AeroVee Charging issues

[LarryEWaiex121]

Few quick questions for those gurus of the AeroVee charging.
I have an AeroVee in a Onex I purchased as a project plane. Plane was flying previous to a less than perfect landing which resulted in some trashed parts.
Skip forward four months and I now have it flying and performing quite well. Only issue is no charge.
The system is so simple I'm surprised to be in this situation.
The alternator was replaced because it got chewed to death by the screws backing out. Obviously the original engine builder and the subsequent airframe builder never caught the service bulletin. That has been dealt with but still no charge.
Part of my plan to improve every aspect of this aircraft is to remove ship in a bottle problems. The reg/rectifier was installed with bolts, nuts and spacers on the firewall. I ended up using a fiberwheel cutoff on a die grinder to cut the bolt tops off. No access to the nuts in front of the tank and I was more than willing to sacrifice $1 worth of bolts. I installed RivNuts so no rear access needed to replace Reg/Rectifier,
Now to the "what I did" part. Thinking this part was failed I ordered an Amazon regulator that fits Kawasaki Twins with a rated 20 Amp Charge capacity.
I'm hoping today to roll this out of the hanger and see if I'm seeing more voltage on the Stratomaster instrument.
As matters stand now, all I'm seeing is battery voltage and it constantly falls as one might expect a no charge situation to show. I get about an hour until the battery hits 12.3V. Full charge on the Odessey battery normally shows 12.94V fresh off the charger.
If I do get charge with the new regulator it might be prudent to purchase the Sonex supplied part. I simply couldn't see throwing down $90 with shipping to see if this indeed the issue with charging.
Virtually all these sealed, potted regulator/retifiers come from someplace you can barely pronounce. Anyone think there is a significant difference in quality?
Larry
Onex serial #0038

[Bryan Cotton]

Larry,
Check out this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7412

Also this helpful bit of info from Gregg:

Good point Keith. Does anyone know what the voltage and current out of the stator is?

approx 23v to 27v AC at 3000 RPM when measuring across the alternator leads by themselves disconnected from the regulator. Just did that awhile back when checking my regulator circuit. That would be no load so current not a factor with that measurement.

I'd check the AC voltage first. I'd also run a real ground to the regulator. I have not tried the new Sonex VR with the ground. If the AC voltage is wrong, I'd suspect the magnets in the flywheel are installed wrong, as you have a new stator.

[LarryEWaiex121]

Bryan,

Added a ground to the regulator rectifier and ran engine on ground for about 5 minutes at up to 3000 rpm.
Battery voltage never budged.
The plane has an older Stratomaster Infinity E-1 Engine moniter. It displays voltage, flight time and hobbs when engine not running. The only way to see voltage after engine running is to turn knob back two clicks counter clockwise. Bizarrely, the battery measures 12.94 off the charger at the battery. With the engine running and panel operating, its normally about 12.5-12.6 at same level of charge. Seems like considerable loss in the system?
After about 5 minutes of running at various speeds and voltage never moved so I'm thinking there is no charge.
I'm spoiled by my Dynon Skyview in my Waiex because it shows voltage and amp draw at all times. No amp draw on this Onex setup. No shunt to measure draw.
I'll have to keep tinkering on this. Plane is great but having to charge battery every hour isn't the answer.

Larry

[Bryan Cotton]

Larry,
I still recommend checking AC voltage. You only need two male spade connectors on some scrap wire, and run them into the cockpit. Tape them to your voltmeter leads and you are good to go. If you lose your RPM signal just go WOT, static RPM should be around 3000. The AC source is the first step in the chain.

[tps8903]

Bryan,

Added a ground to the regulator rectifier and ran engine on ground for about 5 minutes at up to 3000 rpm.
Battery voltage never budged.
The plane has an older Stratomaster Infinity E-1 Engine moniter. It displays voltage, flight time and hobbs when engine not running. The only way to see voltage after engine running is to turn knob back two clicks counter clockwise. Bizarrely, the battery measures 12.94 off the charger at the battery. With the engine running and panel operating, its normally about 12.5-12.6 at same level of charge. Seems like considerable loss in the system?
After about 5 minutes of running at various speeds and voltage never moved so I'm thinking there is no charge.
I'm spoiled by my Dynon Skyview in my Waiex because it shows voltage and amp draw at all times. No amp draw on this Onex setup. No shunt to measure draw.
I'll have to keep tinkering on this. Plane is great but having to charge battery every hour isn't the answer.

