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One more bad Voltage Regulator

If I'm being an scaredy old lady over this somebody say so, but in the meantime, I'm leaving mine out on the firewall until a good fix turns up.

Ok, You are being a scaredy old lady.

Seriously, if you are E-LSA you can do (experiment) what ever you want.

But the recommendations made regarding the voltage regulator (everything from recommending not to install dual screens because of electrical load; to the new aft of the firewall location for the regulator) are based on 8 years of operating experience and 1700+ combined RV-12 operating hours.
 
Ok, You are being a scaredy old lady.

Seriously, if you are E-LSA you can do (experiment) what ever you want.

But the recommendations made regarding the voltage regulator (everything from recommending not to install dual screens because of electrical load; to the new aft of the firewall location for the regulator) are based on 8 years of operating experience and 1700+ combined RV-12 operating hours.

Good point Scott! I would have loved you to add:
... and xyz failed voltage regulators opened and analyzed with the following diagnostics ...
I know that VANs are not supposed to do the work of Ducati regarding quality of their regulators (although arguably Rotax should). But I believe you have the resources to do what I did: open the failed units and inspect the printed circuit (nice assignment for an internship!). This would give you some weight in the battle to force Rotax to do something. As Rotax and Ducati hide behind the claim that this is likely caused by poor cooling of the units, you may have a point in your VR relocation but I doubt it's over. I do not exclude that after a while (this could take up to 2 or 3 more years) there could be still VR failures in the new location. I believe that my unit and many others that failed around 100 hours would fall into this category: poor solders quality.
 
New location

Is there a set of instruction to do the retrofit (move from old location to new)?

Rich
 
Here is an untried idea for experimenters:
Install a second voltage rectifier/regulator and split the aircraft load between the two. For instance, put lighting loads on one and avionics on the other. This would involve installing a second power bus and switches. Not an easy project. Thus I am not recommending it.
 
From what I have seen of regulator failures, there have been numerous different failure modes.
This could imply (it does to me) that there are numerous different causes.

One of the complexity's regarding analyzing regulator failures on RV-12's that has not been mentioned by anyone is that these airplanes are built by amateurs (I don't mean that in a derogatory way, just that it is a fact).

I know of failures cause by improperly seated connector pins, operating the airplane with a badly depleted battery, (and on and on).

So to lump RV-12 regulator failures together and thinking there is a holy grail fix that would have prevented all of them is simply wishful thinking.

Based on our testing, and what I think is now fair to say "extensive experience", we have made a design change that we think will greatly reduce the failure rate.

Everyone (that built an E-LSA) is of course free to choose to modify the system them self. I guess only time will tell who is right.
 
Wonder???

Wonder what the operators of Rotax engines in other designs (Kit Fox for example) have experienced with this regulator? As there are hundreds if not thousands of Rotax 912 engines operating throughout the world, wondering if there are failure mode trends with this regulator in any of the other installations?

I think that the people at Van's are doing their best to mitigate the short service life of these regulators that some flyers are experiencing.

Not criticizing Van's, just wondering. Hope that the reasons for short regulator life in some RV-12s are found before I get to the point of installing mine. If not, then I'll have to purchase and carry a second one as I intend to do a lot of cross country flying in my 12.

As life gets in the way of me even starting my 12 kit, this airplane gets better and better as the fleet matures. Thanks to Van's and to the pioneer kit builders who have proceeded me in building this great little airplane.
 
I'm also wondering...

Is there a set of instruction to do the retrofit (move from old location to new)?

Rich

I did find the plans revision page which contains the drill template for mounting the regulator under the instrument bay, but have failed to locate any further information on wire routing, etc. Perhaps it is obvious once I take a look at it, but I've seen no description of the process anywhere. Maybe its like the math textbook, where "the proof is left to the reader".
 
Ok, You are being a scaredy old lady.

Seriously, if you are E-LSA you can do (experiment) what ever you want.

But the recommendations made regarding the voltage regulator (everything from recommending not to install dual screens because of electrical load; to the new aft of the firewall location for the regulator) are based on 8 years of operating experience and 1700+ combined RV-12 operating hours.

Well, we don't have 1700 hours on the VR in the new location yet. And even though the probability of a failure in the new location may be less, the RISK (from smoke in the cockpit) of a serious flight safety issue is greater.

