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Garmin G3X Issues - Help

Pbr47906

Well Known Member
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Gentlemen,

I have been trying to configure a G3X vintage system for the last month and now I am to the point of desperately needed so help. I have worked with Jon at Garmin but to no avail although he has tried his best. Now I am seeking advice from this forum with my problem.

I can not get the red X to disappear on the Oil Pressure, Fuel Pressure and Manifold pressure. I have checked the pin-outs and continuity and found no issue. I have also took Jon's recommendation of disabling the sensors one of a time to see if that is the issue.

Has anyone had this issue? If you did, did you resolve it or jerk the system out of the airplane.

Thanks,

Ruley
 
Did you check that the GEA24 has a flashing green light on the LED indicator? Are any of the other sensors (temperature or voltage) indicating correctly? Purely a guess but I'm guessing some sort of CanBus issue. Look at the install manual (2.3.1.3.6 CAN Bus Troubleshooting) to see what I mean.
 
Don't throw it out just yet. I went through a three week nightmare:eek: with my classic G3x system that baffled the Garmin engineers. It turned out to be a corrupted file. It sounds similar to your problem.

Do you have a GSU73? What software version are you up to?

Send me a PM.
 
More information needed

Ruley,

Out of curiosity, did you reach out to Garmin over phone or the G3xpert email inbox? A question to the [email protected] email will generally get a quick response.

The one item that jumps out to me is that all three of these sensors (and probably only these sensors) use the same voltage source out of the GEA. Did you verify the voltage output from the GEA? How about the voltage back into the GEA from the sensor? These pressure sensors (provided they are the standard Kavlico sensors) output a simple voltage signal that is read by the GEA.

If you really want to get to the bottom of your issue, you would probably need to provide quite a bit more details on what you have tried and the configuration of your setup. At a minimum, you should provide the following information:

What GEA/GSU do you have?
What are the part numbers for the sensors in question?
What configuration settings have you configured on the display for the sensors?
Which pins on the GEA did you wire the sensors to and on which connector? Do other engine indications work?
Is your GEA communicating with the system?
What software version do you have on your GDU and GEA?
What troubleshooting steps have you taken already?

I understand the need to vent, but, honestly, working directly with Garmin is probably the fastest way to resolve your issue. If you have not provided all the information in the above questions, it would be hard for them to help you get to the bottom of the issue.

Thanks,
Levi
 
What was the outcome?

Ruley,

Did you get your issues figured out?

You said you were desperately needing help, but haven't even taken the time to answer some basic questions or give an update on this thread. Troubleshooting is almost always a back and forth discussion. Please provide an update when you get a chance.

Thanks,
Levi
 
Yes I did, and kicking myself for it now. I went back and reread, reread and then reread again and discovered that the gages are 5V units instead of 12V. Moved four pins and bingo, I have gages.

Now Im trying to get the Ray Allen trim servo to work with the grip switches. I have two SPDT switches and wired them as shown on the diagram. Nothing. Switched some wires nothing. Check voltage and continuity, all good. Then I just hooked up the rocker switch and it works great. So I again hooked up the grip switches. Nuttin!! Called Ray Allen and they said it should work, but said go ahead and install the cooley hats which means now I have purchase a relay that will need to be installed. It never ends with the airplane.
 
Good deal!

Ruley,

Good deal on the engine gauges. Thanks for the follow up.

Do you have a wiring diagrams for your switches? I am having trouble following your description of the issue on this one. A SPDT switch could only drive the trim one direction.
 
Troubleshooting steps

Here are some steps to help you troubleshoot. The trick with the SPDT switches is that the ground needs to come through the opposite switch. That means that the opposite switch from what you are pressing needs to be normally closed to ground.
1. Verify continuity (very low resistance) to ground with your multi-meter between airframe ground and the common (C) terminal with each switch in the "off" position. The common terminal on the each switch should be the output to the servo. Do this for each SPDT switch. If you don't see a ground, start trying to figure that out.
2. With aircraft power on, measure the voltage with reference to ground on the NO terminal of the switch. This is the power input to the switch. This should always be ~12V. Actuate the switch and ensure 12V on the Common terminal for the pressed switch. If you have 12V on one Common terminal and ground on the other, the motor should run.

My guess would be that your switches are not NC to the ground position.
 
Ray Allen Switch Grip - no relays

BTW -I used the standard RA buttons and grip and wired directly to the trim servo, no issues on the activation. One thing - I only used the pilots stick.
The standard momentary RA switches will handle the trim amperage.
 
Thanks

Levi,

That was exactly the case when I connected the SPDT switches as you suggested. The trim did work. Thanks.

As for now I'm planning to go ahead and install the Cooley Hat switches now that I have ordered the parts.

Ruley
 
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