Smoke In The Cabin

you must have had one crazy spike because the SL30 lists input voltage 10 to 40 volts

Edit: i see someone picked up on that in a previous post my bad
 
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Geico266 said:
I am still stunned. Seriously, If I sent them to Chelton is was $1,250 per box up to $2,500...each! :eek: He fixed them for free. :happydance::cheers:
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Did you buy a lottery ticket after you got that news? I sure would have.
 
bnt83 said:
you must have had one crazy spike because the SL30 lists input voltage 10 to 40 volts

Edit: i see someone picked up on that in a previous post my bad
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The guy that repaired the Cheltons estimated 50 volts. I think it was AC current?
 
Glad it's working out.

If you don't redesign with overvolt protection, perhaps consider a cheap voltage monitor that has a bright RED LED for out of spec voltage... Something that would get your attention sooner.

Or you could get one of the cheap solid state voltage regulators we all put in Cessnas these days.

There's a "High Voltage" light on the older 182 panels wired to the thing. The older original ones were crap and failed regularly, but the new STCed replacements work great.

The light is actually mislabeled, it'll illuminate for both over and under volt conditions and a failed alternator. Since our light is incandescent, I've added flipping off the Alternator half of the master switch to the checklist to prove it at least illuminates on the ground.

The voltage regulator will also automagically drop the alternator off-line in either an under or overvolt condition by removing power to the field lead.

They ran about $100 when we had to replace ours.
 
Glad it worked out, Larry. Runaway over voltage can cause problems really fast.
 
denverpilot said:
Glad it's working out.

If you don't redesign with overvolt protection, perhaps consider a cheap voltage monitor that has a bright RED LED for out of spec voltage... Something that would get your attention sooner.

Or you could get one of the cheap solid state voltage regulators we all put in Cessnas these days.

There's a "High Voltage" light on the older 182 panels wired to the thing. The older original ones were crap and failed regularly, but the new STCed replacements work great.

The light is actually mislabeled, it'll illuminate for both over and under volt conditions and a failed alternator. Since our light is incandescent, I've added flipping off the Alternator half of the master switch to the checklist to prove it at least illuminates on the ground.

The voltage regulator will also automagically drop the alternator off-line in either an under or overvolt condition by removing power to the field lead.

They ran about $100 when we had to replace ours.
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Since I had to replace the alternator anyway I put in a Plane Power 70 amp. It has internally regulation and over voltage protection. I didn't know Lycoming bought them.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Glad it worked out, Larry. Runaway over voltage can cause problems really fast.
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I still would like to know how long it was over loaded. I was coming into the pattern so my head was outside the cabin like a good little pilot. :lol:

Its crazy it didn't burn up my 496 hand held. I had it plugged in. :dunno:

Oh well, all's well that ends well. :yesnod:
 
Don't stir the tanks. ;-)

Glad it worked out. Good solid piloting.
 
Larry, I'm glad it all worked out well for you. That's something that my CFII threw at me while I was saturated under the hood about 3 minutes after takeoff.

He yelled "What's that smell? There's smoke in the cockpit! I'm feeling heat on my feet! What do we do now?" I didn't handle the simulated emergency as well as I would have liked. So well done to you, sir.

Does this cause you to think about getting a smoke hood for yourself and your pax, in case something like that happened at altitude?
 
A lot of people in the Twin Cessna group have bought a smoke hood recently. It's on my list for an upcoming purchase.
 
nddons said:
Larry, I'm glad it all worked out well for you. That's something that my CFII threw at me while I was saturated under the hood about 3 minutes after takeoff.

He yelled "What's that smell? There's smoke in the cockpit! I'm feeling heat on my feet! What do we do now?" I didn't handle the simulated emergency as well as I would have liked. So well done to you, sir.

Does this cause you to think about getting a smoke hood for yourself and your pax, in case something like that happened at altitude?
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Thank you.

It would have come in handy if I was farther away from the airport.
 
