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Hi guys
I've seen lots of VP-X issues discussed on the Vans forums but not one quite like this.
System description: O-540, Plane Power 60A alternator, B & C 40A backup, EarthX900 battery, VP-X Pro, G3X 460 and 470, etc. The actual devices don't really matter as you will see in the problem description.
Background: Just finished a 13 year/5100 hour scratch build of my Bearhawk. 0 time O-540 and Hartzell, G3X system with 3 axis AP, GTN navigator, etc. My final inspection is complete and I am ready for first flight. The electrical system has been installed for a couple of years and has performed flawlessly during test (except for a couple of crappy Molex connectors on my CANBUS...fixed). In September I started ground engine and prop testing as well as getting the pitot/static/ADS-B, and ELT systems signed off. Everything electrically was great.
Last week, while waiting for decent weather for my first flight, I flashed up the electrical system in the hangar to update my databases and all of sudden many of devices started cycling power (radios, MFD, ADS-B, etc). They would shut off for a couple of seconds, then power up again. This is on ground power (EarthX specified charger connected to the battery), no vibrations, no movement, everything perfectly still.
I plugged my laptop in and brought up the VP-X configurator to monitor the devices and sure enough the check marks for some devices would go blank, then return. No pattern. I tried turning off the physical switches and using the laptop to turn on the devices and then they seemed stable. I also noticed that the "Always On" devices seemed stable.
I checked my switches for connectors, grounds, etc and they are solid.
Then it hit me: All of my testing so far had been in temperatures above about 10C (50F). The temps have dropped around here to around 0C (32F) on average. Am I seeing some VP-X board level issues due to temperature on the "Switches In" circuits?
I'm going to run some tests tomorrow where I will first confirm the problem still exists then put a space heater in the cabin for an hour or so to heat stuff up and try again.
Has anyone else seen something like this? Of course I bought this thing 4 years ago from Stein during my build so my warranty has long run out. I'm not really excited about buying another one nor in sending it back to Vertical Power for repair (the border/customs situation between Canada and the US is somewhat problematic right now).
TIA
I've seen lots of VP-X issues discussed on the Vans forums but not one quite like this.
System description: O-540, Plane Power 60A alternator, B & C 40A backup, EarthX900 battery, VP-X Pro, G3X 460 and 470, etc. The actual devices don't really matter as you will see in the problem description.
Background: Just finished a 13 year/5100 hour scratch build of my Bearhawk. 0 time O-540 and Hartzell, G3X system with 3 axis AP, GTN navigator, etc. My final inspection is complete and I am ready for first flight. The electrical system has been installed for a couple of years and has performed flawlessly during test (except for a couple of crappy Molex connectors on my CANBUS...fixed). In September I started ground engine and prop testing as well as getting the pitot/static/ADS-B, and ELT systems signed off. Everything electrically was great.
Last week, while waiting for decent weather for my first flight, I flashed up the electrical system in the hangar to update my databases and all of sudden many of devices started cycling power (radios, MFD, ADS-B, etc). They would shut off for a couple of seconds, then power up again. This is on ground power (EarthX specified charger connected to the battery), no vibrations, no movement, everything perfectly still.
I plugged my laptop in and brought up the VP-X configurator to monitor the devices and sure enough the check marks for some devices would go blank, then return. No pattern. I tried turning off the physical switches and using the laptop to turn on the devices and then they seemed stable. I also noticed that the "Always On" devices seemed stable.
I checked my switches for connectors, grounds, etc and they are solid.
Then it hit me: All of my testing so far had been in temperatures above about 10C (50F). The temps have dropped around here to around 0C (32F) on average. Am I seeing some VP-X board level issues due to temperature on the "Switches In" circuits?
I'm going to run some tests tomorrow where I will first confirm the problem still exists then put a space heater in the cabin for an hour or so to heat stuff up and try again.
Has anyone else seen something like this? Of course I bought this thing 4 years ago from Stein during my build so my warranty has long run out. I'm not really excited about buying another one nor in sending it back to Vertical Power for repair (the border/customs situation between Canada and the US is somewhat problematic right now).
TIA
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