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voltage adjustment

13.7 is not enough? That appears to be a pretty good charge rate. I don't know that it can be increased short of surgery. Talk to Joe Gores, he is the resident expert.
 
I believe that the voltage should be between 14.0 & 14.2. In any case, the Dynon shows it usually in the yellow zone and I'd like it to be green.

Thanks for your quick response.
 
You might want to rig up some temporary test wires and check the charging voltage at the battery with a multimeter as an independent check before messing with anything. I have no direct knowledge of the Dynon unit, but such instruments with multiple power inputs often have diodes inside that stop current from going in unwanted directions but also drop the incoming voltage down by 0.5 volts or so, which is exactly the discrepancy you are concerned about here. In short, 13.7 V may be completely normal.

erich
 
I haven't done as you've suggested yet but I had planned to do just that. Excellent suggestion. Thanks.
 
The Dynon will show lower voltage. I have the ability to read actual volts as well as what shows on the engine monitor. Its always .5 volts less then actual.

George
 
No can do!

If you have a stock RV12 with the rotax engine then you cannot adjust the voltage.:D
 
I checked my RV-12 voltage with two meters, the engine off, master switch on and avionics on. One meter read 12.35 and the other read 12. 25. The meter average is 12.3. The Dynon D-180 voltage was 12.1 for a difference of 0.2 volts. While flying, my D-180 displays 13.6 volts. If the Dynon EMS voltmeter is anything like handheld digital voltmeters, there could very well be slight variations between Dynon units.
Batteries should be charged with a little over 14 volts. Once charged, a battery should be maintained at 13.2 volts. My Rotax starts so quickly that the battery is seldom discharged. So it does not require recharging, only maintaining. I bought a Schumacher 1562 battery charger-maintainer, for about $20 at Wal-Mart, for maintaining the battery voltage on the ground during periods of disuse. Bob Nuckolls at AeroElectric recommended it. I recommend his website for gaining knowledge about aircraft electrical systems.http://forums.matronics.com/viewforum.php?f=3
I think that the Rotax voltage regulator installed in the RV-12 puts out adequate voltage at 13.6 or above as displayed on the Dynon. More voltage is not necessarily better and could do more harm than good.
For those who wish to boost the regulator output voltage, I have an idea but have never actually tried it: Connect a diode in series with the small yellow wire that goes to the regulator "C" terminal (Voltage Sense). The diode arrow (banded end) should point towards the regulator. The voltage-sense wire in the original avionics package is not protected by a fuse.
Sometimes voltage regulators put out too high of a voltage. This can be caused by a loose or corroded connection someplace in the voltage-sense wire or between the regulator case and ground.
Joe Gores
 
On the Skyview you can alter the range at which the displayed screen value shows in a yellow alarm format. That is DIFFERENT than altering the actual charging value! That may be what you are talking about. I do not know if you can alter it (essentially the alarm setpoint) on the D-180.
 
Mich48041 said:
Batteries should be charged with a little over 14 volts.

I think that the Rotax voltage regulator installed in the RV-12 puts out adequate voltage at 13.6 or above as displayed on the Dynon. More voltage is not necessarily better and could do more harm than good.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I am quibbling over half a volt, but these statements seem inconsistent with each other , and the difference was what the original poster's concern was about

erich
 
Mich48041 said:
I checked my RV-12 voltage with two meters, the engine off, master switch on and avionics on. One meter read 12.35 and the other read 12. 25. The meter average is 12.3. The Dynon D-180 voltage was 12.1 for a difference of 0.2 volts. While flying, my D-180 displays 13.6 volts. If the Dynon EMS voltmeter is anything like handheld digital voltmeters, there could very well be slight variations between Dynon units.
Batteries should be charged with a little over 14 volts. Once charged, a battery should be maintained at 13.2 volts. My Rotax starts so quickly that the battery is seldom discharged. So it does not require recharging, only maintaining. I bought a Schumacher 1562 battery charger-maintainer, for about $20 at Wal-Mart, for maintaining the battery voltage on the ground during periods of disuse. Bob Nuckolls at AeroElectric recommended it. I recommend his website for gaining knowledge about aircraft electrical systems.http://forums.matronics.com/viewforum.php?f=3
I think that the Rotax voltage regulator installed in the RV-12 puts out adequate voltage at 13.6 or above as displayed on the Dynon. More voltage is not necessarily better and could do more harm than good.
For those who wish to boost the regulator output voltage, I have an idea but have never actually tried it: Connect a diode in series with the small yellow wire that goes to the regulator "C" terminal (Voltage Sense). The diode arrow (banded end) should point towards the regulator. The voltage-sense wire in the original avionics package is not protected by a fuse.
Sometimes voltage regulators put out too high of a voltage. This can be caused by a loose or corroded connection someplace in the voltage-sense wire or between the regulator case and ground.
Joe Gores
Click to expand...

I told ya!
 
What I'm gathering is that there's no provision for voltage adjustment and that the Dynon reads .5 less than the actual voltage at the battery which for my case would be right where it should be for operational and charging purposes. If that's the case, then I'd like to change the green color span on the Dynon. I'm I correct in saying that I cannot, as an ELSA, gain access to change that span?
 
John Richard,
Right, there is no easy way to adjust the voltage. But the regulator is factory set for the correct voltage. Just because an instrument is digital does not necessarily mean that it is accurate. A calibrated voltmeter is needed to know for sure what the voltage really is.
If you have the Dynon D-180, here is how to set the voltage display colors:
Push button 5 (EMS)
MORE
SETUP
SENSOR
VOLTAGE
SEL

Joe Gores
 
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