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Screen too Dark to read in cold

RV6_flyer

RV6_flyer

Well Known Member
Benefactor
Have had the airplane in some Cold weather this past week. Cold as in 35 on the ramp over night.

No issues starting but my Dynon EMS D-10 screen was too dark to read. It was very dim and could make out that I had oil and fuel pressure but too dark to fly.

After 18-minutes of warm up, the screen did get readable but IMHO, was too dark and not normal. After flying in -3 C OAT and the engine warming up enough for the cabin heat to take the chill out the cockpit, the display did get to normal brightness.

I just relocated the airplane to a COLD climate. Is this a problem that others have or is it time for me to send the unit back to Dynon? Had known that there were going to be display readable problems, I would have purchased a different manufacturers EMS to replace my Rocky Mountain microMonitor.
 
Gary,

I am not 100% sure but I think the EFIS-D10A/EMS-D10/EFIS-D6 have fluorescent backlights. Could be the reason for the dimness till they warm up.

The are rated to -30C however so there may be an issue with yours.

When I had my D100/D120 combo, never had any major issues like you are describing. I ran mine in the hangar a couple times at about -18C. They were slightly dimmer than normal but quickly warmed up to normal.

I would call Dynon and run it by them...
 
Hey Gary - Louise had a couple of early generation D-10 backlight failures. Is your unit old? Hers worked fine for the last five or six years, so Dynon apparently solved the problem - but early units might still be susceptible? I'd check with Dynon.
 
Been flying with a D-10 (upgraded later to a D-10A) in Wisconsin winters for 10 years and never had this problem. I suspect a bad screen.

Oh, and 35 is not cold weather. Sorry:)
 
sprucemoose said:
Oh, and 35 is not cold weather. Sorry:)
Click to expand...

No kidding! That's practically tropical compared to our winter temps up here! Any system that starts crapping out at 35 F wouldn't be on a plane at our latitude for very long:) For what it's worth, my hangar partner has a D100 and I've never heard him complain of having a problem with screen brightness at any temps that we actually fly in.
 
Don't have a Dynon so I can't speak with any authority on them, however...some of the large corporate jets I fly have a suggestion to not turn the display on if the cockpit is too cold or too hot. Basically they say if you are not comfortable, leave the displays off until you have conditioned to cabin. The displays will work but they say it improves the display longevity and they are constantly in the list of the top 10 removals on the airplane.
Now, how do you translate that to RV usage. That's the question.
 
Gary,
That isn't normal, and as someone said, 35 isn't cold, unless you forgot a minus sign in front of it!

We test every device here to temperatures much colder than this. We also have thousands of EFIS units in the field in places like Northern Minnesota and they work fine. So something is up with your unit.

The only thing I could think that might not be a issue with the unit is if it was somehow set to dim and had nothing to do with the temp. Did you happen to try pressing BRIGHT or do you happen to have an HS34 or AP74 which can auto dim the screen?
 
My experience with that D10 series box in my old RV6 has been that it takes weather down in the single digits or below zero for it to get to that point (and have it soaked for some time at those temps). In my case, I can only be comfortable down to the single digits without many extra layers of cloths anyway, so it hasn't been a very common occurrence! Tonight is supposed to get down to the single digits and tomorrow night around zero, so I'll go check these again...but so far it's like I said. It has to be REALLY cold for it to get that bad - and at those temps a whole bunch of things get cranky.

I'd give Dynon or that darned dealer who sold you that (especially since that darned dealer has some cold weather experience with said box) a call and have them get you fixed up! :)

Cheers,
Stein
 
Cold...

RV6_flyer said:
Have had the airplane in some Cold weather this past week. Cold as in 35 on the ramp over night.

No issues starting but my Dynon EMS D-10 screen was too dark to read. It was very dim and could make out that I had oil and fuel pressure but too dark to fly.

After 18-minutes of warm up, the screen did get readable but IMHO, was too dark and not normal. After flying in -3 C OAT and the engine warming up enough for the cabin heat to take the chill out the cockpit, the display did get to normal brightness.

I just relocated the airplane to a COLD climate. Is this a problem that others have or is it time for me to send the unit back to Dynon? Had known that there were going to be display readable problems, I would have purchased a different manufacturers EMS to replace my Rocky Mountain microMonitor.
Click to expand...

Missing SoCal already?

Skylor
 
I just got my new Dynon D6 to replace the Gemini PFD and I left it in the hangar sitting in the airplane for the past 2 days.

