Ed Cesnalis Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 I have had this happen to me twice. Its more likely to happen in my plane than in other CTs that I have seen. My plane is more custom than many. Almost 1 hour into the flight, at cruise, altitude 12,500', WOT, performance normal, Tachometer=2,500RPM. What did I screw up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Obviously your prop pitch was too coarse . Just joking. :blush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted August 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Oh, I get it, that's funny, but wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 And not relevant . I'm bored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 You said WOT, so not the throttle backing out...carb heat? Choke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted August 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 It was 1st an alternator failure at the alternator master switch. My master switches are toggle switches and the alternator switch is very close to the flaps lever. When I retract take off flaps or deploy reflex flaps, if I do it without looking I run a slight risk of turning of the alternator circuit. It then takes less than an hour to drain the battery to where things electric begin to shut down and the first thing I notice is the tachometer reads at 50%. That tach reading, the first time left me confused for a moment until I saw the master in the off position. In both cases I ended up replacing the battery, it didn't recover to where it worked in the Winter reliably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Maybe you should rotate your toggles 90° so that that they "toggle" left to right instead of up and down, that would solve the possibility of the "flaps kill alternator" mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Hi Andy, That's a great idea, but I don't think there is enough room to turn them sideways in their present location. They are too close together. That's another thing about our type of battery. They do not like to be fully discharged or they might not come back to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Meade Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Put a different end on the toggles so each is distinct by feel. You could put a collar with set screw on one, wrap a rubber band around another, grind another down, make one longer - whatever is safe and legal. Just like gear switches are round like a wheel and flap switches are airfoil shaped or at least long and thin on GA aircraft. Go to your local truck stop and there will be a million different switch add ons to select from, many in iridescent plastic. If push really comes to shove, put a cover over the one you don't want to engage accidentally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 You could also switch to the push/pull breaker style masters like I have in my airplane, unless you just prefer the toggles. Jim's suggestion of grinding down the toggles is good too, you could make them so short you could never accidentally hit them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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