GFC500 problem

[Mooney in Oz]

18 minutes ago, PeytonM said:

I thought you HAD to do either do the software update or disable autotrim, which knocks out the A/P. Not much of a choice. I cannot believe Garmin would not have known this. “Unintended consequences!”

You might be thinking of a prior software release addressing the auto trim issue. 

The software updates referred to were released only a few days ago.

G3X:   https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=k6HsnoUBSm5HLK5X7Twj19

G5:  https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=CQKJSFwthI3XMooiq56U06

Installation of the G3X software also updates the G5.

[PeytonM]

Interesting…I’ll avoid that one!

[PT20J]

4 hours ago, PeytonM said:

I thought you HAD to do either do the software update or disable autotrim, which knocks out the A/P. Not much of a choice. I cannot believe Garmin would not have known this. “Unintended consequences!”

Note first of all that you are not required to disable trim. Garmin advises it, but it is not an AD. The decision is up to you.

Second, the software that originally fixed this is 9.02 for the G3X and 8.02 for the G5. This G3X release (v9.15) will include all the changes from previous releases so it will have the same fix as 9.02 and the service bulletin states that it includes G5 v8.02. The service bulletin for v9.15 does not mention any changes for the GFC 500 servo monitoring. This means that if you previously installed 9.02, and it is not flagging bad servos, this release should not do that either. 

Third, if you are getting bad servos flagged after the software update it is a problem with the servos, not the software. It's likely that this is one of the drivers for Garmin replacing all the pre late-2022 servos.

This release is going to be especially good news for those who bought a GI 275 for a backup for the G3X and then found out that it doesn't integrate. I don't have the latest G3X installation manual, but from the release note it seems clear that the GI 275 can now be wired into the system in the same way the G5 has always been able to be connected.

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[carusoam]

Note for @TrekLawler…

Always nice to have you stop in and share the Garmin news here….  

 

Please double check your settings to make sure your email is attached to your MooneySpace  account…

This way, when an MSer is hoping to share info with Garmin, you get a quicker notification.

Best regards,

-a-

[PT20J]

I imagine Trek's a busy guy right now. I had a conversation with Joey Ferreyra about why Garmin doesn't have a greater presence here. What he told me is that there are so many aviation forums that they just can't monitor them all consistently. They made a decision to focus on BeechTalk because it's a large forum with a lot of owners and pilots of various types and it gives them the largest audience for their communications. Trek does check in here every so often (often on weekends), but his team is also responsible for trade shows and it's the season. 

[carusoam]

10 minutes ago, PT20J said:

I imagine Trek's a busy guy right now. I had a conversation with Joey Ferreyra about why Garmin doesn't have a greater presence here. What he told me is that there are so many aviation forums that they just can't monitor them all consistently. They made a decision to focus on BeechTalk because it's a large forum with a lot of owners and pilots of various types and it gives them the largest audience for their communications. Trek does check in here every so often (often on weekends), but his team is also responsible for trade shows and it's the season. 

I’m always asking Trek for more….  

Mostly because I dislike sending people to BT for big G support…

Go MS!

Best regards,

-a-

[PeytonM]

I haven’t heard from Peter Garmin either!

 

 

[carusoam]

15 minutes ago, PeytonM said:

I haven’t heard from Peter Garmin either!

 

 

Peter had the best opinions…

From my analog BK system is like a Swiss Watch… 

To who is going to trust digital attitude displays…

His Mooney is incredibly beautiful… including the leather interior he managed himself… including the sewing of the leather yokes.

He probably has several color screens today… 

Best regards,

-a-

[rbp]

I have been doing some programming to analyze my EIS logs, and the analysis turned up some unusual data points 

this is a section of the logfile, in 1-second increments 

AP ALT select is on 2500 (sorry, its off the screen). and IAS looks pretty steady, but VS is fluctuating as is pitch

possibly turbulence?

I'm gonig to do some smoothing

[carusoam]

That is some interesting data you have there RBP!

-a-

[rbp]

Just now, carusoam said:

That is some interesting data you have there RBP!

-a-

wait till you see what I'm cooking up!

[TrekLawler]

On 5/6/2023 at 10:51 AM, PeytonM said:

The whole 5 year timing and warranty was pretty confusing; thank you, Trek, for clarifying this in your post.

However, I remain VERY disappointed that Garmin seems no closer to resolving the oscillation issues since the first post on this thread a year ago. 

Hello @PeytonM,

   I understand and I know our team is working to get a plane to our hangar for some additional testing. however its just been tough getting any kind of commitments on this due to the timeframe that the plane would be needed. we're continuing to work on this daily.  my apologies for the delay on it.

