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Hartzell Plane Power Alternators

T

togaflyer

Well Known Member
I originally had a Plane Power 60 amp main alternator and their Fly Save alternator in my RV 10. I purchased both in late 2016, but the plane did not go operational until early 2018. Just past 400 hours, the main failed. That was the approximate number of hours (that has been talked about on the forum) when the PP alternator would fail. It did. I replaced that with a B and C alternator. Not long after that, the Fly Safe failed and had to be replaced, which was past the warranty period. So I just installed a new PP Fly Safe. I did not want to hassle installing another OV relay and the wiring required. My bad. With less than 200 hours and two years, the spider gear (shear part) failed on the new one. I returned it to Hartzell PP, along with my concerns about the failure and requested that the alternator be thoroughly inspected to ascertain if there was anything deeper that caused the this failure. After two weeks I called PP warranty and service department since I did not hear back from them. I was told the alternator had been inspected and the part replaced and it was being shipped back. When I got it back, all they did was drop a new spider shear part in and a quick bench test. The technician did not ever bother cleaning the mounting base of the remaining gasket material or some black unidentified rubber material. I plan to roll with this alternator until it fails again (and the warranty has expired). Then I will go with the B and C version of it. I have no faith in either the Plane Power product or their warranty service. After three separate failures with their product and the poor warranty service. I’m done.

Also, I purchased an accessory gear cover and gasket to have on hand. When the time comes and I need to pull that alternator again, I won’t be grounded for weeks. I can toss the cover on until I install a replacement.
 
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Right on par with dynon, ship back the same junk I sent them under warrenty without fixing it, not how to gain loyal customers. They screw themselves I am now a loyal GRT customer.
 
On a sidenote, my Cessna has a Delco alternator and it does not have overvoltage protection, no problems with any avionics using that alternator, the dynon issue in last post was broke from out of the box not alternator related.
 
Update……After dealing with the poor customer service provided by Hartzell Plane Power warranty service center. They are cancelled! I will not install another Plane Power part on my engine.
 
I guess I'm just lucky. My RV7 Plane Power 60AMP is coming up on 1000 hours. I have never had a certified or experimental alternator go that long Before. PS wife and I have owned 23 planes so far.......
 
My RV7 has just passed 2000h/16y with 2x original B&C alts still operating.
I wonder how many 2k hour PPs there are out there? Genuine question.
 
All I want is a dependable alternator with servicing data, a parts manual, and parts I can buy through several distributors and/or from the OEM.

Too mush to ask for these days.
 
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