Hey All,
I wanted to relay some electrical issues more as an advisory note, less as a question. At first, we thought the battery was getting drained somehow. I would get in the plane and the master switch would do nothing. So we looked at the Alternator, Regulator, and recharging the battery. After those fixes, the problem would come back in a few weeks.
The next thing I heard was possibly the field wire, but my A&P actually looked at the Solenoid, which was an original part from 1969. So we replaced it with a new SkyTec solenoid. Within two weeks, I had the same problem. Get in the plane, and master switch would do nothing. I took it to a different A&P located on my field (my regular A&P is located at another airport) and he said the brand-new solenoid was bust. So we replaced it with another SkyTec solenoid.
With the 2nd new solenoid, I ended up flying over an hour to San Luis Obispo with another pilot. When we got up there, we then had the opposite problem, when I turned the master switch off, everything would stay on, JPI, Gear Indicator, etc. We went inside to ask for an A&P, they didn't have any, and when we returned to the plane, everything had turned off and seemed normal. But we decided to head home and drop it off at Long Beach with my regular A&P since my annual is due the end of this month anyways.
That was on Friday, he gets in the plane on next Monday, and nothing happens when he turns master switch on. He has since got back to me and thinks its a SkyTec related issue, so we are going to try a different brand. I will let you know the results, but wanted to give fair warning, lest anyone has been encountering a similar problem or knows what's going on here.
Thanks in advance.
Best,