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First early RV-12s to build with conversion harnesses for Skyview Classic

NinerBikes

Well Known Member
I just bought a RV-12 built in 2012, that saw some flight time over the Atlantic Ocean and around Hilton Head Island and surrounding bays, from the original owner.

Prior to taking delivery of the plane, the Skyview Classic was having some problems, button switches no longer worked. Skyview went back to WA, where their technicians found corrosion on the solder on the circuit boards inside the box. Turn around was quick, they sent another unit back to me.

The plane is exhibiting some electrical connection failures and lack of continuity on a bunch of sensors while being ferried back here to CA over 21 hours of cross country flight.
Left EGT has a red X on it now. Owner replaced the Dynon sensor, problem still persists. Today the Right EGT read 540F after sitting out all night in transient parking, while I arranged for a hangar to rent, today.

The magnetic sensor for the spar pin reads intermittent green or red, making for lots of fun being strapped in to activate the override switch while turning the "start" key over.

Today, the Xpnder 261 was also acting up with no voltage being supplied, and being non op.

The plane got bounced around severely on the 2nd day in Texas, when most of the problems started appearing, dodging thermals and cloudy or rainy weather.

What's the best way to clean off salt or corrosion on these electrical connectors to restore continuity? Or are they possibly permanently damaged and need R&R?

This is one of the planes that got the D100 and D180 harness to Skyview Classic adapters made, supposedly 40 of those conversion kits were made to run the skyview Classic when they first came out, this owner being an early adopter.
 
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Spar Pin Switches

Relocate the magnetic reed switches so that they are mounted parallel with the
magnets instead of perpendicular to them. Reed switches work a whole lot
better when the magnet north pole is near one end of the switch and the
magnetic south pole is near the other end of the switch. Opposites attract.
When one end of a reed switch is near a magnetic north pole and the other end
of a reed switch is near a magnetic south pole, the two flexible reeds inside of
the switch will be attracted to each other and will touch, thus completing the
electrical circuit.
 
I thought someone posted up earlier today to check all the common grounds to chassis firewall or frame.

Sorry, that was me. I deleted the post with the intention of making a revised post with additional information but didn't get back to it last evening:

After you reported the rain and significant turbulence encounter perhaps a connector that was not properly secured was jarred loose. Another possible cause is a loose or faulty ground. Hopefully your avionics grounds all return to a single grounding block usually located on the firewall. I would also check the condition and security of the engine to airframe ground and also the battery to airframe ground. Since you are poking around the inside of the panel you might as well use some electrical contact cleaner on your connectors but first disconnect the battery before doing so.

Check to see if the following SB was completed:

SB 13-12-12 Sealing Avionics Bay to Prevent Water Intrusion

WARNING! Avoid flight in precipitation prior to complying with this bulletin. If flight in precipitation cannot be avoided, the pilot should be prepared for possible electrical failures.

Also this modification may also apply:

RV-12 Canopy Seal Kit: Part number 12 Canopy Seal Kit

Regards,
 
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Spar pin switch upgrade is available

Joe can see magnetism and electricity. For those of us who can't, you can replace those pesky magnetic spar pin sensors with mechanical switches.

Notification N 15-09-15 at Van's website has instructions. There is even a kit for this: 12 SPAR SWITCH KIT

The kit does cost $45, but fixes an aggravation.
 
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Relocate the magnetic reed switches so that they are mounted parallel with the
magnets instead of perpendicular to them. Reed switches work a whole lot
better when the magnet north pole is near one end of the switch and the
magnetic south pole is near the other end of the switch. Opposites attract.
When one end of a reed switch is near a magnetic north pole and the other end
of a reed switch is near a magnetic south pole, the two flexible reeds inside of
the switch will be attracted to each other and will touch, thus completing the
electrical circuit.


Thank you for this tip, Joe. I will look in to it. So, so much to learn as an owner that didn't build it.
 
Thank you for this tip, Joe. I will look in to it. So, so much to learn as an owner that didn't build it.

I was in same boat (airplane). I bought my plane from original builder at 48TT. Man that built my plane was 80 years old and left a lot to be desired.

VAF works a charm. Ask away - that's why we're all here. Works like Paying-it-Forward.

Happy Father's Day to the group... :D
 
Today was a good day... Oil pressure sensor fixed and working, replaced with butt spliced and heat shrinked connectors, vs the spade connectors on very, very thin gauge wire.

Same thing for both EGT sensors, the left sensor is brand spanking new.

Oil sump has the handy dandy bottom quick drain valve in it, making oil changes a snap.

