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Story of an Alternator partial failure

Already did

Same thing happened to me on my first one. They gave me a part number when it broke again but I was unable to find it on ACS. I'll call them again.
 
Bryan,
While you have the alternator apart, check the bearing under the brush assembly. My shroud was also cracked so I pulled the brushes and checked the bearing. It was spinning in the bore of the case. I suspect that an out of balance condition and the slop in the bearing caused the failure of the shroud. I posted a write up on it somewhere on VAF.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=149924&highlight=Plane+power
 
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Washers

We found that the base stud/ sleeve the shroud mates with to be to small of surface against shroud. We removed shroud and put small washers on under side of shroud to alternator which solved our issue. I believe they over tighten these screws from manufacturer and compromise shroud but washers spread surface on the thin shroud. Hope this makes sense:)
 
PP alternator failure

My PP 60A alternator failed after 3 engine starts. The field cct fuse blew. I replaced it and next time saw the amps climb through to the red zone and the fuse tripped again. My B&C BU alt worked fine. Being from Canada and not wanting to deal with customs and expensive shipping I took it in to a local alternator shop. They tested it and found a shorted rectifier which they felt took out the regulator. Parts were common automotive parts. OK now for the past 30 hrs.
Al
RV4 Sold
RV7 Flying
 
Partial alternatorfailure at 245 hrs

Thanks to this thread I have determined what is wrong with my transponder, or battery, or VPX Pro...nothing!!! The PP 60 amp alternator that was standard in the RV-10 FWF kit had a partial failure.

For the last 6 months or so the Dynon transponder would trip at random times during nearly every flight. I thought it may have been because of a software update that was done around the same time that would cause the transponder to momentarily draw more current than the 3 amp VPX circuit would allow. I changed it to a 5 amp circuit and the problem persisted. I brought up the VPX page on the AFS EFIS and once saw 37 amps reported on the transponder circuit, ridiculous considering the 20 awg power wires would have become a fusible link at that point but they were fine. With the engine running the voltage was solid at 14.2 and the amps reading looked normal giving me no reason to suspect the alternator.

Then my ETX1200 battery light started constantly flashing. I would charge it on the ground, go flying for a couple hours and by the time I got home the light was flashing again. Obviously a problem with the battery right? Not cool for a very expensive battery that was under 2 years old.

So I pulled the battery and sent it to EarthX last week, installed a PC680 so I wasn't grounded. The next flight the problem with the transponder became constant. I reset it and it would immediately trip. I guess the EarthX battery was providing some masking of the problem.

So Then I found this thread. Today I removed the fairly young Plane power alternator and took it to an alternator shop. They tested it and it showed a problem. They took it apart and found one stator wire broken off that also took out a portion of the rectifier. It is currently still at the shop and they are trying to repair it. The stator is a uni-point part and apparently difficult to find in the aftermarket.

There are no problems with the bearings. For a background on my plane the prop was balanced to .03 IPS before first flight 2 years ago and was checked at the same during the 2 subsequent annual inspections (I have a smart avionics PB3 dynamic balancer). The belt was also torqued properly so neither of those were causes of this failure.

If the lifespan of a PP alternator is somewhere around 200 hours I think I need to look for a different product. Maybe an automotive unit would be better since they would be easy to source just about anywhere. The alternator shop showed me a 14757 that is mentioned elsewhere in the forums but it is larger and heavier than the PP. I'm open to other suggestions.

Colin
 
Do yourself a favor and purchase a B andC alternator and regulator. Yes it will take a little longer to replace due to the external voltage regulator, but it will be worth it!
 
I sent B and C an email a few minutes ago. When I determine what model I need I'll be making an order. After reading threads here and elsewhere it seems like the PP units have a short life expectancy.
 
Do yourself a favor and purchase a B andC alternator and regulator. Yes it will take a little longer to replace due to the external voltage regulator, but it will be worth it!

Same thing happened to me after 500 hours. I now have a B & C to match my B & C secondary alternator. No problems now!!
 
My RV-10 draws 7-8 amps once the battery is replenished. I have a 25 amp Honda alternator and am very happy.

I spent the last 10 years with a Grumman Tiger that ran a Ford alternator off a 1970 F100 with air conditioning.

No high dollar aviation alternators for me...
 
My RV-10 draws 7-8 amps once the battery is replenished. I have a 25 amp Honda alternator and am very happy.

I spent the last 10 years with a Grumman Tiger that ran a Ford alternator off a 1970 F100 with air conditioning.

No high dollar aviation alternators for me...

Same here. 600 hours on my automotive alternator without a hiccup. You couldn't pay me to install a PP alternator based upon all of the problems I have read about. Clearly they have some serious design flaws.

Larry
 
Same here. My B&C Alt was installed in my RV8 in 2000. 1500 hrs and 18 years later, not even a hiccup.

Zack
 
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