Plane Power Alternator Acting up

[wcb]

I recently had a similar issue with my VR and a loose wire.  The VR should have an adjustment screw to raise of lower your constant flow from the Alt.  We 1st did the breaker check.  Turn on the master check where and when the VR starts reporting odd numbers.  Use the voltage meter to check the wires etc. (found one loose on the alt but not burned like yours).  Replaced the VR with plane power VR.  Adjusted VR to approx 14.  All is good now! 

Sounds like VR adjustment screw to me.  Not a professional and worked with JD over at SWTA to solve my issues!  If you need anything talk with JD at SWTA in Smithville, TX.

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, wcb said:

I recently had a similar issue with my VR and a loose wire.  The VR should have an adjustment screw to raise of lower your constant flow from the Alt.  We 1st did the breaker check.  Turn on the master check where and when the VR starts reporting odd numbers.  Use the voltage meter to check the wires etc. (found one loose on the alt but not burned like yours).  Replaced the VR with plane power VR.  Adjusted VR to approx 14.  All is good now! 

Sounds like VR adjustment screw to me.  Not a professional and worked with JD over at SWTA to solve my issues!  If you need anything talk with JD at SWTA in Smithville, TX.

The PP voltage regs do have that adjustment, the Zeftronics VRs don’t have any adjustment.  They sense the bus voltage and then automatically keep the alternator putting out appropriate output to maintain 13.8-14.2V ish.  However, if you have old wiring and corroded connections, the resistance builds up and you’ll likely end up with a lower bus voltage.  I think at times the PP adjustment is just masking the developing problem with our old wiring.

[wcb]

40 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

The PP voltage regs do have that adjustment, the Zeftronics VRs don’t have any adjustment.  They sense the bus voltage and then automatically keep the alternator putting out appropriate output to maintain 13.8-14.2V ish.  However, if you have old wiring and corroded connections, the resistance builds up and you’ll likely end up with a lower bus voltage.  I think at times the PP adjustment is just masking the developing problem with our old wiring.

Also, I think the new Zeftronics has a dummy light that will tell you if the unit is good or bad.

[Ross Taylor]

I was thinking about the odd ammeter readings you're getting and that sounds much like a bad shunt or bad connections on the shunt.  If there's corrosion in those connections, or a loose connection, it will change the readings.  The shunt is a bar for carrying the current (which is too great for the gauge to read directly) and it's got two smaller sense wires.  If the large current-carrying connections are corroded or loose, you'll see lower voltage through it (voltage will typically drop more as the current flow increases).  If the sense wires are corroded, those typically result in higher gauge readings (as the resistance through that sense circuit increases).

Keep in mind my background is not in aircraft electrical systems, but is in wind turbine systems...but many of those concepts are the same...except wind turbines are like reverse airplane drivetrains.