So, on a flight about a month ago on the return leg I noticed my amp meter was sitting on "0". I had enough juice left in my battery to complete the flight and I noticed the amp meter would return to "normal" for brief periods until I landed, and during those periods my battery would charge back up again. Long story short, the FBO shop said I needed a new alternator because a loose oil return line meant oil had dripped into my alternator over a period of time burning it out. But, after the new alt was installed, and the oil line fixed, they noticed the amp meter was still sitting on "0". They troubleshooted for a couple of days and they finally pulled the voltage regulator out and tested it on the bench. It tested fine, but when they stuck it back in everything suddenly worked. I was told the removal and reinstallation of the voltage regulator might of simply "killed any demons".
Fast forward a few weeks and I'm out flying with a friend and noticed my headset "clicked" four times during the one hour flight. The first time I thought it was my friend accidentally keying the mike. Nope. But on subsequent audio clicks I noticed my radio stack "blinked" when the clicks occurred. The clicks were not rapid, just a single "click" and the radio stack lights would blink at the same moment. Not knowing what it was I took the plane back to the shop. They gave it a good going-over and said they couldn't find anything wrong. Okay.
On the very next day when planning for my first flight since the shop inspection, during my pre-flight I noticed the landing light was non-functioning. Problem is the light had less than ten hours on it as I had replaced it two weeks before the amp meter issue. Even more interesting, it hadn't just burned out. Looking inside the bulb there was black material splattered against the glass from the inside and the filament wasn't just burned out; it looked totally fried. I'm assuming the clicking on the audio and radio stack was related to the light burning out.
I have a personal A&P (not the shop I had taken the plane to) who looked everything over. He said the landing light wire connection point under the cowl, where the two plugs connect/disconnect for when the cowl is removed, looked frayed and might have been cause for a short. He repaired the connectors. He didn't think it was a voltage regulator issue because the over voltage relay (separate from the regulator) hadn't kicked in when I heard the clicking on the one flight. But my thought is: would a short in the landing light cause the radio stack, which is on a separate circuit, to blink? Also, the over voltage relay is a mechanical relay, which means any spikes would have to be strong (more than 16v) and also last more than a split second for it to trip the relay.
Anyway, I've ordered a new voltage regulator, with a built-in over voltage relay, and will have it installed this week, just to make sure I address all known possible causes. But I'm curious to know: can a short in the landing light circuit affect the radio stack? No circuits were tripped during any of these events.
One other interesting piece of information: the battery was replaced back in September because the old one died. I'm finding it hard to resist thinking that all of these issues started with a new battery (a premium one that is sealed - and, yes, it was checked along with the cables during the latest events).
Fast forward a few weeks and I'm out flying with a friend and noticed my headset "clicked" four times during the one hour flight. The first time I thought it was my friend accidentally keying the mike. Nope. But on subsequent audio clicks I noticed my radio stack "blinked" when the clicks occurred. The clicks were not rapid, just a single "click" and the radio stack lights would blink at the same moment. Not knowing what it was I took the plane back to the shop. They gave it a good going-over and said they couldn't find anything wrong. Okay.
On the very next day when planning for my first flight since the shop inspection, during my pre-flight I noticed the landing light was non-functioning. Problem is the light had less than ten hours on it as I had replaced it two weeks before the amp meter issue. Even more interesting, it hadn't just burned out. Looking inside the bulb there was black material splattered against the glass from the inside and the filament wasn't just burned out; it looked totally fried. I'm assuming the clicking on the audio and radio stack was related to the light burning out.
I have a personal A&P (not the shop I had taken the plane to) who looked everything over. He said the landing light wire connection point under the cowl, where the two plugs connect/disconnect for when the cowl is removed, looked frayed and might have been cause for a short. He repaired the connectors. He didn't think it was a voltage regulator issue because the over voltage relay (separate from the regulator) hadn't kicked in when I heard the clicking on the one flight. But my thought is: would a short in the landing light cause the radio stack, which is on a separate circuit, to blink? Also, the over voltage relay is a mechanical relay, which means any spikes would have to be strong (more than 16v) and also last more than a split second for it to trip the relay.
Anyway, I've ordered a new voltage regulator, with a built-in over voltage relay, and will have it installed this week, just to make sure I address all known possible causes. But I'm curious to know: can a short in the landing light circuit affect the radio stack? No circuits were tripped during any of these events.
One other interesting piece of information: the battery was replaced back in September because the old one died. I'm finding it hard to resist thinking that all of these issues started with a new battery (a premium one that is sealed - and, yes, it was checked along with the cables during the latest events).