Scaredy Ol' Lady
 
Details in this thread. Very straightforward. I intend to drill a new firewall hole with grommet and sealant though, just for this cable. And run a separate ground back to the engine.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=117720&page=2

Separate ground will be like this.
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=922236&postcount=240

I would never ever ever ever run that cable (even though it is braided) through the same hole as those ridged control cables. Never. Especially not after reading the engine fire thread. I'd rather have the extra hole in the firewall. Just my opinion.
 
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If you go back to this old thread, the problems have been discussed pretty thoroughly.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=117720&highlight=rotax+regulator&page=8

In my Europa with the regulator in the engine compartment I have over 500 hours with no problem. It is important to keep the load to less than 15 amps, 12 or 10 is better. It is also important to cool the regulator. Monitor the temperature with temp strips. I do not rely on the mounting for the ground connection because the diameter of the hole in the regulator is large and mounting hardware in my case was smaller. Instead, I drill a hole in the fins and attach the ground wire there. And last year I added external diodes to handle the load when the internal diodes fail.

The John Deere regulator should also work fine. The B&C does not have enough capacity. Many of the motorcycle regulators are not compatible.

Hope this helps.

Jim Butcher
Europa XS, Rotax 914
 
From what I have seen of regulator failures, there have been numerous different failure modes.
This could imply (it does to me) that there are numerous different causes.

One of the complexity's regarding analyzing regulator failures on RV-12's that has not been mentioned by anyone is that these airplanes are built by amateurs (I don't mean that in a derogatory way, just that it is a fact).

I know of failures cause by improperly seated connector pins, operating the airplane with a badly depleted battery, (and on and on).

So to lump RV-12 regulator failures together and thinking there is a holy grail fix that would have prevented all of them is simply wishful thinking.

Based on our testing, and what I think is now fair to say "extensive experience", we have made a design change that we think will greatly reduce the failure rate.

Everyone (that built an E-LSA) is of course free to choose to modify the system them self. I guess only time will tell who is right.

Good points here again but some quality issues in manufacturing may be difficult to diagnose. For example a bad connection due to defective solder may take time to show-up. Factors like the number of temperature cycles, vibrations and even high operation temperatures within manufacturer tolerance will decrease the time it takes to get a failure. With VANs relocation it is likely that these defects will take longer to show-up but eventually they will. What make me think that we are in this situation is cases like this one from Rich:

"Everybody blames temperature, but I have 270 hours of trouble free operation over three years out here in Phoenix. Maybe I'll eat these words, but this is a pretty tough environment and it seems to soldier on.
I would be reluctant to blame temperature without a rigorous root cause of failure investigation."


My take is that Rich may be lucky to have a circuit board without defective solders.

Another input along these lines is from Mike Miller who did an extensive analysis of his failed VR and who authorized me to share the following private email we exchanged:

"My motivation for the analyses was based on the abysmal failure rate, with no good data available on a cause. I can?t make any broad claims as to the cause of the failures, only claims based on a sample of one unit. I think the electrical design is fine, simple and safe for the use in a VFR aircraft, I?m not so sure about the mechanical design/assembly. I first thought the failures were based on the stress of thermal cycles. After the analysis I think it?s simply vibration. I base this on the review of the fretted solder joints you can see in the pictures. The main failure on mine (and I?m guessing yours too) is a broken lead on the SCR (the SCR is the ?power switch? that controls the regulator output.) The likely cause of the failure is the movement between SCR?s bolted to the case (required as a heat sink) and ?floating PCB in the epoxy jel. Your post questioned the SCR installation with the bent over leads to attach to the PCB. This is not uncommon, for a component requiring a heat sink. I would be confident your regulator is fixed by re-soldering the SCR leads. I would touch up all three pins, on both SCR?s, also inspect all the other solder connections for fretting. I don?t think you need to remove the PCB from the case, unless an SCR lead is broken at the component (like mine was.) I use several epoxy potting compounds here at work, so for me repotting was a non issue. I did use a harder epoxy to reduce the gel effect. I suggest you not remove the board from the case, and after you are finished, cover the bottom with high temp RTV. There are no heat issues on the bottom of the regulator. All you want to do is seal it up, Just my opinion.

Oh, the reason you found two layers of epoxy, its part of the manufacturing process. The regulator is filled with epoxy, placed in a vacuum chamber to remove the air bubbles, after curing it?s ?topped? off again.

