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cowl flap blowing fuse

alpinelakespilot2000

Well Known Member
Has anyone who has any AntiSplat cowl flap had any issues with their flap blowing a fuse? I just installed mine. It seems to work fine on the bench connected to a power supply or 9V battery un-fused, but once installed in the aircraft with a 1A fuse, the fuse keeps blowing. (Even tried a 2A and 3A fuse briefly, but they blew too.)

I'm assuming its something with my installation, but just thought I'd check before bothering Allan.
 
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Does it get to full open or full closed then blow the fuse, or is it at an intermediate point? If the latter, does it blow at he same point every time? There could be a point that is shorted in the actuator that gets past when not fused, but gives a temporary short, blowing the fuse.
 
Has anyone who has any AntiSplat cowl flap had any issues with their flap blowing a fuse? I just installed mine. It seems to work fine on the bench connected to a power supply or 9V battery un-fused, but once installed in the aircraft with a 1A fuse, the fuse keeps blowing. (Even tried a 2A and 3A fuse briefly, but they blew too.)

I'm assuming its something with my installation, but just thought I'd check before bothering Allan.

... Very sorry to hear you are having difficulties! Take your multi meter and check the current draw. It should not exceed 300 mil amps each. if it does, check to see it is moving freely and not binding at some point. What size fuse is inline? If you can't find the problem give us a call. Thanks, Allan...:D
 
... Very sorry to hear you are having difficulties! Take your multi meter and check the current draw. It should not exceed 300 mil amps each. if it does, check to see it is moving freely and not binding at some point. What size fuse is inline? If you can't find the problem give us a call. Thanks, Allan...:D
Thanks Allan. Will do. Using a 1A fuse, though also tried a 2A with same result. I'll email you again after I've had a chance to investigate further. Thanks again.
 
I initially had the same problem...check your switch with a magnifying glass...I had a single wire filament shorting out across a terminal.
 
I initially had the same problem...check your switch with a magnifying glass...I had a single wire filament shorting out across a terminal.
Thanks. Good idea, because I was initially having trouble with the switch not lighting up the light when it was supposed to. I re-soldered and thought I had it better because I got the light to work properly, but that could still be the issue. I have a B&C switch with normal fast-on tabs on order to rule in/out that possibility.

BTW, Allan has been always very prompt on replying to emails for help, and I've always been at least a bit electrically challenged, so I hope no one takes this as a knock on his products. Other than a little bit of filing/sanding that needed to be done to eliminate some binding, at worst I have a bad switch (or switch connection).
 
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Just to close out this thread...

With Allan's help, I tracked the possible problems down to either a cowl flap that came new with a bit too much binding in the movement, one with a bad motor, and/or possible builder installation error. In any case, Allan was quick to voluntarily replace the full cowl flap at no charge, I simply dropped the new one into my existing cutout, and have been flying for the past week or so with absolutely no problems.

The bonus... the cowl flap seems to work very nicely at keeping climb temps in check on a hot day!

I can't say enough about Allan's customer service. Would absolutely recommend doing business with AntiSplat!
 
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