I appreciate the input. I’m waiting for a couple answers from B&C then will move forward with the changes.
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Hello John,
Curious as to whether you have any info or updates to share with us …
Respectfully,
Dale
3.0 Corvair/Taildragger
I have rewired the charging circuit with the B&C regulator. I’m currently waiting on the stator being rewound by a local builder who has done this in the past. The replacement stator didn’t make it out of Sonex before the doors shut.
FWIW, I’ve mounted a PMR1D (which B&C gave me for free after I returned my AVC-01). It appears to be doing a good job of charging my EarthX battery, however it appears to be interacting with some other electrical noise in my avionics and I get false RPM readings from about 2100 to 2400 RPMs. In that range, RPMs appear to be roughly doubled on my MGL RDAC / Discovery Lite EFIS. Adjusting the RPM sensor gain on the RDAC has not been able to cure the problem, and B&C is a little bit stumped. They believe its some kind of odd combination of the other electrical noise along with their regulator.
I think I’m going to have to finally chase down this gremlin in my system (which hitherto simply appeared as a bit of noise/fluctuations in my other RDAC inputs)… Again, the PMR1D itself seems to be doing a fine job of providing power and keeping the battery charged.
Thanks for the heads up on tach issues Noel. We had an Earth-X battery that was ‘calendar’ old and seemed to quit, wouldn’t take a charge even on the ground with it’s dedicated charger. I opted to install an Odyssey battery as I used them on my C-140 and RV-7 with good results. This Earth-X issue may have started the problems by taking out the original Sonex regulator.
I’m looking forward to putting the electrical issue behind us and completing phase 1 testing. The aircraft will be on the market after phase 1 is complete, that was the original plan as it is being donated to our ultralight club which has no direct use for a Sonex but the cash will enhance our training program. It has been a great experience for me, I planned on building a Sonex many years ago but did not. This build is one of the best homebuilt builds I have seen. Lee is a master and his attention to detail is well documented in the build logs with daily entries of every step. There will be more information when phase 1 is complete and we are satisfied with the aircraft.