Larry

FWIW, I tried a non Sonex VR and burned my alternator up. I'm not suggesting that all non-sonex VR will do this, but I learned my lesson about using other parts. I am very careful when I do.

That being said. I went back to the Sonex VR. The most I ever see on my MGL is 13.2V, but it usually hovers around 13.0V. Interestingly, the MGL V10 radio I have also displays voltage on the bottom bar. That one shows 13.4V regularly. I tend to believe the radio Voltage as it's closer to the measured voltage on the battery with a volt meter.

I have no idea why my RDAC is reading the voltage a slight bit lower, but there is no question that there is a discrepancy between sources. So I use my RDAC voltage as a trend meter. If it stays steady, the battery is fine. If I see it trend below 12.7V, which it never does, then I have to start looking to land.

No idea if this will help you, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[gammaxy]

That being said. I went back to the Sonex VR. The most I ever see on my MGL is 13.2V, but it usually hovers around 13.0V. Interestingly, the MGL V10 radio I have also displays voltage on the bottom bar. That one shows 13.4V regularly. I tend to believe the radio Voltage as it's closer to the measured voltage on the battery with a volt meter.

I see the same sort of discrepancy. I haven't dug in to understand why, but I also tend to trust the radio.

[LarryEWaiex121]

Well after chasing my tail for days and various experiments, I finally settled on what seemed to be the issue.
The heavy 8ga. wire that comes off the regulator and to the battery was not making good contact. The tab seemed to be reasonably secure on the spade but indeed wasn't making a good connection.
I gently crimped the connector and applied new heat shrink around the connector. I had a pretty good tug of war with the connector and getting it back on the spade. That and a light coating of dielectric gel and I appear to have a charge going on. The reason I say appears because I haven't had a chance to actually fly for an hour and see if the voltage stays up under real life conditions.
I ground ran with the tail tied to my pick up and held a steady 3000 rpm for several minutes. I noticed per someone's suggestion to cycle the secondary ignition off and the voltage immediately jumped .3 of a volt.
At the start of my run the voltage after start on the Stratomaster was showing 12.5V. After the short ground run it was up to 12.8V so I'm saying its trending the right direction.
Thank you guys for your input and assistance.
Larry
Waiex 121YX and Onex 752MR

[sonex892.]

That and a light coating of dielectric gel and I appear to have a charge going on.
Larry
Waiex 121YX and Onex 752MR

Just thought I'd mention the need to be careful with where the dielectric gel is applied. As the name suggests, it is an insulator and should not form part of any electrical connection. If used incorrectly it will actually cause a bad connection.

[LarryEWaiex121]

Took the Onex out today and flew two hours total. One hour each way with a quick fuel stop for 4 gals.
I like to launch with 12 gallons which amounts to close to 3 hr range.
Voltage dropped to a low of 12.5V before take off to a high of 13.0 while cruising with Stratomaster Infinity, Velocity, GRT Mini EFIS, Microair 760 com and Trig 22 transponder with ADSB-out.
I find that tripping the secondary ignition off at altitude really helps with battery voltage recovery.
I turned on the wing strobes about 15 miles from my home airport and in the time it took to cover those 15 miles into the pattern, voltage dropped .2V to 12.7 in the pattern. Not to shabby.

[daleandee]

TVoltage dropped to a low of 12.5V before take off to a high of 13.0 while cruising with Stratomaster Infinity, Velocity, GRT Mini EFIS, Microair 760 com and Trig 22 transponder with ADSB-out.
I find that tripping the secondary ignition off at altitude really helps with battery voltage recovery.
I turned on the wing strobes about 15 miles from my home airport and in the time it took to cover those 15 miles into the pattern, voltage dropped .2V to 12.7 in the pattern. Not to shabby.

FWIW ... I would personally be concerned with such a low charging rate. Most recommendations give 13.8-14.4 volts for a charging range. My Odyssey (AGM) calls for 14.4-15.0 with 14.7 being the sweet spot. The actual required voltage will depend on battery type. Typically a low charge rate will cause early battery failure.

YMMV ...

Dale
3.0 Corvair/Tailwheel