MC wrote:
: Maybe a combination of problems.
: Heavy electrical load,
: +
: Alternator not producing enough power. (slipping belt, stuffed
: alternator, stuffed regulator),
: +
: Reduced battery capacity. (age)

: My $0.02 is that the problem is somewhere in the alternator/belt region.

If the alternator/belt stopped producing power, things wouldn't go out until
the battery was dead.

From what you describe, the multisystem failure would tend to indicate
something in common. Possibly a shared breaker (avionics avionics master), but most
likely a single-point, shared ground that's flakey.

Most GA aircraft are a multi-layered hodge-podge of crappy electrical wiring.
In particular, grounds tend to be wherever the last boob to install it had a pre-cut
wire long enough to reach. Having a single-point where everything grounds is a good
thing to eliminate ground loops. Gotta make sure that one point is solid, though.

-Cory

--

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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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