Well, I have all of the repair bills in. :rolleyes2:

Garmin SL-30. $550
Whelan power box $400
Alternator $455
Cheltons $ 80 (shipping)
AP repair $500
Engine monitor $600
Grand total $2,585

While the TruTrac auto pilot was in the shop they offered me an upgrade to the latest AP for an additional $900. It has altitude preselect and will be a plug n play system as they will built the adaptor harnesses. So actually you could say the over voltage cost me $3,485.

May I suggest to my fellow plane owners to investigate your over voltage protection system better than I did. My way of checking works, but is pricey. ;)
 
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Overvoltage was one of the reasons I upgraded to PlanePower alternators and regulators. I've had them for almost a year and 200ish hours. So far, nothing but positive things to say about them.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
A lot of people in the Twin Cessna group have bought a smoke hood recently. It's on my list for an upcoming purchase.
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Here's a tidbit for you, they are no longer legal on boats. They found too many people with them shrink wrapped to their heads. O2 mask and goggles would be what you want to have.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Overvoltage was one of the reasons I upgraded to PlanePower alternators and regulators. I've had them for almost a year and 200ish hours. So far, nothing but positive things to say about them.
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I thought they were great.
 
Geico266 said:
While the TruTrac auto pilot was in the shop they offered me an upgrade to the latest AP for an additional $900. It has altitude preselect and will be a plug n play system as they will built the adaptor harnesses. So actually you could say the over voltage cost me $3,485.
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You will like that. We have the alt pre-select in the -10. I did a 1.5 hr flight last spring where I flipped the switch to A/P about 200 ft after wheels up and didn't turn it off until about 200 ft before wheels down on the other end.

May I suggest to my fellow plane owners to investigate your over voltage protection system better than I did. My way of checking works, but is pricey. ;)
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Good point. I'm planning tomorrow's flight to Iowa - I'll have to dig into the AFS setup and see if it has voice alerts for over-voltage and if they are enabled on our setup.
 
Henning said:
Here's a tidbit for you, they are no longer legal on boats. They found too many people with them shrink wrapped to their heads. O2 mask and goggles would be what you want to have.
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If someone would really shrink wrap one to their head....:nono::mad2::lol:
 
CJones said:
You will like that. We have the alt pre-select in the -10. I did a 1.5 hr flight last spring where I flipped the switch to A/P about 200 ft after wheels up and didn't turn it off until about 200 ft before wheels down on the other end.
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I didn't realize you had a Cirrus. :D

Does it do overhead breaks and zoom climbs?
 
I would install a Zeftronics voltage regulator plus the Plane Power alternator.
 
Henning said:
Here's a tidbit for you, they are no longer legal on boats. They found too many people with them shrink wrapped to their heads. O2 mask and goggles would be what you want to have.
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Wow... .was it just the heat or did flames actually get to the hood?

Either way, I am tossing mine out now and will be adding googles to my planes.
 
Glad it is going back together without too much pain. Do experimentals have a minimum equipment list? Or just the part 91 required for airplanes stuff
 
Zeldman said:
Wow... .was it just the heat or did flames actually get to the hood?

Either way, I am tossing mine out now and will be adding googles to my planes.
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Heat is enough IIRC. I know the owner wanted me to buy some last March and I could not because they had lost their UL listing. There are more expensive ones that are short of a full SCBA though, much more sturdy material, thin plexi or Lexan face plate and a filter. If I had an O2 mask I would go with that and goggles.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Glad it is going back together without too much pain. Do experimentals have a minimum equipment list? Or just the part 91 required for airplanes stuff
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There are some basic gages required, but I'm not sure of the minimums. Airspeed, altimeter, compass, rpm, oil temp?
 
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Henning said:
Heat is enough IIRC. I know the owner wanted me to buy some last March and I could not because they had lost their UL listing. There are more expensive ones that are short of a full SCBA though, much more sturdy material, thin plexi or Lexan face plate and a filter. If I had an O2 mask I would go with that and goggles.
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Thanks for the information. I never had even thought that heat would be a problem for a smoke hood.

