Cabin and Luggage area lights

[DonMuncy]

I continually hear about Mooney owners running their batteries down by leaving the cabin or luggage area lights on. I am contemplating building a system for avoiding the problem. Maybe even to the extent of an STC. I understand that the later planes have some sort of a timer to solve the problem. Does anyone know which models have and don't have the cabin light independent of the master switch and without such a timer.

[PMcClure]

My 2002 ovation 2 has a Timer from the factory.

[AmigOne]

If you are the forgetful type like me, pull the bulb of the factory light and install a battery operated LED stick-on. They come in all shapes and colors, some of them very nice and inexpensive. In my C the cabin light didn't illuminate much so I installed one.

[co2bruce]

My MSC says there is a momentary switch that can replace the factory one. You must hold it on. Ask your mechanic.

[1964-M20E]

Develope the light but I wouldn't worry about the STC I think this would be a minor mod and any A&P could install it with only a signature.

[Piloto]

I just changed the wiring on the overhead panel so the light get power from the stall + warning terminal instead from the battery. The lights get no power with master off. I have a small led flashlight in the hat rack area for unloading at night, very handy, found it more usefull than the whimpy lights.

 

José

[bumper]

No need to reinvent the wheel (or timer in this case). Haven't installed this in my plane . . .

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009WP09K/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

bumper

[DonMuncy]

It took me from the time I started this thread until now, but finally got my timer device built. It took reading a book on electronics, joining an electronics forum, chatting with guys from Arizona to Brisbane Australia, spending about $75 in parts, most of which I wound up not using, and a lot of trial and error, but it finally works the way I want it to. The light will function as it always does, but when the master switch is turned off, the timer keeps the light on for about 6 minutes and then shuts down.

I know, you can take the bulbs out or rewire the light so you can't use it without the master switch on; but I just like the idea of being able to use the cabin and luggage area lights to unload the plane, knowing that if I forget to turn it off, it won't run down that expensive battery.

Many places sell timers, but one that starts timing when power is removed is hard to come by. You can also get one from the dome light circuit on modern cars, but every one I found goes out after 15 to 30 seconds. I found that designing an electronic circuit for short duration timers is easy. One that works for 5 minutes or so is not quite so easy.

Not having to work for a living, and wanting to learn some about electronics, made a worthwhile endeavor.

[N601RX]

The simplest would probably be a large storage cap fed by a isolation diode in series with a resistor. To keep the cap size down you could replace bulbs with LEDs.

[DonMuncy]

I sent a PM.