Day 6… Stuck in Greeley
Today was a total disappointment for me.
Lee and I headed out to the airport about 10 am to get started on the plane with the new Lightspeed ignition system.
It didn’t take long at all to install it, the plane started and tested fine so I took it up for a short test flight. Boy, am I glad I did!
The bird ran great, I was doing 189 kts in downwind, the autopilot was working better than ever and everything seem to be 100%.
I shut it down and noticed a strange yet familiar smell which I thought it MUST be due to all the paving work going on at the airport, but I was a bit concerned. When I started the plane up again, sure enough I found the NEW ignition system had also stopped working too…. shit what now.
Off goes the cowls, out comes the ignition module, off comes the cover and I found it had burned out in almost exactly the same place as the first one. This time a TINY little $0.10 resistor. Hum, this is a trend which hopefully will point to a cause.
Up to this the point I have put 40 hrs on the bird with no problems at all so I knew it had to be something really out of the ordinary….
I called Lightspeed up again, REALLY apprehensive about talking to Klaus about burning up his brand new loaner unit, steeling myself for a major butt chewing. I must say, Klaus dropped what he was doing, and with the new information helped me diagnose the probable cause without getting on my case at all. He was very helpful and concerned! A pleasant surprise.
We think the failures was due to a bad ground. Sure enough I found one of the push on connectors was not TIGHTLY gripping the post so it may have forced the unit to find an alternative ground though the case, into the firewall and ?? He feels the bad grounding is the cause and was willing to ship another new unit out to me install. Wow, that was easier than I expected.
This tiny 1/4″ push on connector caused all my problems.
After going to the local Avionics shop, I was able to secure some supplies and rewire the ground per Klaus’s recommendations. The plane is now ready to be put back together after the new module arrives tomorrow at ????
Lee and I grabbed the module and head home
Time for a nice italian dinner, and a quite relaxing, evening at his place.
The plan now is to balance the prop tomorrow while waiting for the FEDEX and test fly again. This time I am going to stay up for an hour or so make sure all is well. Lee has to work, so I’ll be at the airport keeping Don company.
If all goes well, I hope to continue my trip to Salt Lake City on Friday…..