I asked LEAF about the two failed regulators I returned under warrantee. They said they just trash them, Rotax doesn?t want them back. They also told me, Rotax will not give me anymore credits for failed regulators, because the problem is the aircraft/aircraft design, not the regulator. I sent Vans a feedback form for the failures, not to blame Vans for the problem, I just thought they would have more pull with Rotax to get it fixed. With that said, I think Rotax knows there is a problem, I say this based on the cost of the regulator. $160.00 may be a lot of money, but it?s cheap as Rotax prices go. I?m guessing Ducati sells it for about $50 to Rotax, but it goes through Kodiak, in the Bahamas, then a distributor (LEAF/Lockwood,) each tacking on freight and markup, before we see it.
"
 
My Fix to the Problem

Let me start this post by saying that I make no claims that my approach is better/worse than the original design. I wanted to try something different based upon some research into what others have found and done. (Van's isn't the only one with a lot of experience!!) This design is also based upon a couple of objectives:

1) I'm not moving the voltage regulator inside the cabin. I don't want the unprotected wires inside and if the VR goes TU again, the smell can be quite horrible. Just my preference, you can do what you want. I think this is prudent especially if you believe the arguments that the regulators are failing due to vibration and poor quality construction!

2) I didn't want to undo the original installation. I wanted the ability to go back to the original install if possible. (Don't ask me why, I have no idea. It seemed like a good option to keep open.)

3) The Ducati voltage regulator has a track record of unreliability in aviation installations. It doesn't seem prudent to just throw another one back in. I don't know the reasons why they fail, but the fact that they do fail is undeniable. My new one may fail as well in the same location. At least we'll have a different data point.

4) I wanted to provide an additional data point to the discussion so I am using a different regulator but in the same position (See #2 above).

With that said, here's a picture show of what I did to install a new voltage regulator. Let the flames begin.

vr01.jpg


Here's a shot of the old and the new. The new part is a voltage regulator for a John Deere garden tractor. You can buy them at NAPA auto parts. The part number is SME 7068102. The Corvair engine folks have been using this regulator for years. This happens to be the newest version of it. Beware of cheap Chinese knock-offs that you can buy on Flea-Bay for $45. There's not much in the way of cooling fins on those. The new one is rated at 20 amps and cost about $89 at NAPA.

vr02.jpg


I removed the radiator hose and the fuel pressure hose in order to gain better access to the voltage regulator position. Using a small flat bladed screwdriver, I was able to remove the wires from the Ducati clip without incident. I did not have to modify the wires at all.

vr03.jpg


Here's the hardest part of the install, putting in a new nutplate and mounting hole for the smaller regulator. The rudder pedals are directly below the hole so it took some trickery to get the nutplate positioned and riveted, but it's doable. It took me about an hour.

vr05.jpg


I used some longer -4 bolts from my parts bin to mount the new regulator using the rear hole of the original installation and the new hole I drilled. I also mounted the existing clips to the new regulator using some shrink tubing to provide protection. There is an extra wire left over when using this regulator. The Ducati has two power wires, which is simply the wire from the battery/bus split into two. I just covered it with shrink tubing and tie wrapped it to the wiring bundle. Normally I would install protected wire clips for this type of install, but I wanted to keep the original installation options open so I used heat shrink tubing. It will work just fine. Now all that's left is to design a heat shroud for this installation.

vr07.jpg


I decided to make a shroud out of stainless steel sheet. I could have used aluminum, I had some stainless and thought it might have better thermal protection qualities. I wanted some space around the regulator so I made the box about 1/4" larger on all sides. The goal was to provide some protection from the flow of hot air out of the radiator and to also capture the cooling air from the plenum. The box is open on the side of the electrical connections but fully encloses the regulator on the other three sides.

vr08.jpg


Here's the final install. I used the original front hole to mount the box and designed it to slip underneath the regulator in the back. I really didn't want to installed another nutplate so I designed it this way. It's not the slickest design, but it will work for now. I had to drill a hole in the top to get to the rear bolt of the regulator to tighten it so I covered it with a simple bolt and washer. Oh well, an engineer I'm not.

So that's it. I'm waiting for it to stop snowing so I can test run the engine. Hopefully all the smoke will stay in the wires. The entire change took me about 5 hours to complete. The wiring is unmodified and the original mounting holes are still there. I even used the same cooling tube from the plenum. I simply added one nutplate, three new -4 bolts of different lengths, some heat shrink, and the new shroud and new regulator. Let the testing begin.
 