We have emergency mask for the altitudes we fly, and I am currently shopping for good googles to put in the planes.
 
Zeldman said:
Thanks for the information. I never had even thought that heat would be a problem for a smoke hood.

We have emergency mask for the altitudes we fly, and I am currently shopping for good googles to put in the planes.
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IMHO, breathing is more than important than vision. Highly toxic smoke is nothing to mess with. The chemical effects of what is in the smoke can quickly incapacitate the pilot. As the anxiety and adrenaline kick in your use of oxygen goes way up as the "fight or flight" mammalian instincts kick in. Holding your breath is not an option.
 
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Geico266 said:
IMHO, breathing is more than important than vision. Highly toxic smoke is nothing to mess with. The chemical effects of what is in the smoke can quickly incapacitate the pilot. As the anxiety and adrenaline kick in your use of oxygen goes way up as the "fight or flight" mammalian instincts kick in. Holding your breath is not an option.
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You need both or you die, with acrid plastic smoke you cannot keep your eyes open even to peer through the smoke. If you can't open your eyes, you can't land.
 
Geico266 said:
IMHO, breathing is more than important than vision. Highly toxic smoke is nothing to mess with. The chemical effects of what is in the smoke can quickly incapacitate the pilot. As the anxiety and adrenaline kick in your use of oxygen goes way up as the "fight or flight" mammalian instincts kick in. Holding your breath is not an option.
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There are filter cartridges that work for breathing in many atmospheres as long as the O2 doesn't get too depleted. The new EEBD (Emergency Escape Breathing Device) have one.
 
Henning said:
There are filter cartridges that work for breathing in many atmospheres as long as the O2 doesn't get too depleted. The new EEBD (Emergency Escape Breathing Device) have one.
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I would vote to have one of those on a plane for the pilot. A vent blowing on your face might work for a while, but rather than be distracted by adjusting the vent this filter could be a life saver.

Great idea, thanks.
 
Geico266 said:
I would vote to have one of those on a plane for the pilot. A vent blowing on your face might work for a while, but rather than be distracted by adjusting the vent this filter could be a life saver.

Great idea, thanks.
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I'd imagine that the statistical likelihood of you having another fire incident is low. Be carefule wth planning for every eventuality that you do not have enough useful load for fuel...and we know what happens with insufficient fuel.:yes:
 
Jaybird180 said:
I'd imagine that the statistical likelihood of you having another fire incident is low.
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He flys and experiemental/amateur-built so it's libel to self-deconstruct at any moment...
 
Geico266 said:
I do have a button labeled "Self -Deconstruct" . I have not tried it out yet. :no: :lol:
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I've resisted the temptation to use the "wings fall off" button. It's right next to the gear, poor positioning. It really should be next to the nearest 2 year old.
 
Geico266 said:
That makes sense in theory, but I would say you need the fresh air to keep breathing having gone through it. If you can't breath you can't fly the plane. :dunno:





Thanks! I was real happy I was alone. I just dropped my grand daughter off 30 mins before. Had it happened with her in the plane I would have made an off field landing right away. However, I would have been fine (in retrospect) just to shut the master off and fly to the closest airport. The smoke gets worse before it gets better. The smoke needs to dissipate.
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If there were no flames/heat, I'm thinking an off-field landing with would have been more risky than just flying to the nearest airport, even if you did not know the source of the smoke. You could pop the door to get rid of the smoke.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've resisted the temptation to use the "wings fall off" button. It's right next to the gear, poor positioning. It really should be next to the nearest 2 year old.
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How about a "Do not Push this Button" button:rofl:
 
dans2992 said:
If there were no flames/heat, I'm thinking an off-field landing with would have been more risky than just flying to the nearest airport, even if you did not know the source of the smoke. You could pop the door to get rid of the smoke.
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Not inflight in an RV-10. :no:
 
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