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GRT Sport EFIS intermittent dead....

David-aviator

Well Known Member
I have had 2 events now where GRT Sport EFIS would not light off after restart on cross country. In both cases, the dimly lit background GRT was visible but that was it.

I have steam gage ASI and ALT plus old back up Garmin 295 and Trio autopilot so flying home was no big deal.

After shut down at home, switched master on and GRT Sport EFIS came to life normal!

Does anyone have a clue as to what is going on?
 
Sport sx

I suggest you call GRT Wednesday and ask, but mine did the same thing in May, sent it in fixed and returned in 7 days, about $150. Including freight. Some kind of internal failure.

Fred.
 
One more thing

What is your EIS voltage vs EFIS Voltage? If EFIS voltage falls below 10 volts it will go dark.
 
What he said

David,

I second Tex's advice to call GRT.
Mine failed similarly last spring. Great service from GRT and had it back in a week. Never interrupted my flying.

Have/will always commend GRT on their great service and support.
 
I spoke with GRT tech support yesterday and Sport EFIS has been shipped for repair. He said something about video cable (?) did not really get into it. He said easy fix.

I also arranged to pick it up at OSH, they will bring it.

Off to AK tomorrow via Alaska Airlines, will return on the 21st after visit with 3 brothers for some fishing and story telling and beer and BBQ. :)

Then proceeding to OSH, looking forward to seeing some of you at Dan's annual gathering on the 24th.
 
The same thing happened to one of my Sport HS's about 6 months ago. It appeared as if the backlight to the LED wasn't working. I opened up the EFIS and reseated all of the cables going to the LCD. It worked perfectly up until I fried my electrical system via a load dump! :eek:
 
Internal Video Cable

I happen to come across this thread. Yes, it the video cable on a prior version of the Sport EFIS hardware has been known to develop an intermittent connection, typically at the LCD end.

Since we saw this failure mode more than once, we looked into it. We could not find anything wrong, as far as us specifying the wrong type connector, connector plating, etc, but the connector can develop an unreliable connection after many years in service. It isn't likely, but since we have so many Sport in the field, it does happen.

The customer who in-plugged it, and plugged it back in, likely did fix it. We apply an anti-corrosion chemical to the connector when we repair it (and we replace the cable as a safeguard, but we don't think the cable is actually at fault...more likely the connector on the LCD screen). But when we find this, unplugging and reconnecting the connector always seems to fix it.

I wanted to post something to let users know that it we investigated this because it was a repeated failure, which is not common, and if it occurs, it does not damage any hardware in the EFIS.

Interestingly, my G430 did the same thing, but I was able to squeeze the bottom/front of the case, which apparently moved the LCD cable slightly, and restored it to normal operation. Whew! I was happy, as I think their bench charge is slightly higher.

The LCD connector end of our LCD video cable is buried under a pc board, making it necessary to disassemble some of the Sport to reach it.

Thanks
Greg Toman
 
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