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One thing I did when I mounted the SD-8 regulator on the firewall was to attach a "heatsink" made from some standard pieces of angle to the back side (cool side of firewall). The thin firewall basically offers no heat sink capacity on its own and having the heat sink on the inside should help keep the the unit cooler.
 
Request

Your mod looks great - hope that it is successful. Request to know the hole to hole centers dimension so that I may install the requisite nut plate during my build. Thanks for posting this mod - looks like the Ducatti VR might be a bit weak.
 
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Behind the firewall

I've been using the standard regulators that come with the Rotax for over 20 years, but I always mount them behind the firewall where it is much cooler. :)

Heat is the enemy of electronic devices, especially regulators.

Vic
 

That looks like the knock-off to me. It may work just fine, I liked the look of the NAPA one better. YMMV.

The wiring is pretty simple. One of the fat white wires goes to the B+ terminal. The other fat white wire is not used. The two fat yellow wires go to each of the AC terminals, it doesn't matter which. The L terminal is not used. The skinny wire goes to the IGN terminal.

I tested it today. The battery charged from 12.3 V at start to 14.0 V before the oil could warm up. Nice.
 
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I've been using the standard regulators that come with the Rotax for over 20 years, but I always mount them behind the firewall where it is much cooler. :)
Vic

Mine shorted out and got hot enough to melt the rubber/plastic matrix that it was encased in. Whatever the reason for the short, you do not want that smell confined to your cockpit. It was way nasty as it was as the heat vent sucked in just some of the smell.

You might change your mind if it happened to you. Just saying. I hope it never does happen to anyone cause it would be pretty hard to breath for a short time.
 
Good going Randy!
Here is a suggestion to others wanting to use a different brand of voltage regulator:
Make an adapter/mounting bracket out of sturdy aluminum angle. Fasten it to the firewall shelf using the two existing nutplates. Attach the new regulator to the vertical part of the angle bracket. Make a shroud and also attach it to the vertical part of the angle bracket. No modifications to the airframe are required, but the the airplane will be one mounting bracket heavier.
 
With over 50K 912's on the market and over 40 million run hours the reg/rec works well and holds up fairly well. No electrical unti is absolutely bullet proof. The big killer is heat and poor wiring. I would not enclose this unit. It was given those fins on the outside to disappear internal heat build up. Enclosing it will not allow any outside heat exchange. Doing something to this engine without ruling out other issues has always caused problems. The temp should be checked before you blame temp as a failure cause. Putting the reg/rec in the cabin over where it is currently would certainly help heat issues, but moving it inside the engine compartment could also do the same.

The worst thing that usually happens to a Rotax engine is its owner.
Fix the cause not the result and that means to star the beginning at "A" then proceed to "B" and don't start at "C".
Do a temp check on the unit first then move on.

Two ways to take care of a heat issue.

Remove the unit from the heat source or remove the heat from the unit.
 
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There are double spade connector to accommodate the extra B+ wire
All that is needed is to bend the ends up a little, so it fits the space limitation.
Del City has them, among other electronic suppliers. Just google ?double spade connectors?

Tom
 
Randy

I like your install!

I bought a JD VR as a hedge against failure, and I carry it in my "Aw S#%t" bag for road trips. I made some pigtails to hook it up to the existing connectors, and my plan is to take a piece of 1/4" Al plate and match drill it to the existing mounting holes. Then I will mount the new VR to the plate with one end at a mounting hole and the other end of the VR secured to the plate by a counter sunk machine screw so that the bottom will fit against the existing surface on the firewall. Essentially a way to mate the JD footprint to the Ducati footprint.

I haven't made the plate yet as I plan to do it at annual next month. I'll let you know if it comes out as planned.

Rich
 
I read about the SILENT-HEKTIK rectifier/regulator after Google translated the webpage to English. It seems that the SILENT-HEKTIK has the same mounting footprint as the Ducati and the electrical connector is also the same. So installation should be easy. The cooling fins look to be much higher to give better cooling. The SILENT-HEKTIK claims to be rated for 47 amps, which is more than twice the output of the Rotax dynamo. The voltage output of the SILENT-HEKTIK is 14.2 volts which is also higher than the Ducati 13.8 volts. Although the Ducati keeps my RV-12 battery charged just fine.
Heat is the enemy of electronics. I briefly thought about cutting a rectangular hole in my RV-12 fuselage skin and mounting the Ducati regulator with the fins protruding through the hole. The slipstream should keep the regulator cool. But I am concerned with aesthetics.
 
