Sat May 14, 2011 5:44 pm
#962705
We appear to have a alternator which is refusing to charge the battery.
Did I discover this on the ground by following the checklist item which says "Ammeter charging?"
Nope. Or if I'm entirely honest: "Well... Yes....Almost... but then I convinced myself I was wrong..."
So I discovered it in the air instead, during the first set of checks after levelling off. Low Volt light still on and the Ammeter lifeless on zero no matter what I turn on and off.
So how did I come to convince myself it was fine on the ground?
Point one - I've flown several aeroplanes where the low volt light flickers a bit when the engine is running slowly. That didn't immediately stand out to me as a problem and I didn't look at it again during the powerchecks.
Point 2 - I'm far less familiar with this aircraft and what 'normal' is. I did look at the ammeter and was mildly surprised it wasn't registering "much" (or "at all" in reality!) and I should with perfect hindsight have realised that it was actually dead flat on 0 rather than merely 'not showing much'.
I should have done my turning off and on of things and recycling of the master switch at that point but I didn't. I convinced myself I wasn't seeing what I was seeing and off I went.
Undramatic of course because I had presumably a more or less fully charged battery and was only ten minutes out so I just came back again. Fiddled a bit more on the ground, enlisted a few more pairs of eyes to help me look for an obvious physical cause and then gave up ad came home to break the bad news to the group that there's probably another bill coming.
Far too easy though to convince myself I wasn't seeing a problem when there was one there staring straight at me with a perfectly clear set of symptoms.
Interesting.
Did I discover this on the ground by following the checklist item which says "Ammeter charging?"
Nope. Or if I'm entirely honest: "Well... Yes....Almost... but then I convinced myself I was wrong..."
So I discovered it in the air instead, during the first set of checks after levelling off. Low Volt light still on and the Ammeter lifeless on zero no matter what I turn on and off.
So how did I come to convince myself it was fine on the ground?
Point one - I've flown several aeroplanes where the low volt light flickers a bit when the engine is running slowly. That didn't immediately stand out to me as a problem and I didn't look at it again during the powerchecks.
Point 2 - I'm far less familiar with this aircraft and what 'normal' is. I did look at the ammeter and was mildly surprised it wasn't registering "much" (or "at all" in reality!) and I should with perfect hindsight have realised that it was actually dead flat on 0 rather than merely 'not showing much'.
I should have done my turning off and on of things and recycling of the master switch at that point but I didn't. I convinced myself I wasn't seeing what I was seeing and off I went.
Undramatic of course because I had presumably a more or less fully charged battery and was only ten minutes out so I just came back again. Fiddled a bit more on the ground, enlisted a few more pairs of eyes to help me look for an obvious physical cause and then gave up ad came home to break the bad news to the group that there's probably another bill coming.
Far too easy though to convince myself I wasn't seeing a problem when there was one there staring straight at me with a perfectly clear set of symptoms.
Interesting.
"Let's go flying"
Scribblings of a novice PPL
Scribblings of a novice PPL