Ragsf15e

Interesting that you say it won’t start after a few minutes as the fuel is evaporating? My normal hot start is to leave mixture in cutoff, throttle roughly 1/4”, crank. It will start. Obviously you need to apply mixture quickly after it starts to keep it going. I use that even after several hours.

That was a test. I figured you’d pass, but I knew that was enough to keep many mechanics guessing. In all honesty, they all know where the alternator is because that’s the easiest thing to just replace, “alternator no worky, must replace!” However, with electrical, that’s rarely the answer.

All the stuff @M20Docsaid to check is easily done with a dvm and the left cowl off. Did the person who looked at it even have a dvm? No offense to mechanics, but it’s tough to find one that can properly troubleshoot electrical issues. Doc is an outlier on the good side.

From your indication, it’s not just low voltage, the alternator is completely off line. Nothing wrong with checking the cables at the battery and airframe connection for security or corrosion, but I don’t think that’s your problem. Sounds like the VR is intermittent, and if that’s what they adjusted, maybe they were hiding the real problem - not on purpose though, just masking it. Id crank the airplane and check for positive amps. If not, pull field CB which really isn’t the field wire, but power to the VR. At least in mine. You can check your wiring diagram. Reset it. This won’t fix your issue but maybe it’ll reset it or help you isolate it. Some VRs have an over voltage protection too. Maybe @PT20J knows which ones? Another thought… if you were seeing 13v before, maybe you had some corrosion causing that, but now that they cranked up the Vr to indicate 14, your poor alternator is actually putting out like 15 or more just meeting some corrosion/resistance somewhere. You need a smart person with a dvm. Good luck.

Ive started pretty cold, like 10f, but engine was preheated. Longer prime because fuel doesn’t atomize as well in the cold air. Otherwise no issues.

I love that! You’re my hero for this! I wouldn’t say it’s a hard and fast number, but you definitely don’t want to be like 90% of the Cirrus drivers and start your engine at takeoff power and let it run there for the next 20” while trying to figure out what button/knob/soft key to push to make the loud noise stop. Pet peeve of mine, starting at takeoff power. I think the long and short is that it’s not good to go above normal idle until you’ve assured good oil pressure. 1000-1200ish is all good. Someone with more engine knowledge will help me out on that.

Look, if it’s even slightly warm, maybe even if I flew it 5 hours ago on a warm day, I’m not gonna prime it. Just crank it and it’ll start. Or use @PT20J method on that one and it’s fine. If it doesn’t start, no harm, now you can move on to a normal start. If you prime it first, you can never “un prime” it. You will be stuck in a flooded start. You can always prime and try a normal start after a missed hot start, but the reverse is not true. Another thing is that a flooded start is occasionally necessary, but shouldn’t be a first choice or a “go to” method. There’s some increased risk of a tailpipe fire. There’s a few 100 threads on this. One on tailpipe fire too… Good ignition system is important, but technique and strategy are equally so. You won’t get it started without any of those.

Interesting, I find foreflight winds to be pretty close. They give you the total for the flight and then the forecast at points (vors) along the way at your cruise altitudes. I check them a lot and they typically seem reasonable. The overall single number “flight total” winds are somehow an average over the whole route, so possibly not accurate at each point. One other thing to keep in mind… the winds we are “computing” in our airplane are only as accurate as our indicated airspeed and magnetic heading. I find if you don’t adjust for calibrated airspeed and for any magnetic errors on your airplane, the wind computation is garbage in/garbage out. The other components are likely solid (oat, track, and groundspeed), but IAS and hdg are problematic.

As @M20F said, that’s totally legit. Here’s the deal - ICE-T-G Indicated, Calibrated, Equivalent, True, Ground. You’re looking at 140mph indicated, but youve got to adjust to cal, equiv, true and finally to ground. Do all of that and 180mph makes sense. Temp and alt pressure are the big players. BL - at higher altitudes, thinner air makes the difference between indicated and true much bigger. True will be faster than indicated. Jets fly at like 300kias indicated, but 450kts true. 12,000’ gave you about 40mph difference.

