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What should I check?

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bbradburry(at)allvantage.
Guest

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:51 am Post subject: What should I check?

I am wiring my plane like Z-19.  I currently only have one battery 

installed in the engine battery position.  Yesterday I had the engine 

master switch on, and thinking that if I wanted to charge the battery 

while the engine was running, I would need to turn the main master 

battery switch to alternator.  I had not yet started the engine.

When I switched the main master to alternator, I heard a series of rapid 

clicks and thought that I saw some smoke drift over the panel.  I 

immediately turned it off.

Later on inspection I discovered that I had not connected the ground 

wire to pin 1 of the main master switch.  (what a dope!)

I have not been able to discover any burned wires or parts.  What did I 

probably burn up?  Can someone direct me to the probable areas to check?



Thanks,

Bill B

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nuckollsr(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:45 am Post subject: What should I check?

At 06:52 AM 2/14/2007 -0500, you wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  

<bbradburry(at)allvantage.com>



I am wiring my plane like Z-19.  I currently only have one battery 

installed in the engine battery position.  Yesterday I had the engine 

master switch on, and thinking that if I wanted to charge the battery 

while the engine was running, I would need to turn the main master battery 

switch to alternator.  I had not yet started the engine.

When I switched the main master to alternator, I heard a series of rapid 

clicks and thought that I saw some smoke drift over the panel.  I 

immediately turned it off.

Later on inspection I discovered that I had not connected the ground wire 

to pin 1 of the main master switch.  (what a dope!)

I have not been able to discover any burned wires or parts.  What did I 

probably burn up?  Can someone direct me to the probable areas to check?


	


   Impossible to deduce from the information you've provided.

   If and open ground wire to the master switch were the only

   problem, you would not have closed the battery contactor

   and things should have been "black".  If you had power on

   the airplane after having moved the switch, then the battery

   contactor had to be closed. This suggest wiring errors that

   go beyond the one you cited.



   When powering a system up for the first time, I'll suggest

   that folks pull all the fuses (or open all breakers) and check

   to see that battery contactors operate as expected. If you're

   needing to use batteries as the source of first power (as opposed

   to a plug-in-the-wall power supply) then it's a good idea to

   replace the battery-to-master-contactor jumper with a temporary

   in-line fuse holder. Put a 5A fuse in to energize contactors,

   power up fuse-less busses, etc to see that voltage is getting

   to where it belongs. Then increase the battery fuse size and

   begin brining things on line one fuse or breaker at a time.

   That's another nice thing about fuseblocks . . . you can power

   up circuits for the first time with undersized fuses . . . this

   can be a smoke-free technique for checking out complex control

   circuits like landing gear indicator lights, control contactors,

   etc. You should be able to check out the vast majority of systems

   in your airplane, one-at-a-time with no more than a 10A fuse

   in series with the battery.



   Only after you're satisfied that there are no "holes for

   smoke to escape from" do you replace the fuse-jumper with

   a fat wire so you can crank the engine and run the alternator.



   Better yet, acquire a plug-in-the-wall power supply like



http://tinyurl.com/23nf7m



   These are readily available in a variety of sizes. I used

   to sell a 25A device off my website. These are current limited

   supplies that will shut down for heavy shorts. You can use the

   series-fuse technique for first-power on systems with very

   light loads.



   For the vast majority of builders, the battery

   is their #1 source for test-energy . . . cheap, reasonably

   reliable and it's part of the finished system.

   Unfortunately, the battery is most able and willing to

   dump hundreds of amps into a mis-wired system and

   the outcomes are never happy. If you haven't added

   a small, first-power-friendly supply to you suite of

   shop tools, then at least get an inline fuseholder

   to build a temporary firewall between your battery and

   potentially fragile wiring mistakes.



   Bob . . .

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