gblwy
Well Known Member
Hi,
After 7 years of service the plane suffered a complete electrical failure after switching off the Master Switch, or possibly at the subsequent switch on. There was no sign of life whatsoever. The battery was fully charged.
After significant diagnosis the fault was isolated to the control module, with a suspicion that the master switch was the culprit. In fact the switch was OK but one of the PCB tracks in the vicinity of the switch was found to be bubbling, a sign of excessive heat. The cooling fans were working correctly.
A competent electronics friend spotted the problem, and repaired it by soldering a wire to bypass the bad area. This involved removing the back plate from the module, and temporarily removing the large capacitor to allow access to the affected area. His view was that the track size was marginal, having measured the current flow.
The plane is now up and running but it begs the question what happens if the module has to be repaired/replaced. Can a replacement be ordered, and at what potential cost bearing in mind that this unit is no longer supplied? Should this, unusual, problem be formally reported to Vans? Scott?
Incidentally, all of the switches are soldered to the PCB and are therefore not readily replaceable. And for the same reason the PCB is not readily accessible for inspection or repair.
Thanks...Keith Boardman
After 7 years of service the plane suffered a complete electrical failure after switching off the Master Switch, or possibly at the subsequent switch on. There was no sign of life whatsoever. The battery was fully charged.
After significant diagnosis the fault was isolated to the control module, with a suspicion that the master switch was the culprit. In fact the switch was OK but one of the PCB tracks in the vicinity of the switch was found to be bubbling, a sign of excessive heat. The cooling fans were working correctly.
A competent electronics friend spotted the problem, and repaired it by soldering a wire to bypass the bad area. This involved removing the back plate from the module, and temporarily removing the large capacitor to allow access to the affected area. His view was that the track size was marginal, having measured the current flow.
The plane is now up and running but it begs the question what happens if the module has to be repaired/replaced. Can a replacement be ordered, and at what potential cost bearing in mind that this unit is no longer supplied? Should this, unusual, problem be formally reported to Vans? Scott?
Incidentally, all of the switches are soldered to the PCB and are therefore not readily replaceable. And for the same reason the PCB is not readily accessible for inspection or repair.
Thanks...Keith Boardman