Well I think the lesson learned (again) is that the 340 probably shouldn’t have entered an active traffic pattern on a straight in (fast) without being very careful to give way to those already established. I fly corporate to uncontrolled fields. I will use straight ins at times, but the hair starts to stand on the back of my neck. Radio, adsb, and visual clearing became much more important. I want to see everyone in the pattern or know exactly where they are from their position reports or I’ll go to a 45 downwind. If someone’s on base when you’re on final, like you’ve got to see them or deconflict immediately.

Ouch. Seems like the -152 saw the 340 behind him as he turned final but the 340 never saw the 152…

Well if it’s already FIKI, then yeah, the turbo would be awesome! In the nw, turbo is great, but I’d want fiki first.

Is your Ovation FIKI? In my opinion icing has been a bigger obstacle for my flying in the northwest than the mtns. If you’re flying west from Denver I can see the mtns being an issue though…

I guarantee I will now need a camlock and a plug, but I’ve had my F for 8 years and never kept spare parts. Actually I take that back, I do have belly screws and tinnermans but that’s because I replace those with new if they even look at me wrong when I take off a panel. Look at your ipc and get belly screws (maybe a couple types), inspection panel screws, and possibly cowling screws. Get a screwdriver with good bits and possibly a 3/8 stubby wrench to leave in the baggage just so you can always remove the cowling easily and look around. Otherwise put together a survival kit. Maybe get some proper cleaning products too. You’ll use them. Wash wax all blue and red. Microfiber cloths and plexus or novus 1 for your windows. Maybe some decent wax. All that stuff you’ll use. Parts? Definitely won’t need them if you have them on the shelf.

Interesting. You’ve obviously got smart guys looking at it, maybe @PT20J could comment too though? Seems that he knows more about the gfc500 and g3x than Garmin does at times.

I realize there are differences, but the G1000 i fly sets the ILS course when you load the approach (unless you’re using that cdi). So if you’re in a gps mode it’s set. I would expect it to be the same? What about when you activate the approach? BL - the AP mode shouldn’t matter, the GPS should set the cdi when the approach is loaded or activated.

Ha! I thought it use to have a pass/fail box, but clearly that was too easy. Now they make you read the fine print on page 1 and instead of “pass/fail”, they used a 45 word sentence to describe pass/fail.

Wow, I was wrong, I almost understood that! Thanks!

Yeah it’s a little, but do your best and I’ve found it to work well and be quick. Not too bad for the govt.

If you’re curious, pull your papr adsb report from yesterday and check out your results. https://adsbperformance.faa.gov/PAPRRequest.aspx

My poor understanding of EE thinks it can’t be “hotter”/stronger because we’re using the same plugs with the same resistance, but possibly longer makes it “stronger” as you say? @EricJ or @N201MKTurbo will come and write something perfectly reasonable that I have no chance understanding.

No problem. This is the one JPI recommended to me. It worked wonders. Here’s my caveat(s)… Garmin may have a different sensor than jpi. Also, I never found a snubber with a flare fitting, so I had to put an adapter on either side. Finally, make sure your manifold pressure line isn’t leaking somewhere. https://www.newark.com/omega/ps-8g/pressure-snubber-ss-1-8-npt/dp/31AC5909?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx7-e2v_Q-QIVevHjBx3MsAbpEAQYAiABEgIZrvD_BwE&mckv=_dm|pcrid||plid||kword||match||slid||product|31AC5909|pgrid||ptaid||&CMP=KNC-GUSA-GEN-PMAX-LOW-ROAS-Shopping

A lot of electronic ones need a “snubber” on the line. “Omega snubber air” in Google will get you close. You’ll probably need adapters because the line has flare fittings and the snubber is 1/8”npt. This is from my experience with an jpi, edm 930.

Mine has been good too. Gen 1, advance timing, 14v. Time will tell.

We need a EE to chime in because there’s some difference in spark but stronger/hotter I don’t think is it. I think I remember longer maybe? They do recommend a different gap, so there’s something there…