Voltage Regulator Issues?

[Espeed]

Hey guys, My wife and I took a quick trip in our 65' E this past Sunday and I noticed something a litte different.  On the way down everything was fine.  We landed, had a quick lunch there at the airport cafe.  On restart, I noticed that during my taxi voltage gauge was only showing 12 volts when it usually reads 14.1(I have the digital Aerospace logic volt/amp gauge along with an alternator conversion all which was done by previous owner).  When I got to my run-up, at 1800 rpms the volts instantly jumped up to 14 but when I brought it back to 1000 rpms the volts went back to 12.  When we took off the volts went back up but during our flight back the volts were jumping up and down from 13.6 up to 14.5.  I also noticed that my amperage was spiking on the amperage read out.  The amperage was going up and down constantly.  I tried turning off strobes and rotating during flight and nothing changed.  Once we landed, during our taxi back to the hanger, the volts were holding 14 but the amperage was still spiking back and forth.  I am puzzled as to what happened, any ideas? 

Thanks,

Steven

[scottfromiowa]

Hey Steve.  I have an updated Zeltronics voltage regulator and an EI gauge/Generator.  When I reduce power to idle the generator goes "off line" and my discharge light goes on on EI gauge.  This is normal.  The spikes while in cruise are unusual.  A little wavering is common, but wild fluctuations are not.  I would ask this question on the MAPA tech site.  They will know what is going on, or give you areas to trouble-shoot.  Could be voltage regulator or generator/alternator..or nothing.  My guess is it's something...watch it close.  Let me know with follow-up what you find.

Scott

[Espeed]

Thanks Scott, I will throw it out there on MAPA to see what I get back.

[AlexR]

I check the simple stuff first.  This includes the tension on your alternator belt as well as check for signs it is slipping or the pulley is no longer aligned because the bracket is loose.  From there, check the current and resistance on field to the alternator with a multimeter.  Not the alternator's fault if the field is bad (bad ground/connection or failing breaker).  If that is good, my guess is the carbon brushes and/or slip rings in the alternator are going bad or the regulator is shot.  You can get the alternator IRANed instead of overhauled, if it is the just the brushes, it will be around $200.  A new regulator is about $300.  Good luck.

[MooneyMitch]

Hi Steven.

Zeftronics has very good trouble-shooting information on their web site for an alternator controller.  I've experienced such problems and found their site most helpful.    http://www.zeftronics.com/documents/pit/R1510N-PIT.pdf

Also, as suggested by AlexR, check the belt tension for slippage and all electrical connections too.  Please do let us all know the outcome of your situation.

[Espeed]

Thanks Mitch, I do have the Zeftronics regulator and I will be taking a closer look at it this weekend.  I am hoping it is something as simple as a bad ground or a loose alternator belt.  I do check the belt during my walk around preflight with a simlpe tug for tension and it seems the same but then again what I see as fine may not be.  I will keep you guys posted as to what I find out.  Thanks again,

Steven

[Ganogegamnernk]

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[danb35]

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[Lood]

I've been bugged with an overcharge problem for more than a year now - very annoying. At the previous annual, the initial plan was to convert to an alternator, but after bench testing my generator, it was decided that it functioned perfectly and instead, the old Delco regulator was replaced with a new one from Lamar.

The sad news is that the problem just continued after a while. The voltage slowly creeps up during flight from 13.8. Switching on the nav lights keeps it steady for a while, but eventually it just goes up - to 15 volts if left alone. I now leave it to increase to 14.2 volts and then I pull the generator CB. Once the voltage drops to below 12 volt, I reset the breaker and then the voltage seems to stay put at 13.9 volts for quite a while.

So, what do I do next? Zeftronics regulator or chuck out the whole generator affair and go the alternator route? I don't want to buy another regulator just find it also not solving the problem.

[jetdriven]

I dont know why you guys put any money into a generator. They are heavy, troublesome, and dont put out any current at low speeds.

[Shadrach]

Quote: jetdriven

I dont know why you guys put any money into a generator. They are heavy, troublesome, and dont put out any current at low speeds.

[Shadrach]

Lood,

I have the Zef regulator and a 50 amp Gen. It works much better than the old delco unit. From an operational standpoint, I have never felt that I needed more. As far as being "troublesome", we've been lucky as we've only replaced the gen 3 times in 44 years 

However, they are troublesome in other ways.  They are heavy which puts additional stress on the crank case at the mount. It was theorized that my crankcase may not have cracked had we been running an alternator instead of a Gen.....i

If I had it to do again, I would have just sold the reg and gen on ebay and bought a Plane Power conversion. An added benefit to the Alt vs Gen decision is that the alternator is smaller and makes the engine bay somewhat less crowded. 

[Skybrd]

Quote: Lood

[i've been bugged with an overcharge problem for more than a year now - very annoying. At the previous annual, the initial plan was to convert to an alternator, but after bench testing my generator, it was decided that it functioned perfectly and instead, the old Delco regulator was replaced with a new one from Lamar.

The sad news is that the problem just continued after a while. The voltage slowly creeps up during flight from 13.8. Switching on the nav lights keeps it steady for a while, but eventually it just goes up - to 15 volts if left alone. I now leave it to increase to 14.2 volts and then I pull the generator CB. Once the voltage drops to below 12 volt, I reset the breaker and then the voltage seems to stay put at 13.9 volts for quite a while.

So, what do I do next? Zeftronics regulator or chuck out the whole generator affair and go the alternator route? I don't want to buy another regulator just find it also not solving the problem.]     

I think Zeftronics regulator is the way to go. I have one and a Martel digital QM100V voltmeter. The zeftronics does it's job as advertised and seems reliable. If you do a lot of night flying and ground taxiing you might want to keep your rpm's above 1100 to keep the generator output going. I like the newer alternators but the expense versus the need doesn't compute at this time. The zeftronics regulator is easy to install and fits in the same place as your older mechanical regulator. You might want to have some extra washers on your installation since the thickness of the zeftronics one is thinner and the 4 bolts might not have threads to the base.

[carusoam]

Simplicity of the generator + Zeftronics + new battery = completely new electrical generating system.  Installed in a few hours.

 

Rebuilt generator available through aircraft spruce and so are all the other parts......

 

Search this site for Zeftronics.  Somebody had posted a comparison of the output of the old system vs. Digital Zeftronics.

 

Best regards,

 

-a-

[Jerry 5TJ]

the forum with the comparison charts of Delco vs Zeftronics controller with a 50A generator is named "Electrical Gremlins."