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Flap Actuator Stroke Length?

dmat

dmat

Well Known Member
Advertiser
Does anyone know the stroke length on the vans flap actuator?

Thanks,
D
 
I bought the RV-10 flap motor retrofit kit a few months ago (anybody need one? It is for sale) before I realized that it will not work with my panel / harness from SteinAir. Short version of the story - the number and locations of the wires in the harness are different from what is required for the retrofit kit, and I need to just buy a position sensor. The G3x is programmed and ready to go for a sensor, and that's much easier than rebuilding the harness for the retrofit.

SteinAir recommended using the Ray Allen POS-12 with a 1.2 inch stroke measuring length. As far as I can tell (confirmed in the above messages), the Van's flap motor stroke is considerably more than 1.2 inches. I assumed you would just mount the sensor parallel to the piston, but clearly it will run too long for the sensor.

Has anyone added a sensor like this? Where do you mount it and what is it measuring, since I can't just measure the piston position. Thanks!

And, if anyone needs them, I have a few spare parts available for sale.
- RV-10 flap motor retrofit kit
- Van's throttle quadrant
- 3 push pull cables for Van's throttle quadrant
 
AlpineYoda said:
I bought the RV-10 flap motor retrofit kit a few months ago (anybody need one? It is for sale) before I realized that it will not work with my panel / harness from SteinAir. Short version of the story - the number and locations of the wires in the harness are different from what is required for the retrofit kit, and I need to just buy a position sensor. The G3x is programmed and ready to go for a sensor, and that's much easier than rebuilding the harness for the retrofit.

SteinAir recommended using the Ray Allen POS-12 with a 1.2 inch stroke measuring length. As far as I can tell (confirmed in the above messages), the Van's flap motor stroke is considerably more than 1.2 inches. I assumed you would just mount the sensor parallel to the piston, but clearly it will run too long for the sensor.

Has anyone added a sensor like this? Where do you mount it and what is it measuring, since I can't just measure the piston position. Thanks!

And, if anyone needs them, I have a few spare parts available for sale.
- RV-10 flap motor retrofit kit
- Van's throttle quadrant
- 3 push pull cables for Van's throttle quadrant
Click to expand...
POS-12 measures resistance, and the avionics control is translating the numerical value into a proxy representation in degrees to display on a panel. You may need to understand this issue in more detail before trying to swap parts. Good luck. It’s similar to the fuel level being translated to gals for the display.
 
RViter said:
POS-12 measures resistance, and the avionics control is translating the numerical value into a proxy representation in degrees to display on a panel. You may need to understand this issue in more detail before trying to swap parts. Good luck. It’s similar to the fuel level being translated to gals for the display.
Click to expand...
Thanks - my harness has two sets of wires - one for control, one for a position sensor. That's why the van's retrofit product won't work - I'm built for separate motors and sensors, not an all-in-one solution. My G3x is already programmed to show flap position using resistance in the same way as my fuel gauges if I install a POS-12, according to SteinAir.

My issue isn't with how the POS functions or how to read it. My issue is that the Flap motor piston moves 5 inches. The POS sensor moves 1.2 inches. How do you measure where something is along a 5 inch path using a device with a 1.2 inch travel?
 
I believe the position sensor gets mounted on the flap arm, not on the flap motor. The flap arm moves in an arc and depending on how far out from the center you place it, it will move less than 5”. That said, the retrofit motor contains 5 wires: 2 for power/ground, and the other 3 for position (hi, low, posn). This should be the same as the combination Ray Allen sensor and old style flap motor. I’m not sure why it wouldn’t work the same way with your panel.
 
stigaro said:
I believe the position sensor gets mounted on the flap arm, not on the flap motor. The flap arm moves in an arc and depending on how far out from the center you place it, it will move less than 5”. That said, the retrofit motor contains 5 wires: 2 for power/ground, and the other 3 for position (hi, low, posn). This should be the same as the combination Ray Allen sensor and old style flap motor. I’m not sure why it wouldn’t work the same way with your panel.
Click to expand...
I have 6 wires from the Stein harness. 3 for the motor, 3 for the position sensor. Maybe one is ground in both cases, but someone at Stein said my harness is not compatible. Given that the power wire for the motor only flows when I hit the switch, power isn't in common between the circuits.
 
This is how I mounted mine.
 

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A little bit of high school trig and ratios to get the size of the small horn and you’re good to go. Disclaimer ignore hardware this was just trial fit

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AlpineYoda said:
I have 6 wires from the Stein harness. 3 for the motor, 3 for the position sensor. Maybe one is ground in both cases, but someone at Stein said my harness is not compatible. Given that the power wire for the motor only flows when I hit the switch, power isn't in common between the circuits.
Click to expand...
Wouldn’t you just wire the 3 in the stein harness for position to the 3 in the actuator which send out position? its exactly the same thing isn’t it? Adding the POS 12 is just duplicating what’s internal to the retrofit actuator?
 
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