There is an interesting warning on the Silent-Hektik website:

alternator regulator, whether ours or other brands, and starter batteries must never be in the cockpit or cab be installed!
A lack of cooling, the controller will inevitably go faulty and there is a risk of fire and / or burns and poisoning by sulfur gases and combustion residues.
 
There is an interesting warning on the Silent-Hektik website:

In this regard, I wonder what the filling compound used by Ducati is made of. I have seen over the last 7 years three different compounds used. The oldest (from a failed Remos VR my AN&P gave me to play with) looks like a green foam, the one I removed from my failed VR (could be 2012-13 vintage) is rubber-like black and the new regulator I just received from Lockwood seems to have a different compound based on its color and hardness although I have not tried to dig it out yet with only 2 hours on hobbs. I believe the risk of fire in the filling compound is minimum as the heat is on the other side of the PC board but it would not hurt to know more about its composition.
 
The Sikent-Hektik looks the perfect solution.
Double the current and compatible.
Not cheap $200 but they warrant for three years
 
To follow-up on Mark Truemper remarkable experimental work I mentioned earlier in this thread (http://pointsforpilots.blogspot.com/2014/08/cooling-rotax-912-voltage.html) I finally got to investigate the efficiency of the cooling of the Voltage Regulator by the blast tube.
I fabricated a home made manometer with 1/4" clear vinyl tubing. I shaped the tube in a U with about 2" of water at the bottom and fastened it on a board. One end of the tube is free, the other end is shaped like a pitot with the help of a thick wire. I located the board inside the cockpit in front of the passenger seat and ran two tests with the upper cowl off and the canopy crack open to allow the tube to go into the engine compartment without being crushed.
For the first test I squeezed the pitot between the radiator and the lower cowl duct and then rotated the head to have it facing the air flow to measure the dynamic pressure. I ran the engine between 2000 and 2500 rpm which is the rate we use to start the engine cold and to taxi around the airport.
For the second test I cut a slit into the blast tube, inserted the pitot to face the air stream and sealed the tube around the pitot with electric tape.

Results:

Air pressure in the lower cowl duct: 3/16" (5mm) of water
Air pressure in the blast tube: zero.

I did not try higher rpm rates because the issue, as explained in Klaus Truemper study is cooling of the regulator on ground during taxiing. When flying, the ram air provides plenty of pressure to provide a good flow of air in the blast tube. Klaus relocated his blast tube in the stream of the propeller and he solved his problem of multiple voltage regulator failures.

In the case of the RV-12, the inlet of the duct on which the blast tube is connected is close to the root of the propeller while the opening of the lower cowl duct is facing the middle of the blades.

Conclusion: As some elements of the RV-12 depend on the workmanship, it is difficult to generalize. For example different builders may have adjusted the cooling shroud in a way that creates more resistance to the air cooling the cylinders which may result in a higher static pressure upstream, where the blast tube is connected. More tests like this one would be needed to find out if this absence of airflow in my blast tube in the 2,000 to 2,500 rpm range is common. If it is, it is likely that overheating of the Voltage Regulator is occurring when operating in warm weather with an engine already hot (for example on a refueling stop) and taxiing a long time on the ground. One may imagine that VANs red RV-12 that is used for transition training and demos may have been stressed this way.

What to do?

I think that VANs decision to relocate the regulator inside the cockpit has a good chance to solve the problem. If you (as I) don't like the new location, we have several options:

- Remove the blast tube and let the air flow inside the engine compartment take care of the cooling. There is plenty of air blowing from the radiator at 2,000 rpms, even if it is not cold air it's better than no air at all under an aluminum helmet.

- Relocate the blast tube's inlet into the radiators cooling duct and have the tube inlet facing the air flow (will require a way to disconnect the tube when removing the lower cowl)

- Switch to the JD regulator as shown in previous posts on this thread

- Switch to Silent Hektik regulator as discussed in this thread
 
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Relocate the blast tube's inlet into the radiators cooling duct and have the tube inlet facing the air flow (will require a way to disconnect the tube when removing the lower cowl)
Is there any kind of quick disconnect available that can be used to attach the regulator-cooling-shroud 5/8" duct to the radiator's cooling duct?
 
