larryb

I read over on beachtalk that there is a trim switch return spring that gets weak. Try re-centering it manually after flicking it. It sounds like it could be your problem.

Joe: I am an EE. The thing with simple power electronics is that any part that meets or exceeds the specs will work fine. And we can guess at the specs from the application. You said this diode is the protection diode for a relay. Any diode > 50V and 2A should be fine. So what I would do is measure the size of the good component with a caliper. Then go on the Mouser site, link below, and filter on the package size. Just find an in-stock diode with the greatest electrical specs that fits in the board footprint. May as well buy 10 while you are at it. If you post the size here I can make a part recommendation for you. Note that if the board was used after the diode blew the transistor driving the glow plug relay could also have been damaged since the protection diode is now missing. If you can identify that part it might be good to buy a few of them at the same time. The driving transistor would work for a few cycles after the diode was damaged but it eventually would be damaged from the inductive kickback from the relay. A relay drive transistor is similar to the diode. Any part that fits the footprint, has the same pinout, has a current rating > 2A, voltage > 50V, and the same type (NPN) will work. https://www.mouser.com/Semiconductors/Discrete-Semiconductors/Diodes-Rectifiers/Diodes-General-Purpose-Power-Switching/_/N-ax1mp?Keyword=diode&FS=True

I would keep those spare probes for myself. I keep a couple of each in my on-board toolkit. It could save a lot of downtime if you get a strange reading while on a trip.

Thanks. I am using the GA55 that was previously used with my GDL69. That antenna has a gain of 25 db. I thought maybe you had a way to see a diagnostic page inside the GDL52R and see the actual received signal vs. a theoretical calculation. For the ADSB antenna I'm using a Ted monopole transponder antenna mounted underneath the fiberglass belly pan. I was surprised to find that I received ADSB ground stations even while on the ground.

Can you comment on how you knew you needed the attenuator? I see no way to see the actual SXM signal strength at the GDL52R. The only indication is a 3-bar signal strength meter like a cellphone. I also don't see any specs or guidance in the GDL52R install manual.

Those "IN" settings tell the ground station what to send back to your aircraft. I expect both of those are set to YES for a GTX345. Lets say you have your GTX345 and N1234 has a GDL88 broadcasting UAT. You can receive N1234 directly so you don't need the ground station to relay his info. Now, lets say you have a 1090-only device. N1234's GDL88 data is going to have to be relayed to you by the ground station for you to receive it. I would verify the settings in the GTX345 setup. If they are correct I would assume this missing traffic was a glitch somewhere in the FAA system.

My 52R is in the tail avionics bay. So far the BT has been fine to the iPad. The 796 and audio are hard wired.

The used aircraft market does not value the TKS system. It is basically free. When I bought my Encore FIKI was a requirement. I was looking at Bravos and Ovations but found the Encore. There were 3 Encores in the market that month. All the same basic price but only 1 FIKI. I got the FIKI one.

That landing gear looks so delicate. Is it?

I reused the XM antenna that fed my GDL69. I have that, 2 gps antennas and 2 Aspen RSMs. When I had my Aspens installed space was a problem and the shop moved one of my com antennas to the belly. Because I connect the GDL to a 796 I didn’t need the GDL GPS antenna. I’ll take a pic next time I am at the airport. The GDL only displays on non-certified equipment. In my case that is a panel mounted 796 and yoke mounted iPad mini.

I think OP needs a CO meter to establish confidence in the heater and exhaust. I could see ice blocking the fresh air intake but have no experience there.

That is true and it is also what we want. Moisture on the surface of the metal is causes corrosion. Moisture absorbed in the air is not available for corrosion. Driving down RH is a benefit whether done by heating or a de-humidifier.

Based on all the feedback here I have a new hanger implement.

I think the icing product is not sent that often. Other than that no idea on why it was not available. This was 30 minutes into the flight and the signal was full strength. I was planning to show the difference in the representation but wound up showing something entirely different. I didn’t look at any other FISB products. I like the FISB weather but I like the SXM better. For me the cost is worth it. We all get to make our own decisions on that.

