Grounded

Over Friday night I read a lot of posts of people having trouble with their lamp indicator and I found a couple of forum posts and a web article with information on how to test.

Scott offered to come help with the testing so Sunday morning I pulled the plane out and we started through the tests.

First up was to check the generator was actually producing AC power, so I started up the engine and Scott hooked up his meter to the terminals and we could see that it was working just fine. So that’s a relief, just about engine wiring now.

Next up was the capacitor test and right off the bat, Scott was concerned about the component

Why did the covering look like it had been mauled by a bear? The test says to measure the resistance across the two terminals and if it is not infinite (i.e. the circuit is not open) then the capacitor has failed. We measured a clear resistance so whether a furry creature or some electrical circumstance, the capacitor is toast and I have ordered some new ones.

There’s a 25A fuse between the rectifier output terminal and the power input on the panel. We took a look at it and it had blown. Which came first, I have no idea but obviously the charging circuit was broken, no power was getting to the panel and I suspect also why the lamp terminal isn’t grounded.

Given this state of affairs there seemed no point in carrying on with the tests so we put the plane away and decided never to speak of it again. Well, not until the new capacitor comes anyway. I will pick up a new fuse from the auto store.