I really like the performance stated on the SK regulator. I'm not quite sure that I understand what they are telling me about the installation wiring. It sounds like we need to make some changes, and add some wiring, including a large capacitor. Could one of you electronic gurus put that into a simple form that a novice like me could understand?? Additionally, I did not find a source in the USA for purchase, but it sure sounds good.

Tom
 
Just an idea - -

I have over 700 hours, and have not had a VR problem. I also have minimum demand for power. No lights, second screen, AP. If I had/have a problem, I think I might consider putting it in the air duct. Would seem you could cut out a square just big enough to allow it to go inside, and mount it on a fairly firm plate and could even use nut plates and bolts to hold it in place. Air-flow would be great, and away from engine heat upon shut-down. I don't think it would restrict that much air-flow thru the duct. Just a thought. Have not looked at it with cowls off. Might be hard to do. You would get smoke etc inside during winter with the heater on, but could close it quickly, if it ever burnt up, but less likely with a serious airflow.
 
Tom,
What do you mean by SK regulator? Are you referring to the SILENT-HEKTIK? If so, my interpretation is that no wiring changes are needed. The RV-12 already has a large capacitor located in the AV-50000A. I could not find a USA source either. I like WingedFrog's suggestion of using the radiator duct as a source of cooling air.
 
The Sikent-Hektik looks the perfect solution.
Double the current and compatible.
Not cheap $200 but they warrant for three years

I checked with those guys and they told me that currently they do not ship outside of the EU. I suppose customs regulations are too much for them to bother with.
I like that the device is a drop-in replacement for the Ducati and would not require any adapter to work in our 12s.
The capacitor is an optional add-on if you would like to have a fail-safe 12V power supply in case the battery gives up the ghost completely. I haven't compared every part of the electrical diagram to our wiring but I am pretty confident that it would be indeed a drop-in replacement without changes to the wiring. They strongly suggest not to rely on the airframe to provide a solid ground connection but to run a ground wire from the regulator straight to the battery and to use a good diameter for that wire. That's something that should have been done anyway and would be a good addition in any case. While at it, one should also add another ground wire from the battery to the engine housing to calm down the sensors as some of us have already done.
 
Tom,
What do you mean by SK regulator? Are you referring to the SILENT-HEKTIK? If so, my interpretation is that no wiring changes are needed. The RV-12 already has a large capacitor located in the AV-50000A. I could not find a USA source either. I like WingedFrog's suggestion of using the radiator duct as a source of cooling air.

Sorry Joe. You are absolutely right.
i was refering to the SILENT-HEKTIK. Typo, I meant to type SH, and missed. I was sure that I had empty connection lugs on my Ducati regulator, but I may be mistaken.

Tom
 
I checked with those guys and they told me that currently they do not ship outside of the EU. I suppose customs regulations are too much for them to bother with.
I like that the device is a drop-in replacement for the Ducati and would not require any adapter to work in our 12s.
The capacitor is an optional add-on if you would like to have a fail-safe 12V power supply in case the battery gives up the ghost completely. I haven't compared every part of the electrical diagram to our wiring but I am pretty confident that it would be indeed a drop-in replacement without changes to the wiring. They strongly suggest not to rely on the airframe to provide a solid ground connection but to run a ground wire from the regulator straight to the battery and to use a good diameter for that wire. That's something that should have been done anyway and would be a good addition in any case. While at it, one should also add another ground wire from the battery to the engine housing to calm down the sensors as some of us have already done.

The additional ground wires sound like a winner. Not sure that we need the "fail-safe" capacitor, but it is worth considering.............Tom
 
I thought Rotax REQUIRED the 22,000uF capacitor.......

They do, and all RV-12 avionics kits supplied by Van's has the capacitor incorporated. It is not in the AV-50000... it is in the AV-50001 switch module (or AV-12 switch module for D-180 builders).
 
I had not looked at the Silent Hektik regulator before doing my last post. After reviewing its specs, I realized that it is specially designed for the Rotax 912. Although it is not commercialized in the US, I added it as an option for those who operate in the EU. As this looks to be the most promising alternative to the Ducati regulator what about organize shipments on our own?
 
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It is not in the AV-50000... it is in the AV-50001 switch module
Hey, I was only off by 1. :D
I was sure that I had empty connection lugs on my Ducati regulator, but I may be mistaken.
The "L" (lamp) terminal is not used.

Maybe SILENT-HEKTIK would sell outside of the EU if they got a large order from an American company.
 
