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Re: Europa-List: Cowl mods for front belt driven alternator

Subject: Re: Europa-List: Cowl mods for front belt driven alternator
From: David Joyce <davidjoyce@doctors.org.uk>
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 14:49:13

Greg, there is a bit of a philosophical issue here! Do you 
want to include every possible bit of kit and duplicate 
all important functions with considerable addition to your 
overall weight, or do you want to build to the lowest 
possible weight whilst including all vital functions. 
Flying an overweight plane carries its own performance and 
safety penalties which can possibly outweigh the marginal 
safety gains of the extra kit. When it was possible to 
find plane weights on the Europa website (hopefully soon 
to be possible again!), it was noticeable that the weights 
of 914 Europas varied from under 800lbs to well over 
900lbs if my memory serves. That of course equates to a 
load capacity for passengers & fuel etc of between 470+ 
lbs (fairly comfortable) and perhaps 350 lbs.( very thin 
passengers or no fuel!). Admittedly in the US you get away 
with more than 1270 MAUW, but only at the expense of 
eroding performance and safety margins.
       For what it is worth my standard 914 alternator 
(&Ducatti regulator) with Single Odyssey battery (16 
amp/hrs)  has for 1000+ hrs coped perfectly well with 
wobbly prop, EFIS, autopilot, GPS, twin Nav Com, 
transponder, EMS and both electric fuel pumps (although of 
course you only normally have one of them on as each is 
capable of supplying more than full power fuel flow)
       I would personally follow the build as light as 
possble approach and have that little bit of extra 
power/weight ratio to help you in the dodgy situations you 
may possibly unintentionally find yourself in some time 
down the line.
     Regards, David Joyce, G-XSDJ (833 lbs)

  "Greg Fuchs " <gregoryf.flyboy@comcast.net> wrote:
>>Perhaps in the situation above, it would be prudent for a 
>>914 builder (914
> can draw 11 amps on its own with both pumps running) to 
>consider a belt
> driven ??
>>alternator of 40 amps, and simply redo the cowl front and 
>>keep the Rotax as
> a backup in case of belt failure.
> 
> Bud, or those that know,
> At some point, or future avionics upgrade, my ship will 
>likely need the
> extra Watts.
> Would you care to supply a 'teaser' on the making of the 
>cowl mod? I am
> still waiting for my FF package, so don't yet have a 
>handle on how it
> integrates with the prop flange, but does the front of 
>the cowl terminate
> just behind the prop flange, on the smaller-radius drive 
>tube? Are the
> belt-driven alternator components in front of the cowl 
>then, requiring the
> cowl front face to be opened up and added to? Is this 
>considered an
> extensive change?
> Regards,
> Greg
> 
>  _____  
> 
>From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
> [mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On 
>Behalf Of Bud Yerly
> Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 9:13 PM
> To: europa-list
> Subject: RE: Europa-List: Re: Ducati 
>rectifier/regulators
> 
> 
> 
> .....
> If you are an amp zealot, but still want an aux fuel 
>pump, pitot heat, 100
> watt landing light, strobes, heavy draw radio (Garmin 
>430 type), Aux Radio,
> Mode S transponder continuously working, autopilot, 
>stereo high quality
> music system, external power plugs for our phones, 
>I-pads and inflight video
> system,  the Rotax charging system is not going to hack 
>it.
> 
> Perhaps in the situation above, it would be prudent for 
>a 914 builder (914
> can draw 11 amps on its own with both pumps running) to 
>consider a belt
> driven alternator of 40 amps, and simply redo the cowl 
>front and keep the
> Rotax as a backup in case of belt failure.
> 
> If you build a 912S airplane with all LED lighting, 
>Garmin 255 or Becker
> Com, Simple digital Transponder, Aux Boost, and maybe an 
>autopilot for
> cruise only and a paper map, then the Rotax / Ducati 
>should be fine.  The
> GR6 or SH may be better and longer lasting to boot.  In 
>my opinion the Rotax
> system can't put out much more than 15 amps or so and as 
>the current
> increases, the voltage output starts to diminish (at 
>least it does in my
> poor old airplane) .
> 
> Just my thoughts.
> Bud
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 16:40:25 +0100
>> From: jan_de_jong@casema.nl
>> To: europa-list@matronics.com
>> Subject: Re: Europa-List: Re: Ducati 
>>rectifier/regulators
>> 
>><jan_de_jong@casema.nl>
>> 
>> Re two-phase bridge rectifier/regulator.
>> The 2 thyristors in the rectifier bridge do not short 
>>the AC input or 
>> "dump" anything.
>> On the contrary, they disconnect the DC output from the 
>>AC input when 
>> the output voltage threatens to exceed the set voltage.
>> All output current passes through one branch of one 
>>diode and one 
>> thyristor in series half the time and through the other 
>>identical branch 
>> also half the time.
>> Heat development is proportional to the output current 
>>and the voltage 
>> drop across a branch.
>> Voltage drops increase somewhat with current, so heat 
>>development 
>> increases more than linearly with output current.
>> In the Ducati device the diode is reportedly a MR2510 
>>pill (typically 
>> 0.75V at 10A, 0.8V at 20A), the thyristor can be a 
>>2N6504 (typically 
>> 1.1V at 10A, 1.3V at 20A).
>> So at 10A the two branches of the bridge are each 
>>expected to generate 
>> 0.5 x (7.5 + 11) = 9.25W (total 18.5W) of heat.
>> And at 20A the two branches of the bridge are each 
>>expected to generate 
>> 0.5 x (16 + 26) = 21W (total 42W) of heat.
>> 
>> (
>> a failure mode for the Ducati device is reportedly the 
>>loss of 
>> continuity of a diode pill attachment through thermal 
>>cycling; fitting 
>> external parallel diodes has been proposed as a 
>>solution; replacing the 
>> whole device seems more sensible
>> )
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Jan de Jong
>> 
> &g======================
> &g======
>> 
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