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John Deere regulator

Hal-san

Well Known Member
Patron
Does anyone have a resource for a connector that will fit the Deere VR and one that will connect to the existing regulator connector. thanks.
 
John Deere parts

I don't even like John Deere parts on my John Deere mowers. I've got 5 acres of turf runway and another 3 acres in my lot. I've got a D110, L118, Z425, and a 3235B. Not really impressed with any of them.

Wouldn't even think about putting those parts on my airplane.

Jim
N37PK
 
voltage regulator

Hal;
I just bought a John Deere regulator as a 3rd string backup experiment.
if your stock RV-12 connector is in good shape, it will accept a standard 1/4" male spade connector, and the John Deere regulator will accept a standard 1/4" female spade connector. So, just make up a male-female connector jumper for each conductor (6 I believe) and it will work.
 
Hal;
I just bought a John Deere regulator as a 3rd string backup experiment.
if your stock RV-12 connector is in good shape, it will accept a standard 1/4" male spade connector, and the John Deere regulator will accept a standard 1/4" female spade connector. So, just make up a male-female connector jumper for each conductor (6 I believe) and it will work.

Being the lazy type that I am I hoping for connectors so I would not make a mistake when I needed to sub in the JD regulator.;)
 
I don't even like John Deere parts on my John Deere mowers. I've got 5 acres of turf runway and another 3 acres in my lot. I've got a D110, L118, Z425, and a 3235B. Not really impressed with any of them.

Wouldn't even think about putting those parts on my airplane.

Jim
N37PK

Jim to each his own but the JD regulator is suppose to be a darn site better than the Ducati that is installed on my plane. I plan to use the JD as a back up for not if but when the Ducati fails.:)
 
Curious.....

.....has anyone seen a failure of a Ducati that is mounted under the avionics bay as per current plans?
 
I just removed the clips from the Ducati connector and plugged them into the JD regulator with some shrink tubing to hold the connectors in-place.

BTW, these regulators are in common use on VW and Corvair powered airplanes for years. Go buy another over-priced and poorly constructed Ducati regulator if you want.
 
Randy,

So can we get an update on your JD regulator experience to date? I also believe when you did the transfer you posted information about the modified plate to mount the JD regulator and the wiring adjust to work with this regulator.

Could you show this again or the link to the prior post? Thanks
 
A lot of folks turn their nose up at automotive grade components, but in many cases they have harsher service environments and certainly more annual operating hours than many of their aeronautical counterparts.
 
Randy,

So can we get an update on your JD regulator experience to date? I also believe when you did the transfer you posted information about the modified plate to mount the JD regulator and the wiring adjust to work with this regulator.

Could you show this again or the link to the prior post? Thanks

I have a total of 165 hrs on the airframe, which means I have approximately 50 hours on this installation. Everything is working great up to this point. Here are the pictures of my installation.
vr01.jpg

The two regulators side-by-side.

vr02.jpg

I used my wiring tools to remove the clips from the Ducati clip.

vr03.jpg

I drilled a new mounting hole and installed a nutplate. I probably could have made a mounting plate and avoided the new hole.

vr05.jpg

Regulator mounted and shrink tubing used to hold the clips on and to insulate them from one another.

vr07.jpg

I made a cover that allows for about 3/8" airflow around the regulator. This also acts as a heat shield from the outflow of the radiator and the exhaust pipe.

vr08.jpg

Cover mounted. The nut and washer cover a hole I had to drill to get at the back bolt. Poorly engineered I admit but it works.
 
Wiring swap

Thanks Randy.

What was the wiring swap or which wires to the new regulator spade locations. I recall the markings on the JD regulator being different or better said different marks and order than the Ducati?

Any notes on this would be great or just say "look at them both and its self-explanatory."

Thanks
 
Here's what I recall. The JD regulator has one less post on it than the Ducati regulator. There's no "R" terminal on the John Deere. That means one of the heavy white wires is not used and can be tied off to the wiring bundle. They come from the same source anyway so it doesn't hurt anything. Be sure to cover the end with some shrink tubing to insulate it from shorting out against the firewall. The remaining heavy white wire is connected to the "B" terminal. Also, on both regulators, terminal "L" is not used. I think it is used to drive an indicator light circuit. The two heavy yellow terminals come from the generator and are connected to the two "G" terminals. Doesn't matter which wire to which terminal. The remaining small yellow wire connects to the "C" or sometimes labeled "F" post. This is the bus voltage detect wire from the ignition switch.
 
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Permanent magnet alternators (dynamos) do not have a field winding and thus no "F" terminal. The "C" terminal on the Ducati regulator serves a dual purpose: it is an on-off control and also bus-voltage sense. The regulator monitors the voltage on the small yellow wire that comes from the master switch. The Ducati regulator adjusts its output to maintain a system voltage of about 13.8 or so, at least on my plane.
The John Deere AM101406 and MIA881279 terminal "IGW" corresponds to the "C" terminal of the Ducati. I have not installed a John Deere regulator on my RV-12 because the Ducati has not failed . . . yet. But I did replace the regulator on my Simplicity lawn more with a John Deere and its output is 14.2 volts, which is higher than the Ducati. Most aircraft and automotive regulators are set at 14.2 volts.
 
I am in the process of installing this using Randy's instructions, although my install won't be as nearly as clean.

I have been having problems keeping my 12 battery charged, but I am running dual sky views, lighting and ads-b. I do often keep all my lights on during the day for see and avoid, so the minute I come back on the power I am discharging.

I will try and post some pics in the next few days.

I was a little worried about the charge rate but started digging into the PC Odyssey battery manuals to see what was acceptable for a charge voltage and found these gems:

"(A) Selecting the right charger for your battery
Qualifying portable automotive and powersport chargers for your ODYSSEY battery is a simple two-step process.

Step 1 Charger output voltage

Determining the charger output voltage is the most important step in the charger quali cation process. If the voltage output from the charger is less than 14.2V or more than 15V for a 12V battery, then do not use the charger. "


and then this:

"Samples 1 and 2 were charged at 14.2V while Samples 3 and 4 were charged at 14.7V. All batteries were discharged.

30ax5ba.png



at 2.3A until the terminal voltage dropped to 10.02V and charged for 16 hours. In this particular test, a capacity of 11.5Ah corresponds to 100% capacity and 9.2Ah is 80% of rated capacity and the battery is considered to have reached end of life at that point.

The message to be taken from this graph is clear ? in deep cycling applications it is important to have the charge voltage set at 14.4 ? 15.0V. A nominal setting of 14.7V is a good choice, as shown by the test results."
 
Interesting. My JD charged at 14.8v but I was under the impression that the NAPA charged was something like 14.5v but that might be wrong.

Also, my JD had no pin markings but I understood the NAPA's were marked ...
 
.....has anyone seen a failure of a Ducati that is mounted under the avionics bay as per current plans?

I sure don't want to be the one who does....

Nothing like electrical smoke in the cockpit to get your attention really fast.
 
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