Replaced the tempest oil filter with the factory Rotax oil filter, and since I will be running only Mogas while taking lessons, filled up with Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 10w-40 T4 motorcycle air cooled oil with gearbox additives.

Started plane up, no leaks, ( yay!) and the EMS gauges worked good and proper.

First log in the Rotax service booklet at 192.0 hours. Also found my student flight log book with all the other logs. Crazy busy week last week, for me, misplaced my pilot log book, with the rest of the log books ( hey, when you're sleep deprived East Coast 4 am start, now on West Coast time jet lagged out tired, they are all the same, log books)

1st flight lesson finally logged with an instructor, in the books. Excited to learn how to fly in my own RV-12!

Prop is a little over pitched, hope to get that sorted out tomorrow morning.

The the Xpnder 261 has a lack of power up, too, have to get that sorted out also.

Had an Ooops moment when the right choke cable clamp was loose, the housing wasn't adjusted properly, due to the cable slipping, and friend pulled on the enrichment cable. Of course the cable end was not properly secured and frayed... no way to salvage the enrichment cable, I think, so I'm in for having to probably buy a whole new assembly... that was an expensive yank by friend on the enrichment cable. Have to call Van's and get a part # and see how much the damage is... unless someone knows how to get all the frayed cable back together to thread through that tiny darn hole in the retainer clamp.
 
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Good work

Niner,

Nice progress report. Keep us informed.

Happy to hear you are learning the ropes, having fun and getting some stick time in your own RV-12!
 
All D plugs for Xpnder 261 and SV-470 at boxes, at junction box, and the Sky View Classic, which was just returned remanufactured from Dynon were sprayed with CRC Contact Cleaner yesterday.

No change in continuity, or anything started working that didn't work before.

I think I need to verify all the serial port settings are correct first. Is that a Dynon or a Van's question, since it's a Van's box?

Not sure where to look next. Van's Junction box? Any one know which pin #'s are positive and ground on the Van's box, so I can see if it's putting out power, once I verify serial port settings? I do see a couple of red and black wires in the harnesses all built up and bundled together with white wire.
 
I sent you a PM also, but I had the same issue with a frayed choke cable. I bought the smallest diameter shrink tubing I could find. I found it at Harbor Freight and had to get the assortment pack to find the small stuff. Then I twisted over and over to get the wires in the cable back in some sort of order and then carefully twisted the shrink tube over the cable and twisted some more to be sure the little wires were lined up and then hit it with a heat gun.

With that I was able to thread the cable through that very small hole you are talking about. I did purchase a new cable but with that fix I do not need it anymore. I think it was just under $200 with tax and shipping.
 
NinerBikes
Ground: AV-50000A XPNDR pin 9 black wire to SV-XPNDR-261 pin 14
+12 VDC: AV-50000A XPNDR pin 1 red wire to SV-XPNDR-261 pin 15
If a conversion harness is causing a problem, remove the power and ground wires from that harness and connect directly per above.
 
NinerBikes
Ground: AV-50000A XPNDR pin 9 black wire to SV-XPNDR-261 pin 14
+12 VDC: AV-50000A XPNDR pin 1 red wire to SV-XPNDR-261 pin 15
If a conversion harness is causing a problem, remove the power and ground wires from that harness and connect directly per above.

Will give this a try with the Digital Multi Meter tomorrow, if I get the chance.

Definitely an intermittent problem, and something is wrong with the memory, that is changing my serial port settings on the Skyview. I somehow got Xpnder 261 showing up in serial port 2 and 3 when it started acting up again. I know I set serial port 3 to SV-470, I wrote all my settings down for what worked.
 
I sent you a PM also, but I had the same issue with a frayed choke cable. I bought the smallest diameter shrink tubing I could find. I found it at Harbor Freight and had to get the assortment pack to find the small stuff. Then I twisted over and over to get the wires in the cable back in some sort of order and then carefully twisted the shrink tube over the cable and twisted some more to be sure the little wires were lined up and then hit it with a heat gun.

With that I was able to thread the cable through that very small hole you are talking about. I did purchase a new cable but with that fix I do not need it anymore. I think it was just under $200 with tax and shipping.

The clamp has a beveled or conical edge on one side. I was able to get all of the frayed cable bits back in to it by twisting gently while feeding the cable through the pinch hole. Good to go now. There are hex head set screws on both sides of this
 
Progress is being made. Setting my 2013 EFIS to exact same settings as neighbors 2015 RV-12.


Serial port 5, POS 1 is GPS-2020 ADSB out antenna.

Serial port 4 is Garmin SL-40.

Serial Port 3 is XPNDR 261.

Serial port 2 is SV-470 ADSB IN.

