Grant_Waite

Thank you all for the replies and input. I did read Vance’s post and thought his situation was exactly what happened to me. A simple mistake but can cause a big headache. I find it odd that some alternators have a designated ground post and others have no marking of a ground post like mine. I guess some alternators ground through the case like mine and some have a post for it. The hole for the screw is just to the right of where that aux pole was so if you’re not paying attention I guess it could happen. I don’t remember but I want to say my old alternator didn’t have a post where it said aux on the back, it was just blank. My plane doesn’t use it so it wouldn’t make sense to have it there anyway. When they overhauled it they obviously put one on it not knowing what plane it was. as I didn’t give them that information. That’s my theory as to how this happened and just carelessness. The mechanic is mobile so it’s convenient to have him and the other A&P do most of my work. They are both very competent but competent people make mistakes. We see that in high profile aviation accidents all the time. The situation will be corrected one way or another and it’s not going to be on my dime if the shop doesn’t want to warranty something that wasn’t their doing. Just still highly frustrating and yes, I probably should have just got brushes and called it good. I figured it being 12yrs old, it could use the extra tlc.

It only shows 2 wires off the alternator but mine has like 5 different ones albeit one is a jumper. One says plus and looks like a 2 maybe for F2 idk.With everything else I’ve always been able to find an install manual but I couldn’t find anything for the alternator. Every mechanic makes mistakes eventually. At least this one was on the smaller scale of them. Good mechanics are hard to find unless you are your own.

Yeah I should have just bought some brushes used in the car world and called it good. I’ve never heard of a car having issues but planes seem to have issues all the time.

So my frustration continues with a never ending aog issue. Got my old alternator overhauled back this week. Brushes were shot in the old one. Went to the airport today since the mechanic was installing it. Went to start up the plane and it didn’t work, the alt circuit breaker popped and a burning smell came. No smoke just the smell. The smell was coming from the newly overhauled alternator. I believe my mechanic made an honest mistake. My old alternator didn’t have a post for aux and this one does. It also doesn’t have any clear label of a ground. Just a positive one and aux with F1 and F2 obviously. You can see where I’m going with this maybe. In looking at the pictures of the old wiring, he mistakenly put all 3 of the grounding wires or whatever 3 wires on the aux pole. I believe my newly overhauled alternator got fried in the process you can visibly see and smell it around the aux pole. I don’t understand alternator wiring or any of that but has anyone else had this happen? I’ll attach a picture of the old alternator and how it was wired… it was grounded using a screw, I don’t believe it was engraved - at all. The old ground was just to the right of where the aux pole is. THE ALTERNATOR I GOT BACK IS MY OLD ONE, NOT AN EXCHANGE. Kinda pissed a bit but what can I do. Alternator is covered under a 1yr warranty but I’m not going to tell the shop… yeah I think my mechanic fucked it up. Let me know what y’all think or what I should do. Hopefully the shop will cover it under warranty and pay the shipping there and back. I’ve circled where the old ground was and where I think he should have grounded them but didn’t.

I’ll report back when I have time to take a look and how I go about fixing it

The engine was overhauled in 2019 by Zephyr so I’m not sure if the price of the overhaul included an overhaul exchange alternator or not. I called the previous owner and he and I both agree that nothing was changed out when the oh was done. He wasn’t the type to cheap out on things like an alternator. I spoke with 2 shops they said it could be possible that the brushes could be going bad and sometimes they make contact and sometimes they don’t. Luckily I have a personal relationship with my mechanic so I don’t have to worry about certain things like most.

I just looked at that chart seems intimidating to me but I’m sure any competent mechanic is capable. The time and money to troubleshoot though could be close to 630 in labor right? 130hr for my mechanic. To get to all these spots and test them, or is it not that long of a job. I searched the logs and found that in 05 the I’m assuming current alternator was installed. That would mean it has roughly 1764hrs on it which mostly has been in the horrid environment that Florida is.

That’s the weird thing nothing was broke off and noticeable loose. I could move one of the wires but it would rotate the whole ring connector with the wire. The nut on it was quite snug.

Went to fly last Thursday and couldn’t get the plane to stop showing a noticeable discharge. Didn’t matter if the avionics were on or off or at higher power settings. I did one lap in the pattern and watched my Jpi show a dip from 11.8V to 11.5V after I put gear up. I decided at that point something wasn’t right and came right back around to land. Fast forward today I installed my new Concorde xc battery, thinking it was the 3yr old Gill battery and to no avail the same issue. Fast forward to me taking the cowling off and looking at the alternator and touching the wires to check if they were loose and it works again after a few starts. I held a razor blade to the face of the alternator and it has magnetism and there’s voltage going to field wire with the master on and engine off. None of the wires looked bad, or were noticeably loose. I moved and touched everyone… they were all tight. I couldn’t find in the logbooks when that alternator was last overhauled or repaired. I plan to fly Saturday and do a few touch and goes to see if the shock from landing moves something loose or whatever could have been causing the issue. My mechanic will look at it Monday but I was honestly ready to send the alternator off for OH. Aero Accessories said it’s 630bucks which isn’t bad but I don’t want to spend it if I don’t have to. Should I still send it off to be OH if my mechanic can’t find anything? I obviously did something to make it work so it has to be at the wires going to the alternator or the plastic pieces that holds the field wires inside the alternator.

Good, it should work just as well for me then. For whatever reason gill does not seem anywhere close to the quality of Concorde. I’ll be curious to see if the plane turns over faster. It wasn’t slow to begin with just wouldn’t hold a charge. Alternator might be due for overhaul if the battery doesn’t work. Loose wire could be an issue but I’ll start with the most obvious. Surprised the gill lastest 3 years with the long inactivity it would sit before I bought the plane.

Funny, I just pulled my gill sealed battery today because it seems to not hold a charge anymore. Bought a Concorde xc hopefully it’ll last more than 3 years in Florida. I didn’t keep the other battery on a minder but the previous owner did. I fly typically 1-3x a week so use shouldn’t have been a factor.

says it was done so I believe it. Hasn’t been repainted since

Probably so but my plane doesn’t have tks anyways. I’m too chicken to even get close to ice, not sure having tks would make me feel otherwise. Luckily ice isn’t a big deal down south.

Yes, I did with the original head unit that controls it. The servo runs about 800bucks which is ridiculous considering how simple and cheap the parts inside are. Luckily I didn’t have to buy a new one since I already had it. It was still way cheaper than possibly having to buy a replacement rudder. And now I get the benefit of the trim working. Just hope it stays working for awhile.

I finally got the rudder trim back installed Monday and it’s been great ever since. I can make it fly coordinated at any phase with no pressure on the pedals. I haven’t had the rudder rigging or a balance check done. I put everything back the way it was for the last 14 years so I don’t see a need to check anything. It was painted in 2010 with the rudder trim attached so it should have been balance checked then. It’s nice to finally have the damn thing working after over a year. It helped having the avionics guy be mobile because I was dreading having to take it to a shop and pay that premium. Having the ability to trim the rudder and then not, really makes you never want to fly without it again.