L-5 Maintenance Forum

[Steve Seal]

If the “Amp” meter on the L-5 seems to not be advancing with the powerlever/RPM, is there a good way to tell if the generator is still charging the battery?   How would one get a generator overhauled?- fixed if not functioning?

[John Griffin]

Steve,

If you have a cigarette lighter outlet for your iPad or other devices, look for a dual charger with volt/amp readout. They are $10-15 and when you power up they show the battery voltage and when you advance the throttle the voltage with go up to 14 showing the generator is working. My amp meter doesnt move enough to tell the generator is working but the little charger shows the advancing voltage of the generator.

As far as getting a generator repaired, mine needed a new armature and I will have to get the paper work to see where I sent it. Seems like a shop in Kentucky. I will check.

John

[Sam Taber]

Hi Steve,

Most of the L-5s have a 0-150 Amp range gauge as original equipment.  This was the smallest range ammeter which was GFE ( Gov’t Furnished Equipment).  Our Generators are only  rated at 15 Amp output which is barely a needle width movement at full  GEN output.  So the original ammeter in the L-5 is almost a waist of space. That being said, the best way to check output is with a voltmeter.  (I like the one listed above by John Griffin).  What I do is install the volt meter on the A+ wire ( Armature + is the output wire  of the Generator) either at the Generator or where the Generator A+ wire meets the voltage regulator.  You should see the voltage build and achieve aprox 14 volts as you move the throttle.  That is Gen output voltage.   Then you can move the lead to the Battery side of the Regulator and run it up again. You should see the 12 volt (aprox) battery voltage rise to 14vt  when the generator is connected to the main electric system as you run the engine up.

My method is ground based trouble shooting. Johns is a good in ground/ flight monitor system. My old GPS had a voltmeter function built in which I used all the time.  New one  does not. So I have no current way to monitor Gen output.

ST

 

[Sam Taber]

Forgot part 2.  Gen overhaul is done by sending to an accessory shop for repair.  There are several good shops. We use Aero Accessories Inc ( San Antonio) and S&T Aircraft Accessories ( New Braunfels ,TX). Both of these shops work with our “old” stuff:)

ST

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