Today it was in the mid 50's all day and tonight it is 45?F.

When I turned the unit on using the backup battery which is at 15v, the screen was so dim I could barely see it.

This was not my experience with the D100/D120 series.

I left it on for about 15 minutes and it never did warm up much. I sat it in front of a space heater and as it warmed up, it got back to normal brightness.

So is this normal for the D10A/D6 or ???
 
gerrychuck said:
No kidding! That's practically tropical compared to our winter temps up here! Any system that starts crapping out at 35 F wouldn't be on a plane at our latitude for very long:) For what it's worth, my hangar partner has a D100 and I've never heard him complain of having a problem with screen brightness at any temps that we actually fly in.
Click to expand...

I hear you Gerry. Just checked and it's warmed up to -26C (-15F) here right now.

My general rule is that I stop flying around -10C. Before that, it's some of the best flying out there. Plane performs awesome in the thick air, usually smooth as silk (no thermals), and less busy at the airport. Much colder than that and it's hard on equipment and chilly in the cockpit.

J.
 
I have a D6, at 45F it is not dim.
I can't recall the full voltage of the Li battery, was it fully charged?
 
BobTurner said:
I have a D6, at 45F it is not dim.
I can't recall the full voltage of the Li battery, was it fully charged?
Click to expand...

No it was not. Dynon has historically said that the internal D??? battery is > or = 16v. Dynon recommends fully charging before deciding there is an issue and I will follow their recommendation.

I don't have ship power to it yet so I could not try the main battery.

It did however warm up and go to normal brightness after I heated it up with a space heater.

I will follow their recommendations and report back. Hopefully this is a non issue....
 
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dynonsupport said:
Gary,
That isn't normal, and as someone said, 35 isn't cold, unless you forgot a minus sign in front of it!

We test every device here to temperatures much colder than this. We also have thousands of EFIS units in the field in places like Northern Minnesota and they work fine. So something is up with your unit.

The only thing I could think that might not be a issue with the unit is if it was somehow set to dim and had nothing to do with the temp. Did you happen to try pressing BRIGHT or do you happen to have an HS34 or AP74 which can auto dim the screen?
Click to expand...

SteinAir said:
My experience with that D10 series box in my old RV6 has been that it takes weather down in the single digits or below zero for it to get to that point (and have it soaked for some time at those temps). In my case, I can only be comfortable down to the single digits without many extra layers of cloths anyway, so it hasn't been a very common occurrence! Tonight is supposed to get down to the single digits and tomorrow night around zero, so I'll go check these again...but so far it's like I said. It has to be REALLY cold for it to get that bad - and at those temps a whole bunch of things get cranky.

I'd give Dynon or that darned dealer who sold you that (especially since that darned dealer has some cold weather experience with said box) a call and have them get you fixed up! :)

Cheers,
Stein
Click to expand...

I left the airplane in a borrowed Pennsylvania hangar after I posted this and traveled Southwest Airlines back to Kalifornia.

Display was kind too dim to find the brightness. After it warmed up, I went through the menu to the brightness and turned it as bright as it would go. No change in display brightness.

When I get back in PA in a few weeks, I will do some more testing and phone the manufacturer. Would like to fly but not knowing what engine parameters are is a show stopper. With the holidays, nothing may get done till the first week of next year. I know that working people like to take off around the end / beginning of the new year with the holidays.

Still looking for my own hangar / workshop in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I am starting to see the need for an insulated and heated hangar like Jeff Point has for the northern locations. May have to find a place in TX, AZ, or UT that has warmer winter weather for the cold season. Must be a state like PA, TX, AZ, and UT that value the 2nd amendment and unlike Kalifornia that does not.

Yes Mike, I retired. PA like TX, has no income tax on retirement income.

Still packing up the last 20-years of stuff in my hangar.
 
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Did more testing this afternoon with a ~ 35°F cold soaked D6.

Just as Dynon had reported, when firing up on the internal backup battery that they said was almost depleted, the unit fires up but is very dim. Almost unreadable. It does not warm up on its own at least not in 15 minutes I waited. This tells me that when the battery is down, don't expect a normal screen when the unit is cold.

Now after that I plugged the unit into 15V on the main power connector and it instantly went to normal brightness.

It is my understanding that the full charge of the internal backup battery is > = 16v and that was normal back in my D100 days. Dynon tells me that the screen will react normally with a fully charged backup battery.

So I consider the case closed on this non-issue. It is working as designed. I should not have any problems in normal use.

Thanks Dynon support.
 
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