From today’s flight. The first is the SXM icing product and the second is the FISB icing product.

In my J I had a GXM40 sending weather to the 795. I used the Master Mariner subscription which saved a whole $5 / month over the nearest aviation subscription. But with the new GXM42/GDL51/GDL52 the marine and aviation subscriptions are a lot closer in price. But you also get much more. For example, you get the icing product in the cheapest $29 subscription with the new SXM hardware, but that would have required the Aviator Pro at $99 with the legacy hardware. For this and a few other reasons I recently sold legacy hardware, GDL69 and GXM40, and replaced both with a GDL52R in my Encore. With the new SXM hardware the motivation to use the marine products for aviation is pretty much gone for me. The $29 aviation package provides a lot of value. The biggest benefit to having SXM plus FISB is the resolution of the SXM is better and you receive the products nation-wide. Many of the FISB products are local. The icing is one example, you only receive it for a couple hundred miles from your current location. The SXM image is much more detailed and you see it far enough away to make an earlier decision on how to avoid it. For a long trip this could be important. And of course, now you have a backup. Last summer I had a problem with my transponder antenna which prevented my GTX345 from working. I lost my FISB weather. ATC was still willing to work with me as a primary target. There were thunderstorms on the route. Without my XM weather I probably would have landed but instead I was able to continue to my destination. Larry

GXM40 is legacy. GXM42 is SXM. GDL52 is SXM. SXM is better. Check out the Sirius Xm website and you will see different products and different pricing. You get more for your $ with the SXM hardware. They will all work with the 696.

What type of hardware are we talking about? Legacy XM or the newer SiriusXM? They have different products and prices.

That antenna is damaged. Just replace it regardless of any experimental results. They are not that expensive so new is the way to go. I just recently replaced a half melted transponder antenna. It was right in the path of the exhaust. It still worked but I didn’t want to have it fail on a trip. I also had it relocated to the left side of the belly away from the exhaust.

I’ll take all the help I can get. So it is ADSB, SXM, and stormscope in my plane. Oh, looking out the window too. Sure, you can fly without any of this. And pilots did for decades. But it is available now and I’m going to use it all.

Here it is

I was worried about them. Normally the door opens and they all break off. But this time the door was stuck. I plan to get a hard hat and keep it in the hanger if it happens again.

I thought I'd post a bit about my newly installed Garmin GDL52R. I previously had a GXM40 puck attached to my 796 for XM audio. And I had a GDL69 (not69A) that came with the plane that gave me XM datalink weather to my GTN's. I was having a lot of trouble with the GXM40 and the satellite signal strength. Lots of audio dropouts. This depends somewhat on where I put the puck. There appears to be something in the panel that interferes with the XM signal. The GXM40 worked fine outside the cockpit. The GDL69 was fine but it didn't display on the big screen devices, only on my GTN650's. The plan was to remove both the GXM40 and the GDL69 and replace them with the GDL52R. I don't like a bunch of things on the glareshield (another strike against the GXM40) so I elected for the remote version. A bonus here is I can used the existing external GDL69 XM antenna for the GDL52R. I was also able to use existing GDL69 wiring for the RS232 and audio connections. I have a GTX345 ADSB transponder, but I figured that an extra ADSB receiver in the GDL52R makes a good backup. The GDL52R has an RS232 hardwired connection to the 796 and does bluetooth to my iPad. Both also use bluetooth to connect to the GTX345. A big benefit of the new setup is to be able to use the newer SXM weather subscriptions compared to the legacy XM products. I flew the first trip with the new setup yesterday and so far so good. Rock solid SXM signal strength, no audio dropouts, and I'm liking the new weather products on both the iPad and 796. Larry

Here is my south facing hanger KTRK. First time ever I found the door frozen shut. Took 30 min of ice chipping to free it.

A year and a half later I realized I had not posted the final answer. It is indeed a Swagelok compression fitting. Some prior mechanic had over-tightened the fitting bottoming out the nut, crushing the ferrule inside. You can see this in the pic. There should be a space between the nut and fitting. Swagelok sells a gauge to test for this. The Swagelok fitting was replaced, less than $10 parts cost.