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Panel Fire

Audipilot1

By Audipilot1
in General Mooney Talk

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Audipilot1 Rookie

Audipilot1

Posted
Posted

My friend has a newer M20j ( I actually think it was the last produced before Mooney shut down) with an all glass panel and pretty fantastic avionics. On a trip yesterday he had his iPad plugged into the cigarette lighter and the charger caught fire with sparks flying everywhere. Fortunately he pulled out the plug before the situation got worse. The same thing occurred with his stratus charger.

We now know what the issue was and are completely in shock. I'm curious if others have an idea what caused this?

Ftlausa Community Regular

Ftlausa

Posted
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This exact same thing happened to me as well a week ago while trying to charge an iPad in flight.  I assumed it was just a bad charger plug that I was using for the first time.  Very unnerving to have that electrical fire smell in the cockpit.  I wont be doing that again! 

N33GG Mentor

N33GG

Posted
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The old cigarette lighter outlets have a resistor that prevents surge current until the lighter heats up and its resistance increases with temperature.  If you are using an old cigarette lighter as a voltage supply, that resistor needs to be removed or the outlet replaced with a newer 12v supply outlet.  (I don't know if yours has a cigarette lighter with the resistor or a 12v power outlet...if it had the old cigarette lighter plugged in it, it most likely had the resistor I am referring to)

 

Doesn't matter much at low currents, but at higher currents, that resistor is just accumulating heat, and it has to go somewhere.  May or may not be related to the above problem, but maybe.....?

 

For your information pleasure, etc...

jetdriven Grand Master

jetdriven

Posted
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thats good info. I need to check mine come to think of it.

FWIW I have been using 12v chargers for iPads for 4 years, no issues.

N33GG Mentor

N33GG

Posted
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thats good info. I need to check mine come to think of it.

FWIW I have been using 12v chargers for iPads for 4 years, no issues.

 

They are only a problem when you see smoke... until then, no big deal!  :lol:

N33GG Mentor

N33GG

Posted
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Probably not as much of a problem with older electronic/electric devices.  Today, however, many devices have switching power supplies that can use a wide range of voltage input to operate.  Only catch is, when the voltage goes down, the switch mode power supply asks for more current to meet the power demand.  Therefore, when the voltage dropping (surge) resistor in the cigarette lighter drops the voltage due to current, the switch mode supply says just send me more please!  More current equals more drop, and more heat, and the cycle continues.  Not a good combination...

 

First thing I do when I get an older aircraft is make sure those resistors are not in my aircraft.  They look like a miniature hockey puck about the diameter of a nickel/dime, and about a quarter inch thick.  Usually, I just replace the lighter with a new 12v power receptacle. 

Loogie Collaborator

Loogie

Posted
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One better option is to carry a juice pack to supply extra power vs plugging to the a/c. Juice packs are slim, and can be stowed on a pocket to the left of the seat unobstrusively. These packs are approved by the FAA, and circumvent the power converter issues. They also don't generate RF noise like those charging plugs do. Just a suggestion.

DonMuncy Grand Master

DonMuncy

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The wiring diagram for my 1982 231 does not show a resistor in the cigarette lighter plug. Do you think that is just an omission in the diagram, or it doesn't have one.

N33GG Mentor

N33GG

Posted
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The wiring diagram for my 1982 231 does not show a resistor in the cigarette lighter plug. Do you think that is just an omission in the diagram, or it doesn't have one.

The resistor is integral to the receptacle...not a separate part. But it can be removed...

Super Dave Collaborator

Super Dave

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If your friend hasn't already made a report, you should let him know that in flight fire is one of the incidents that require immediate notification to the NTSB.

Audipilot1 Rookie

Audipilot1

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  • Author
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Sorry folks for keeping you hanging. Busy day working. Turns out that the cigarette lighter was 20v just like the rest of the plane. The adaptor was 12v. The friend flying has over 20 years experience flying and was a bit shocked as am I that there was a plug in the plane for an adaptor and it wasn't 12v. Im not aware of any stratus or phone adapters that are 20v so I'm not sure what purpose the outlet even has. Moral of the story is everyone should be aware of the power output of their adaptor ports. Such a simple thing and oversight could have turned out much worse.

Audipilot1 Rookie

Audipilot1

Posted
  • Author
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Correction 24v.

Sorry folks for keeping you hanging. Busy day working. Turns out that the cigarette lighter was 20v just like the rest of the plane. The adaptor was 12v. The friend flying has over 20 years experience flying and was a bit shocked as am I that there was a plug in the plane for an adaptor and it wasn't 12v. Im not aware of any stratus or phone adapters that are 20v so I'm not sure what purpose the outlet even has. Moral of the story is everyone should be aware of the power output of their adaptor ports. Such a simple thing and oversight could have turned out much worse.

JaredDavis Collaborator

JaredDavis

Posted
Posted

My 65 C came with a Casco Cigar lighter with an attached fuse in a can. The fuse is shown in the circuit diagram.  Is this the resistor you are talking about?
 
Some newer sockets have a bimetalic bar that causes a dead short if the device gets too hot. Be careful.

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DonMuncy Grand Master

DonMuncy

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So what's the bottom line here. Do I need to check for/remove a resistor from the cigarette lighter plug on my 12v 231.

the reason I'm asking is that I had a cheap 2-port USB adaptor in my cigarette lighter, which was not keeping an IPad charged, and then failed entirely. I bought a presumably better (higher amp) unit which I have not yet checked out completely. Ordinarily I keep my IPad plugged in it, but when flying with my CFI, I envisioned having two plugged in.

jetdriven Grand Master

jetdriven

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Read the label carefully before plugging a 12v charger into a 24 volt airplane. There's s lot of piece of crap knockoff Walgreens and gas station chargers out there. Amazon has lots of the things so get s name brand one and read the reviews. Like this one. It's been plugged into my BMW which has a hot cigarette lighter socket since last December. 2.1A twice.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00K8WA7QC/ref=

My only complaint it it fits neatly flush with the panel it's hard to remove. The blue light is hellishly bright but a sharpie fixed that.

Here's another that's similar

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00VH84L5E/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?qid=1434679050&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=24+volt+ipad+charger

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