SB and failure problems

We did the SB on my S-LSA on time on 12-6 and found the floats OK -- all four were within tolerances and on the port side the two were at 2.85 gm which I assume is perfect.

But!....big but...we found one of the floats on each side with a chaffing on one corner. This may be what is causing them to leak and get heavy. So it may be that I will have a problem with them before the next 60/25 window comes up again.

Then during the test flight after completing the SB the voltage regulator failed. It was hot to the touch when we removed the cowl. I'll get a new one tomorrow if I'm lucky. I had anticipated a voltage regulator problem when I get a second SkyView screen next month. But this failure was unexpected....and unacceptable.

So....my brand new S-LSA with 66.9 hours TT has turned out to be sick for the first hours and days. I hope that changes. If it doesn't I'm gonna be kinda tough to live with and I'm going to recommend to a lot of people that they don't buy a Rotax until they get their act together.


EBB:-(

1. What were your voltage regulator failure symptoms? (Mine failed at ~110 hours in the mode of not "kicking in" until the engine was warmed up and the throttle initially advanced beyond 3000 rpm)
2. I assume you have lights and the VR had the blast tube on it. Anything unusual about the blast tube connection and the cap - did that all seem to be well?
3. "Hot to the touch" would not be unusual depending on a variety of things.

We bought a top-of-the-line Kitchenaid dishwasher about 10 years ago. Washes dishes like crazy and is quiet. But after a couple of years, the spring-and-rope-and-hook gimmick that helps pull up the door failed. Bought a replacement part online (~$10) and it is about a 15 minute job to replace. Then the other side broke. Got another part and noticed the design was different. A couple of years pass and another break. Replacement part is now a 3rd design. Two more years, a 4th design. I think that they have finally gotten it right.

Now, if you listen to my wife, "The dishwasher breaks all the time. Wish I had bought a different one." I am quite of the opposite opinion. This is a minor annoyance of a component that I can tell is getting some engineering attention, of a whole device that works quite well and has for many years. I read some forums about other dishwashers and I don't see any at all where I would say "I'd like to trade my problems for those." Like, I'm really glad I don't have one of those Jabiru dishwashers.

EBB,

Feel your pain. My SLSA is at 78 hours and I have to see my mechanic Friday to look at another possible float issue, this time on the other carb.

What does Vans and Rotax say about warranty coverage for the VR? (Apart from the frustration of these things happening on a new airplane?

Has anyone heard of a V/R failure in the new location under the panel?

Bill:
Thanks for your interest.

Symptoms were amps going to minus 3 to 5 and battery voltage hovering about 12.2V at any RPM. It was obvious in a 15 minute flight that the alternator wasn't powering anything. I secured all power users except the radio....autopilot, strobes and lights (dangerous in our airspace here which is full of third world people learning, but not well, to fly C172s as a step toward AB 330s) and there was no change. When I got on the ground and pulled the top cowl off the VR was very hot....couldn't touch it. The blast tube is in tact and the connectors were not fried. So the problem is either the internal alternator of the VR and I think it's the VR....hope so too.

I too have had some of my wife's top of any line kitchen machines go belly up and sometimes right outa the box. In one case, a new Viking gas stove, where the company insisted that we had opened the crate and broken stuff. We finally got that fixed. But that wasn't a new airplane.

The RV12 is my eighth airplane, sometimes three at at time, in the last 50 years of flying. I have been a full time airport bum and daily aviator half of those years. I have restored two antiques and helped maintain just about any small airplane you can name. I flew our beloved V35A for 3000 hours in 30 wonderful years with trips all over the Western and central U.S., Mexico and Canada. I am an old CFI. I taught our son to fly and he's now an A&P and owner of two airplanes in the hangar next door. I have managed in flight frights and emergencies a lot....some would make your hair stand on end There are three very beautiful ladies currently flying as Captain in large Boeings whom I taught.

I love to fly and I love to fly the RV12. But it ain't living up to it's potential. I hope that changes.

EBB

Bill_H said:

1. What were your voltage regulator failure symptoms? (Mine failed at ~110 hours in the mode of not "kicking in" until the engine was warmed up and the throttle initially advanced beyond 3000 rpm)
2. I assume you have lights and the VR had the blast tube on it. Anything unusual about the blast tube connection and the cap - did that all seem to be well?
3. "Hot to the touch" would not be unusual depending on a variety of things.

We bought a top-of-the-line Kitchenaid dishwasher about 10 years ago. Washes dishes like crazy and is quiet. But after a couple of years, the spring-and-rope-and-hook gimmick that helps pull up the door failed. Bought a replacement part online (~$10) and it is about a 15 minute job to replace. Then the other side broke. Got another part and noticed the design was different. A couple of years pass and another break. Replacement part is now a 3rd design. Two more years, a 4th design. I think that they have finally gotten it right.

Now, if you listen to my wife, "The dishwasher breaks all the time. Wish I had bought a different one." I am quite of the opposite opinion. This is a minor annoyance of a component that I can tell is getting some engineering attention, of a whole device that works quite well and has for many years. I read some forums about other dishwashers and I don't see any at all where I would say "I'd like to trade my problems for those." Like, I'm really glad I don't have one of those Jabiru dishwashers.

Click to expand...

Dave12 said:

Has anyone heard of a V/R failure in the new location under the panel?

Click to expand...

You will have to wait a bit more but they sure will happen because:
- Convection cooling is not as effective as forced air cooling
- Convection cooling is even less effective upside down on the bottom of a shelf where the hot air has nowhere to go but down.

Ex Bonanza Bucko said:

Symptoms were amps going to minus 3 to 5 and battery voltage hovering about 12.2V at any RPM. It was obvious in a 15 minute flight that the alternator wasn't powering anything. I secured all power users except the radio....autopilot, strobes and lights (dangerous in our airspace here which is full of third world people learning, but not well, to fly C172s as a step toward AB 330s) and there was no change. When I got on the ground and pulled the top cowl off the VR was very hot....couldn't touch it. The blast tube is in tact and the connectors were not fried. So the problem is either the internal alternator of the VR and I think it's the VR....hope so too.

I love to fly and I love to fly the RV12. But it ain't living up to it's potential. I hope that changes.

EBB

Click to expand...

Bucko,

Please keep us posted on the fix.
Personally, the electrical system on the Rotax 912 ULS leaves a lot to be desired. Another reason to take it E-LSA.