Edited May 8, 2023 by TrekLawler

[TrekLawler]

On 5/7/2023 at 8:43 AM, Mooney in Oz said:

For the info of any Mooney aircraft fitted with a G5 unit,  I just copied this post from BT:

“Also, working with my avionics shop to have my affected servos replaced, they said not to update to the latest G5 software yet. Apparently, about 1/2 the airplanes that got the software update now have a failed servo due to the tighter servo tolerances in the software.”

I’ll add to that suggesting those with a G3X with a G5 to also not do the update until we know more.

@TrekLawler Are you able to comment on this?

 

Hello @Mooney in Oz,

   I can comment but not anything like what this poster put down. the first question we always ask when troubleshooting is what software the system is at as well as recommending the system be brought to the latest software level. I would not recommend this not be done simply due to it may point out an issue with the servos installed. as a matter of fact if I owned an airframe with a GFC 500 I'd want to know if a servo is having problems so I could get it taken care of as soon as possible. so updating the software is always a good thing at this point.

[TrekLawler]

On 5/7/2023 at 8:50 AM, PeytonM said:

Oh great! I already had software updated…

@PeytonM,

   this is not a bad thing, if the system software is up to the latest level and you don't have any issues from the new monitors this is a very good sign that the servos you have will last a very long time and you can wait to have them replaced per our latest SB and get the full advantage of the extended life policy

[PeytonM]

I guess I’m not quite on the latest software after all. My G3X is 9.02 and G5 is 8.02

[PT20J]

1 hour ago, PeytonM said:

I guess I’m not quite on the latest software after all. My G3X is 9.02 and G5 is 8.02

9.02/8.02 has the fix for the trim runaway which I understand tightens the monitoring of some servo parameters.

It seems that 9.15 is primarily to fix some issue specific to Grumman AA-5s, integrate the GI-275 with the G3X, and a few other minor enhancements.

[Marc Taylor]

I had the latest Garmin software installed (G500txi, G5, GFC500, GTN750xi) then flew over 11 hours last week.

Around 30 minutes in, small but noticeable oscillation began.  About a month out of a “Mooney” shop annual with instructions to check all controls for binding and lubrication.  The flight was about 2 hours and the oscillation continued for the rest of the flight.  Next flight was 1 hour, oscillation began about 30 minutes in, although the LPV approach was spot on.  Tried to find some TriFlow, no luck, but bought a small squeeze bottle of 3 in 1 dry lube.  Next flight was 4.6 hours.  Between 30 and 40 minutes the oscillation began again.  Lubed the both columns with the dry lube, no oscillation the rest of that flight which was rather turbulent.   Next flight was 4.3 hours, same thing-about 30 minutes the oscillation started, lubed the columns, no oscillation, LNV smooth as glass.  The servos are in the replacement group, so I don’t know if the servos lose strength, if the columns are gumming up or if there is something that overloads the software, or?

[rbp]

11 hours ago, PT20J said:

9.02/8.02 has the fix for the trim runaway which I understand tightens the monitoring of some servo parameters.

It seems that 9.15 is primarily to fix some issue specific to Grumman AA-5s, integrate the GI-275 with the G3X, and a few other minor enhancements.

I have had problems with G3X log files., and Garmin tells me the fix is in 9.15

[rbp]

 

"We have been working on the logbook import function, but couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

In the end, we found that the G3X Touch logs that didn’t work were missing information that was needed to create the log.

So an update to the G3X Touch software was made.  The CSV log files that were sent before are from software version 9.00 and this one attached is 9.02

The improvements to the G3X Touch datalog were made in 9.15, so please talk to your avionics shop to upgrade the software in your G3X Touch.

This should greatly improve the experience.

We are also working on the logbook to make it more clear what issue it is experiencing.  Basically, we will provide better error messages to help explain what happened."

 

[PeytonM]

Curious…is this error popping up when you try and download into Savvy, or a Garmin app? I’ve been dl into Savvy as recently as 3 days ago with no issues. Running G3X 9.02/ G5 8.02

[rbp]

1 hour ago, PeytonM said:

Curious…is this error popping up when you try and download into Savvy, or a Garmin app? I’ve been dl into Savvy as recently as 3 days ago with no issues. Running G3X 9.02/ G5 8.02

Curiously, it works perfectly with  savvy, but not Garmin, even though Savvy says they use the Garmin parser 

[rbp]

unfortunately this started happening yesterday when I leveled off

 

[rbp]

I thought, maybe its the static pressure, so I decided to switch to the alternate static source, and here's what happened.
 

[carusoam]

Nice to see @TrekLawler checking in…

Additional data has been supplied above…

Best regards,

-a-

[ArtVandelay]

I thought, maybe its the static pressure, so I decided to switch to the alternate static source, and here's what happened.
 

Interesting, it looks like the altitude sensor is fluctuating, but your video above didn’t seem to show that, I wonder if GFC500 has a separate sensor?
I thought the AHRS box handle it alone, curious, did the G5 match the G3X?