In my plane, Serial port 1 is vacant. Not sure if it's to be connected to the ELT, not even sure which model # ELT is in my 2012, yet, it's actually yellow in color, not orange.


Some say the ELS is stand alone, has it's own GPS antenna to send Long and Lat, some say it gets GPS coordinates from the EFIS and GPS out antenna?

Plane is still on blocks perfectly level after setting prop pitch, I will need to get the plane off the blocks and then outside of the aluminum hangar to get good signal for ADSB-In and XPNDR to see if they function properly now.

Plane needs a good wash and wax to get all the bugs intercepted between SC and CA on 20 + hours of flight. Shell Aerosport 4 motor oil measured right at top of stick in SC, and a smidgen above the 1/2 way mark on the stick after I flew it with friend for another hour, or 21 hours. Most of flight from Carlsbad, NM to CA was at 8500 to 10,500 ft AGL, in the cooler air up there, on the last day.
 
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Plane is still on blocks perfectly level after setting prop pitch

Just a point of information... plane does not need to be perfectly level, or level at all, to set prop pitch. Digital level compares blade pitch to cabin longeron. Doesn't care at all if plane is leveled...
 
Just a point of information... plane does not need to be perfectly level, or level at all, to set prop pitch. Digital level compares blade pitch to cabin longeron. Doesn't care at all if plane is leveled...

Had to put plane on blocks to get cabin longeron to "0" pitch up or down. Then prop hub was blocked and level set to 0 for prop now being horizontal. Hangar is not on level concrete slab, it's on asphalt, graded to handle runoff, slopes down slightly. Probably a CA thing?
 
Had to put plane on blocks to get cabin longeron to "0" pitch up or down. Then prop hub was blocked and level set to 0 for prop now being horizontal. Hangar is not on level concrete slab, it's on asphalt, graded to handle runoff, slopes down slightly. Probably a CA thing?

The procedure in the KAI works very well.......
Doesn?t require any leveling of the aircraft.
 
The procedure in the KAI works very well.......
Doesn’t require any leveling of the aircraft.

Once I build a work bench in the hangar, I'll actually have something like a desk to actually READ the KAI off of. The paperwork is quite heavy, maybe 32 to 35#'s worth.
 
Once I build a work bench in the hangar, I'll actually have something like a desk to actually READ the KAI off of. The paperwork is quite heavy, maybe 32 to 35#'s worth.

That's one benefit of having a low wing airplane - built in surface to spread instructions, tools, etc...
 
Progress is being made. Setting my 2013 EFIS to exact same settings as neighbors 2015 RV-12.


Serial port 5, POS 1 is GPS-2020 ADSB out antenna.

Serial port 4 is Garmin SL-40.

Serial Port 3 is XPNDR 261.

Serial port 2 is SV-470 ADSB IN.

In my plane, Serial port 1 is vacant. Not sure if it's to be connected to the ELT, not even sure which model # ELT is in my 2012, yet, it's actually yellow in color, not orange.

Some say the ELS is stand alone, has it's own GPS antenna to send Long and Lat, some say it gets GPS coordinates from the EFIS and GPS out antenna?

Plane is still on blocks perfectly level after setting prop pitch, I will need to get the plane off the blocks and then outside of the aluminum hangar to get good signal for ADSB-In and XPNDR to see if they function properly now.

Plane needs a good wash and wax to get all the bugs intercepted between SC and CA on 20 + hours of flight. Shell Aerosport 4 motor oil measured right at top of stick in SC, and a smidgen above the 1/2 way mark on the stick after I flew it with friend for another hour, or 21 hours. Most of flight from Carlsbad, NM to CA was at 8500 to 10,500 ft AGL, in the cooler air up there, on the last day.

The early RV-12s, like mine, have the yellow ELT. These do not have a GPS connection. There was an add-on box for this ELT that would allow a GPS connection to the EFIS, I think at the time it was about $200. I didn't buy it.

The later -12s have the orange ELT which does have a GPS connection and in looking at the manuals it might have to be put on a serial port. So, your friends 2015 airplane has the orange ELT and it's on serial port 1?
 
The early RV-12s, like mine, have the yellow ELT. These do not have a GPS connection. There was an add-on box for this ELT that would allow a GPS connection to the EFIS, I think at the time it was about $200. I didn't buy it.

The later -12s have the orange ELT which does have a GPS connection and in looking at the manuals it might have to be put on a serial port. So, your friends 2015 airplane has the orange ELT and it's on serial port 1?

Yes, mine is yellow, 836BL has an orange one, 406 ELT. I just changed the battery on it 2 months back, and retested it. I believe his is on serial port 1 and gets it's most current gps coordinates from the Skyview EFIS system.
 
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