I’m looking at using the AeroVee 20amp stator into a B&C PMR1D regulator to maintain charge on an Odyssey battery. If you have done this I would appreciate input a what circuit protection and switching you provided.
Thank you in advance.
I contacted B&C who indicated they thought this regulator would work with the Aerovee stator, but they were unaware of anyone actually doing it.
Thank you for the response. Helping a friend with his new built Sonex. 17 hours and we are on Sonex regulator #2 which may have also failed to cause melted insulation on stator wires. Factory schematics have no over current protection.
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My $00.02 is that it would work.
Sometime back I alerted Bryan Cotton to our use of the Yanmar regulators (used on John Deere equipment with PM alternators) as used on the Corvair conversions. As far as I know he is using one of these on his Aerovee and quite pleased with it.
The regulator you have cited is given by William Wynne to be a replacement for the Yanmar regulator. The wiring is very similar (nearly exact) to how my regulator is wired for my Corvair conversion:
XB102-1-TM-A.pdf
(see page E-1)
I really like this regulator and if I need to replace mine this one is on the list. My current regulator charges at 14.8 and that is what Odyssey says is best for their batteries for longevity.
There’s a lot to like about this regulator and the price, while it isn’t cheap, appears to make this a good value.
JOOMO (just one old man’s opinion)
Dale
3.0 Corvair/Taildragger
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I also think it would work.
Yep, absolutely true! It looks like the B&C is a good unit with the additional feature of overcurrent protection, and it costs more. I’m going to stick with my Yanmar VR. My luck with the Sonex VRs, both original and replacement, have been less than stellar. And then there is the chinesium crap on ebay, definitely avoid those. I tried one in the name of science.
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Thanks Dale, I appreciate the “old man’s opinion” as that is what I offer as well.
40 years in the electrical engineering business (industrial mainly) and I just am not comfortable with the lawn mower setup with no overcurrent protection. Again, this old man’s opinion. However this old man was flying behind the smell of burning wires with no control of turning off the circuit short of shutting off the engine, and no overcurrent devices kicking in.
I’m drawing up a new design for my friends Sonex with the B&C PMR1D. I’ll share for any possible interest when I am done.
John von
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N1212B pwr diagram.PDF (230.3 KB)
Here is my sketch of the B&C setup as I see it being done. Comments??
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Looks good to me John. I would only note that my constant duty solenoid (contactor) has a flyback diode wired across the coil to reduce arcing when the coil is de-energized.
Dale
3.0 Corvair/Taildragger
John,
I’m curious why the rdac would be connected directly to the battery instead of on the other side of the contactor. Also, is that a double throw switch or single throw?
I failed to draw the diode across the master solenoid coil, it is already installed on the aircraft. Good catch. Thanks.
I am not sure why the original wiring has the wire before the contactor. I will be tracing it down to make sure I was correct in thinking it was the input to the rdac.
The DPDT switch allows an all off position, a battery only position and a battery and alternator position. My RV7 and many other aircraft have this ability. My standard operating procedure is to start the engine on battery only then switch on the alternator once started.
Thank you for the feedback, Bryan.
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That’s good info John. With my original VR from Sonex, there was no way to turn off the VR/alternator. With the Yanmar I could do that. Something to consider.
One other thing I did was to use a mechanical switch for the MC. It’s right next to the battery forward of the firewall and driven by a torque tube with an appropriate firewall penetration. Saves a little weight, and more importantly saves about 1 amp as compared to an electric contactor. That’s about 5% of our 20A rating.
My Corvair taildragger is wired this way on the master switch. I have a relay installed in one of the AC lines that is controlled by the master switch that turns on the alternator. I also have the older style over volt protection from B&C (no longer available) that blows the fuse that powers this alternator relay in the event of an over voltage occurrence.
Some would wire the protection relay into the 12 volt output but shutting down the AC voltage to the regulator prevents an OV event from causing a regulator fire as happened to one pilot with a Jabiru PM alternator that went OV.
The beauty of this regulator is that the protection is built in and it can be reset by simply cycling the power to the alternator after an OV event. My current (pun intended) system is working very well but if I ever need a replacement this regulator is what I will be using.
Dale
3.0 Corvair/Taildragger
Edited for correction …
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My experience with B&C regulator:
When my original Jabiru 3300 Gen4 regulator that was supplied with my new engine was defective right out of the box (overvoltage) I decided to try fancy looking B&C AVC1 as I loved the specs. Probably several weeks or so later after I installed this - my stator burned out. Coincidentally I was in contact with another Jab owner and told him my story just to find out that his alternator went out after he installed AVC1. Then I found out from the company that this is “shunt” type regulator and it shorts out the windings when not charging (placing alternator into maximum load?). I presumed this type of cycling burned my alternator. Now it says right on their web site “not compatible with Jabiru alternators” - Jab or Aerovee alternators - what’s the difference?…. B&C sitting and collecting dust on my shelf now I am back to “stock” regulator that still going strong together with new stator.
I think all the VRs we have been discussing are shunt regulators. I don’t know about the stock Jabiru VR.
The B&C PMR1D regulator the OP refers to looks like it came out pretty recently and looks different than some of the shunt ones. In the technical manual it states it’s a series/switching regulator and on the wiring diagram it states: “series style regulation for compatibility with thermally challenged alternator stators such as Jabiru”. Obviously verify for your application but it looks like a pretty neat unit.
Link to product page that has links to wiring diagram and technical manual:
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I was one of those who used the new B & C regulator on my Gen 4 Jabiru 3300. It fried my alternator.
I have to say that B & C was awesome - they gave me my money back.
Experimental aviation isn’t always easy. I’m lucky I did not have a fire.
It’s my understanding they developed this one specifically for the Jabiru and others similar systems. This is not the one that fried my alternator.