Maintenance Issue

[N350ka]

Ive had several persistent maintaince issues that seem to be reoccurring and I was hoping that someone could shed some light on these issues. 

1. Autopilot. So I know theres been many posts about what a horrid combination the G1000 and the Stec 55 is and Im learning this. Long story short whenever ANY pitch mode is activated the autopilot runs away. Typically up but sometimes down. So After a few trips to the shop my avionics tech has asked me to disconnect the Altitude Transducer from the Autopilot to see if that remedies the issue. I spent the better part of this afternoon trying to get find the damn thing to no avail. Im hoping someone can tell me just where the damn thing is on the plane. or if they have any wisdom on the subject. 

 

2. Speed brakes. This has been confusing me for awhile. About half the time my speed brakes wont deploy on the ground and if they do when retracted they "Slam" back into the wings very fast and violently. They work 100 percent fine in flight. They were sent to Precise flight who told us there wasn't anything wrong with them. Its just annoying and Im worried about repeated events damaging the system. 

 

3. pannel Backlighting. I was changing the Light bulb in the compass and saw a spark long story short i think i blew the fuse for this however i checked every fuse I could find and none of them were burnt out. Again Any wisdom? 

Thanks everyone in advance! this is my first plane and I'm trying to do everything to keep in the best shape I can! 

[carusoam]

Tough questions...

how many hours on the speed brakes?  How long ago were they sent back to precise flight?

What year is the plane?

The usual thing that happens to the speed brakes is their clutches wear out around 1-2khrs.  They get sent back for OH.  Pretty quick turn around.

Good luck with the Squawks.

Best regards,

-a-

[Guitarmaster]

Don't know what year or model your plane is, but the instrument lights probably have a 5 amp inline fuse that you blew. If it's still on the transistor system, fuse is on top of the nose wheel well.



Fuses are under those little grey covers. They screw off and you will find a tiny, capacitor looking fuse.

http://www.newark.com/bussmann-by-eaton/gmw-5/fuse-5a-125v-fast-acting/dp/19K5343

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[jetdriven]

The newer planes have a small box with 2 knobs on it, but they likely have the FM-01 fuses as well.

Edited October 18, 2016 by jetdriven

[DVA]

I suspect a wire issue with the speed brakes. 

The speed brakes, as you know, deploy and retract smoothly when there is continuous power to the system. The only time they will slam back down is if power is removed.  You can test this yourself by deploying the speed brakes and then pulling the breaker - they will slam shut as a fail safe.

Since the system works “100%” in the air, and PF says they are good at the factory,  I would suspect that something is causing a wire to have an open (likely intermittent) condition when the plane has weight on the wheels. Unfortunately the only way to figure this out is to open inspection panels, and start gently tugging on the wiring to see if you can cause a change in the behavior.

Have you gotten any more info since your first posted?

[N350ka]

17 hours ago, carusoam said:

Tough questions...

how many hours on the speed brakes?  How long ago were they sent back to precise flight?

What year is the plane?

The usual thing that happens to the speed brakes is their clutches wear out around 1-2khrs.  They get sent back for OH.  Pretty quick turn around.

Good luck with the Squawks.

Best regards,

-a-

they were sent to precise flight about 15-20 hours ago and theres about 700 hours on the airframe. and its a 2006. 

Thanks everyone for the replies I'm about to head out to the airport now to go fuse searching! 

[Tony Armour]

Why are you actuating the speed brakes on the ground ? After a courtesy check moving and inspecting wiring on the ground I wouldn't worry about it. They only do good in the air 

I never actuate for a preflight check. They will slam down when killing power at shut down if forgetting to stow them after landing. Some say that you should "occasionally" drop them like that and it moves the parts around to different locations to wear more evenly over time. I recently sent mine in for a rebuild at 1,975 hours. One went inop totally due to pilot error. I don't want to say how "he"  screwed up but I will say you can cycle the speed brake button five times and it will not turn the runway lights on !

[N350ka]

Update:

Autopilot ended up being the Circuit board in the autopilot itself. Its out at STEC right now. 

 

Speed brakes have since stopped functioning to a large degree. 9/10 times they refuse to deploy and when they do they're still slamming into the wings. Precise flight want me to send them the logic box for them to inspect. Im not sending them the brakes themselves because they were sent down there about 2 months ago for the same issue I was told they were cleaned and the Clutches were replace. 

 

New problem!!!! Because the more the merrier! - I found that my static system is getting its sources from inside the cabin. i didn't realize this was an issue until I opened the storm window in flight and saw the altimeter jump around. When they were testing the autopilot they changed the altitude transducer so Theres an chance that fell off and theres the static comes from where that should be hooked up to. Has anyone experience something like this before?

 

I've still been unable to find the fuse for the panel. 

[AndyFromCB]

Or your alternate static is on, it's a little pull handle on the panel.

The fuse is in the battery compartment, on the pilot side. There will be lights fuses, clock fuse and a few others.

Do you have the electrical diagram for your airplane? Does your mechanic? Worth looking into getting one.

 

 

[Tony Armour]

On November 3, 2016 at 6:43 PM, AndyFromCB said:

 

The fuse is in the battery compartment, on the pilot side. There will be lights fuses, clock fuse and a few others.

 

 

 

For a Bravo/TLS ?

[AndyFromCB]

7 hours ago, Tony Armour said:

For a Bravo/TLS ?

Yeap, right in your battery compartment, you will find quite a few little black inline fuse holders strapped to various things, go look.

[carusoam]

Add anything with a memory to the list.  FF/used and radios...

Best regards,

-a-

[Tony Armour]

13 hours ago, AndyFromCB said:

Yeap, right in your battery compartment, you will find quite a few little black inline fuse holders strapped to various things, go look.

Will do. Are they labeled ? I've had my head in there a bit but normally concentrating on something else.

[AndyFromCB]

55 minutes ago, Tony Armour said:

Will do. Are they labeled ? I've had my head in there a bit but normally concentrating on something else.

They are, IIRC, I clearly remember one saying clock. One of them has something to do with batteries, because I know if you blow it, your batteries disconnect. Happened to me once when switching from 1 to 2, the whole plane shut down, happened on the ground and IIRC I was really slow with the switch.