The other totally compatible replacement is GR6 from www.Schicke-Electronic.de
who also will not sell to US. Several Europa owners in the UK are using them and there is a LAA approved mod for their use in the UK. A few owners in the US have had UK friends purchase them and send them over here.

Jim Butcher
Europa XS, Rotax 914
 
While I am not flying the same set up as you guys ,I have been flying a like charging system for some years . You may want to check these guys out.
Look at their "Hot shot "

RicksMotorsportElectrics.com
1 800-521-0277 | +1-603-329-9901


"Refresh your motorcycles electric system with Rick's Motorsport Electrics Rectifier - Regulator
?All regulator/rectifiers are new and built to OEM specifications.
?Includes 1 year manufacturer warranty.
?High quality cost effective replacement for OEM
?Most with OEM-style plug end

**Aftermarket Part Notes:
?Some models have a "Hot Shot" as the size, these are high performance, heavy duty Hot Shot versions made with special Mosfet technology that does not get hot.
?Actual product may vary from image depending on make and model.

All of Rick's rectifier regulators are brand new parts and come with a one year replacement warranty. Most units are direct replacement pieces and come with the factory plug ends. This allows for an easy install - just unplug your part and plug ours in. We also know there is a need for universal rectifier regulators for certain unique machines. In this case, the rectifier regulator will come with wire leads only and you will need to hard wire it. Before replacing your rectifier regulator, be sure to read these instructions & check the integrity of all your electrical connectors. Item may vary from image. "

Doug
 
Two additional ground wires shown HERE in the mods sticky thread:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=922236&postcount=240

Bill. what type of wire did you use for your grounding wires and where did you get it?
And FWIW, I am not sure I would put heat transfer paste under the VR. The supports through which the bolts go are slightly elevated leaving a tiny space under the VR for the air to circulate. This bottom side of the casing is not generating heat and should not get that hot which is why Ducati fills it with a compound that is probably not a great heat conductor.
 
The heat conductive paste only needs to be applied to the aluminum perimeter of the voltage regulator where it contacts the aircraft aluminum.
 
Bad Voltage Regulator

The pics of the defective voltage regulator pc look like cold solder joints. the board not have that quantity of solder. This looks like an IPC standard for workmanship violation.
 
The pics of the defective voltage regulator pc look like cold solder joints. the board not have that quantity of solder. This looks like an IPC standard for workmanship violation.

By the way I tried to repair the failed solder and succeeded doing it. Unfortunately after reinstalling the voltage regulator it did not provide positive amps. More damage may be on the other side of the board?
I reinstalled my new Ducati VR, vintage 2014 per the date code and I removed the useless blow tube. I will put temp strips and check them periodically.
 
My practice has been to try to keep the electrical load low on the RV12 while warming up on the ground. There is not a lot you can do though. I switch on my lights right before takeoff and normally leave my AP servos off unless I am using the AP. I let the radio and transponder run though.

Interesting alternative with this new data. Move the regulator inside, or move the blast tube to the side of the duct. Hmmmmm
 
I ordered the cheap one and the NAPA one - FWIW they were both made in Taiwan and look to be the same:

2zfv59d.jpg


t0t7rp.jpg


2z49u3c.jpg


2mwcgoj.jpg


I'll install the cheap one and keep the Napa one for a backup.
 
What is the wiring change for this regulator?
I have not replaced my Ducati regulator because it has not failed . . . yet.
But here is how I would do it:
Label each wire that connects to the Ducati rectifier/regulator with the
letters: G, G, R, +B, C. "L" is not used. Remove each fast-on terminal from
the plastic connector using a small flat screwdriver to release the spring latch.
The plastic connector is not used on the new regulator because the spacing
between terminals is different. Connect the fast-ons to the John Deere
AM101406 rectifier/regulator, matching the wire marker labels to the letters
on the rectifier/regulator. Notice that the big yellow wires (doesn't matter
which) go to "G" terminals. The small yellow wire goes to the "C" terminal.
Wires "R" and "+B" have previously been spliced together in Van's harness.
Only one of them is connected to the John Deere regulator. Insulate the
other one. The most challenging task is mounting the new regulator which
has different mounting hole spacing. After installation, check electrical
system voltage. It will probably be higher than what the Ducati regulator was
set at (less than 14 volts). If the voltage is higher than about 14.5, then I
would be concerned about over charging the battery. 14.2 VDC is good.
 
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