1963M20C Posted October 5, 2019 Report Posted October 5, 2019 Alternator fell off line while out flying. Landed on battery power. Mechanic said it was a bad voltage regulator. I had the interav regulator and alternator. He replaced the regulator with a plane power regulator and said it was fixed. Went out and did the run up and same problem. Alternator stopped charging and voltage dropped. As soon as I went back to idle the alternator started charging again. Any thoughts? Quote
David Lloyd Posted October 6, 2019 Report Posted October 6, 2019 Worn brushes? Had the same thing happen with an Interav. Pull the brushes and your local alternator shop will have the same brushes in stock. About 10 bucks. 1 Quote
Andy95W Posted October 6, 2019 Report Posted October 6, 2019 Hard to say, but the sequence of events could actually be an over voltage problem. The original Interav used an overvoltage relay that, once tripped, could only be reset by removing power (either by the switch or by pulling the circuit breaker). The PlanePower voltage regulator has overvoltage “protection” instead of a relay that simply fails to off. Worn brushes, like David said above, could cause arcing that could spike the voltage. You may simply be due for an alternator overhaul. Lots of people will likely try to talk you into a PlanePower alternator. I wouldn’t listen to them, for 3 reasons. First- the Interav is simple, solid and reliable. Second- if you keep the Interav you won’t need to do any baffling or bracket changes. Third- the STC to install the PP voltage regulator is different than the STC to install the alternator- so you will still have to purchase the entire kit without getting any credit for the regulator you just bought. 1 Quote
David Lloyd Posted October 6, 2019 Report Posted October 6, 2019 Andy has a point concerning the overvoltage relay. The ones from Interav sometimes tripped occasionally and had to be reset by turning off the master switch. It may have been left behind by the mechanic. I think the PP regulator has built-in overvoltage protection. 1 Quote
carusoam Posted October 7, 2019 Report Posted October 7, 2019 Check the wires... The control wire to the alternator is known to be problematic... aka the field wire... Loose or broken or oxidized could be a challenge... PP thoughts only... Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
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