Being VERY electrically challenged, I'm hoping some of my smarter Europa friends
can help point me in the right direction to solve a recent problem. I have
an R.C. Allen electric artificial horizon instrument which began to "tumble"
several
months ago. I returned it to the factory and they said it tested OK, but
replaced the bearings anyway. I reinstalled it, but same thing happened.
When I telephoned the factory they suggested that perhaps I wasn't getting full
electrical power to the unit. I'm assuming by that they mean 13.2 volts (2.2
volts per battery cell, times 6 cells). The voltmeter in my panel reads 11.9
volts with radio, GPS and transponder turned on, and reads 12.1 volts when I
turn off the radio, GPS, and transponder. My Ammeter reads
003.............whatever
that means. Increasing my RPM from 4900 to 5200 increases the voltmeter
reading by about .1 volt. Do I have a voltage problem? If so, why? I've
been flying my trigear 914 for 6 years without this problem, and have not added
any additional electrical equipment to the plane in the 6 years. My battery
is 2 months old. Should I be looking at my alternator.........or my
regulator/rectifier..........or
what? Is there a way to turn up the juice (volts) going
to my artificial horizon? How would I go about trouble shooting this problem?
What fixes are most likely? If you respond, please remember the first 4
words in this email! Thanks in advance.
Garry Stout
914 tri, 460 hours, 6 years flying
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