Any new on GFC500 SB ?

[Philip France 13]

Hello

Do you have any news regarding SB for GFC500 Autopilot problem with trim issue?
Is there a SW fix from Garmin? 
I am still flying without AP

Thanks

Philip

[Mooney in Oz]

50 minutes ago, Philip France 13 said:

Hello

Do you have any news regarding SB for GFC500 Autopilot problem with trim issue?
Is there a SW fix from Garmin? 
I am still flying without AP

Thanks

Philip

Just checked the Garmin Support (Service Bulletin) web page. At this stage no software fix for certified aircraft has been issued, although a software fix for the experimental crowd was released almost 3 weeks ago. I assume Garmin is waiting for FAA approval.

Any time you want to check for yourself, the URL is: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=6uYPdAQOaS9FzhhL5yaOf

[Z W]

Someone from the Garmin support team posted on Beechtalk that the FAA had the software fix data and were going through an expedited process of approval.  It's already available for the experimental autopilots.  I seem to remember them saying they were hoping to get approval before the end of the year.  Although that's coming up in just a couple days at this point.

[Z W]

New post yesterday from Garmin on Beechtalk:

Hi everyone, I hope your holidays are going well. We're here and the team is making progress on the resolution. We received FAA Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) on the aircraft this morning that allows us to proceed to flight testing, which also occurred later this afternoon. We'll be analyzing the data over the next couple of business days. Once our team has all of the data together, they can sign the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) authorizing the software that resolves this issue. Once STC is received, we'll publish a Service Bulletin with the instructions for the update. Expect our next update to confirm the availability of the Service Bulletin either the first or second week of January. I appreciate your patience, more soon. The Garmin team wishes you and yours a Happy New Year.

-Joey Ferreyra
Garmin Sales & Customer Experience Manager

[dzeleski]

9 minutes ago, Evan said:

Anyone know if updating to the new FW will be covered by Garmin? Not sure how they historically have treated SB's. 

 

If you have G5s/G3X you can just do it yourself assuming you have a good relationship with your avionics shop. If you have a GI-275 I think you need your shop to do it which is more annoying, you may or may not need to pay a shop labor fee unless garmin warranties the work (like with the G5 battery issue).

G5: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=e42M4i4my20PzlBG81Kh5A

G3X: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?partNumber=G3X-TCERT-00&tab=software

 

[rbp]

On 12/27/2022 at 7:18 AM, Philip France 13 said:

I am still flying without AP

 

the SB does not affect the autopilot, just the electric trim. my AP still operating, but I have to trim manually

[Seymour]

16 hours ago, rbp said:

the SB does not affect the autopilot, just the electric trim. my AP still operating, but I have to trim manually

If trim servos are installed and the autopilot has the optional elevator trim, it is necessary to disable the AP.   You note that you have to trim manually - Do you have a separate breaker for the electric trim?   When you pull that breaker to trim manually, doesn't the resulting trim failure prevent the autopilot from engaging?   

My understanding is that the only way to use the autopilot without the installed trim servos is to have the AP reprogrammed as if the optional trim was not installed.   Since I have not had the AP reprogrammed, my AP breaker is pulled and labeled "Inoperative".    Is this unnecessary?  

[rbp]

2 hours ago, Seymour said:

If trim servos are installed and the autopilot has the optional elevator trim, it is necessary to disable the AP.   You note that you have to trim manually - Do you have a separate breaker for the electric trim?   When you pull that breaker to trim manually, doesn't the resulting trim failure prevent the autopilot from engaging?   

My understanding is that the only way to use the autopilot without the installed trim servos is to have the AP reprogrammed as if the optional trim was not installed.   Since I have not had the AP reprogrammed, my AP breaker is pulled and labeled "Inoperative".    Is this unnecessary?  

My avionics guy disabled the electric trim servo without disabling the autopilot. If you're doing it yourself and you don't have a discrete way to disable the trim servo,  then I guess you have to pull the AP CB

[PT20J]

2 hours ago, Seymour said:

If trim servos are installed and the autopilot has the optional elevator trim, it is necessary to disable the AP.   You note that you have to trim manually - Do you have a separate breaker for the electric trim?   When you pull that breaker to trim manually, doesn't the resulting trim failure prevent the autopilot from engaging?   

My understanding is that the only way to use the autopilot without the installed trim servos is to have the AP reprogrammed as if the optional trim was not installed.   Since I have not had the AP reprogrammed, my AP breaker is pulled and labeled "Inoperative".    Is this unnecessary?  

Pulling the TRIM breaker on a GFC 500 only disables manual electric trim - it will not protect you from an autopilot-caused trim runaway because the autopilot can still operate the the trim servo with the TRIM CB pulled. 

To be safe, you have to pull the AUTOPILOT CB which completely disables the autopilot, or go into config mode and disable the trim servo. 

