We had two failing regulators in 300 hours.
Both just quit during cruise flight and not in extreme ambient temperatures or high engine loads.
The effect was the current reading going from -13 to + 1 Amp and back all the time in a period of a few seconds.
On the last one I installed a number of thermo strips and found the all time max (over more than one year) has been 82 degrees C. This is with all options installed and active.
The official spec says max 90 degrees C but more sensible is not to exceed 80 which it did more or less.
I made a full test setup with a car battery ; large AC transformer 22volts @30 Amps max to sumulate the real thing.
I used a car headligth as a load at the battery.
What I find on both broken regulators is that when activated the charge current is about 1 Amp and stable with no battery load. When I load the battery with the lamp the regulator charges about 13 Amps which is correct. When I remove the load the charge current starts hunting between 0 and a few amps which dies not stop until I disconnect the source power (transformer)
Installed the third one now and improved the airflow into the blow tube.
I don't like the idea of the regulator inside and await the results of others who did this.
A better regulator such as the John Deere seems like a good alternative. Anybody using it for some time now? It is easier to get and cheaper.
Both just quit during cruise flight and not in extreme ambient temperatures or high engine loads.
The effect was the current reading going from -13 to + 1 Amp and back all the time in a period of a few seconds.
On the last one I installed a number of thermo strips and found the all time max (over more than one year) has been 82 degrees C. This is with all options installed and active.
The official spec says max 90 degrees C but more sensible is not to exceed 80 which it did more or less.
I made a full test setup with a car battery ; large AC transformer 22volts @30 Amps max to sumulate the real thing.
I used a car headligth as a load at the battery.
What I find on both broken regulators is that when activated the charge current is about 1 Amp and stable with no battery load. When I load the battery with the lamp the regulator charges about 13 Amps which is correct. When I remove the load the charge current starts hunting between 0 and a few amps which dies not stop until I disconnect the source power (transformer)
Installed the third one now and improved the airflow into the blow tube.
I don't like the idea of the regulator inside and await the results of others who did this.
A better regulator such as the John Deere seems like a good alternative. Anybody using it for some time now? It is easier to get and cheaper.