s a static rpm number and then obviously you want to be able to get to the max. You can use some phone apps to check your rpm gage as well. They work pretty well.

Lasar has had them on their website ($$) in the past. You might also find one from salvage. Make sure a salvage one isn’t internally corroded. Is there evidence of a covered over hole in the belly behind the wing? Might have some sheet metal work there…