Skip

[rbp]

Just now, PT20J said:

 

To be safe, you have to pull the AUTOPILOT CB which completely disables the autopilot, or go into config mode and disable the trim servo. 

must be what my avionics guy did. now when the AP is on, the display reads "TRIM UP" and "TRIM DOWN" 

[AdamJD]

Any word on this? 

I was lucky enough to pick up my GFC 500 install on 11/22, the day after the alert.  So I too have my AP, but not the auto trim, as it was disabled in the 275.  But my right arm is getting tired...

[rbp]

2 hours ago, AdamJD said:

Any word on this? 

I was lucky enough to pick up my GFC 500 install on 11/22, the day after the alert.  So I too have my AP, but not the auto trim, as it was disabled in the 275.  But my right arm is getting tired...

"Expect our next update to confirm the availability of the Service Bulletin either the first or second week of January. "

so "real soon now" ?!

[AdamJD]

On 1/4/2023 at 11:25 AM, PT20J said:

Pulling the TRIM breaker on a GFC 500 only disables manual electric trim - it will not protect you from an autopilot-caused trim runaway because the autopilot can still operate the the trim servo with the TRIM CB pulled. 

To be safe, you have to pull the AUTOPILOT CB which completely disables the autopilot, or go into config mode and disable the trim servo. 

Skip

It's a shame we can't disable the auto-trim in the AP without disabling the electric trim on the yoke.  I'd love to still use the manual electric trim.

[rbp]

17 minutes ago, AdamJD said:

It's a shame we can't disable the auto-trim in the AP without disabling the electric trim on the yoke.  I'd love to still use the manual electric trim.

its the same servo, and its the servo that's been flagged

[PT20J]

1 hour ago, AdamJD said:

It's a shame we can't disable the auto-trim in the AP without disabling the electric trim on the yoke.  I'd love to still use the manual electric trim.

The King autopilots are the same. When I had the KAP 150, I had several failures of the computer such that it wouldn't pass self test. I got used to flying with manual trim. 

[rbp]

Am I the only one who still tries the yoke trim first, realizes it doesn’t work, and then has to go for the wheel?

[kortopates]

An important point to my post above is that it is ONLY for the G5 and G3x. If the GFC500 is paired with a GI-275, the FW won't be released until EOM. 

i am hearing next week for the GI-275, but we’ll see.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jamesm]

how does one obtain  Master Drawing List 005-01264-00, Revisions 1 through 76 ?

 

[PT20J]

57 minutes ago, jamesm said:

how does one obtain  Master Drawing List 005-01264-00, Revisions 1 through 76 ?

 

You have to be a Garmin dealer.

[PT20J]

7 hours ago, Evan said:

FW is out. Garmin will pay to update. 

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/aviation/faq/Gtbm7rxcAr9oRqQTCOr168/?keywordSearch=22123

https://atlaske-content.garmin.com/filestorage//email/outbound/attachments/22109B_Time1673473874505.pdf

This is interesting. From the link it appears that you searched the Aviation Support Center for 22123. This implies that you somehow knew the number of the service bulletin -- how did you learn of it? It doesn't show up on the Most Recent list on the Support Center and I could not find it by any search except for 22123 or (2023).

Skip

[201Mooniac]

4 minutes ago, Evan said:

I signed up through Garmin for SB alerts on every Garmin product in my bird. They send you an email almost immediately after they publish them. 

I've signed up in the past yet never get any SB alerts.  I just checked and couldn't find where to try to sign up again.  Do you have a pointer as to where/how to sign up?

[jamesm]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

You have to be a Garmin dealer.

that is kind of my point,  most dealers are back logged and up in the PNW  wx crappy so your probably no going any where for few months. how is exactly is this suppose to work. If I had drawings I could at least do a continuity check or have a look of work that need to be performed.

[PT20J]

15 minutes ago, Evan said:

I signed up, through Garmin, for their SB alerts. They send you an email almost immediately after they publish them for the products you own. 

 

10 minutes ago, 201Mooniac said:

I've signed up in the past yet never get any SB alerts.  I just checked and couldn't find where to try to sign up again.  Do you have a pointer as to where/how to sign up?

I was signed up. Then they changed the system and I stopped getting them. When I registered my equipment for warranty (I had to do it myself because the system was down when the shop installed it) I communicated with the warranty person from Garmin that told me they discontinued the email notification system because it was all manually maintained and got too big for anyone to keep up with. Sigh. What a mess.

[AdamJD]

Ugh.  Didn't realize we were going to have to wait longer for the fix when driven by the 275s.  

[kortopates]

30 minutes ago, AdamJD said:

Ugh.  Didn't realize we were going to have to wait longer for the fix when driven by the 275s.  

.  The GI-275 software is a little more complicated approval as it is a TSO’d instrument vs PMA like the G5 and G3X .