Radio acting up

On Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 3:05:51 PM UTC-6, Blake Seese 3Y wrote:
Hello all,

My Becker 4201 just started acting up. Specifically, it has a cyclic regular dead spot when transmitting, so the person listening to you gets about half of each word. It receives just fine, and all functions work as they should. Same thing happens with a fully charged battery or one that has been used for several hours. Has anyone ever run in to this?

Thanks,

3Y

Thank you to all who responded, super helpful info! I will post again once I have addressed the wiring.

Best to all,
Blake - 3Y

On Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 3:05:51 PM UTC-6, Blake Seese 3Y wrote:
Hello all,

My Becker 4201 just started acting up. Specifically, it has a cyclic regular dead spot when transmitting, so the person listening to you gets about half of each word. It receives just fine, and all functions work as they should. Same thing happens with a fully charged battery or one that has been used for several hours. Has anyone ever run in to this?

Thanks,

3Y

Well, I finally pulled the panel and started checking connections. I found many loose connections and one case of the insulation being clamped in the contacts. I tinned all wire ends and torqued down all connections. The result is a properly functioning system. There is still a voltage drop at the radio when transmitting but it is now down to less than one volt which seems normal? Also the battery does not discharge as fast as it did before. I left all the instruments on for about six hours and still showed 12.0 volts on the radio display and no cutting out on the radio.

I have to say, the previous owner actually did a very nice job of rewiring the ship, wire size is plenty big, and are clearly labeled, and fused. Seems like the loose connections were just age/vibration, most wire ends were tinned already, I just did the ones that weren't.

Decided to leave it set up just the way it is and run everything off one battery at a time. The ship has two batteries and a switch to select which battery you want. It also has a master switch.

I want to thank everyone for your assistance and advice, this is such a great forum!

Now we just need some lift...

On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 7:43:01 PM UTC-5, Blake Seese 3Y wrote:
On Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 3:05:51 PM UTC-6, Blake Seese 3Y wrote:
Hello all,

My Becker 4201 just started acting up. Specifically, it has a cyclic regular dead spot when transmitting, so the person listening to you gets about half of each word. It receives just fine, and all functions work as they should. Same thing happens with a fully charged battery or one that has been used for several hours. Has anyone ever run in to this?

Thanks,

3Y

Well, I finally pulled the panel and started checking connections. I found many loose connections and one case of the insulation being clamped in the contacts. I tinned all wire ends and torqued down all connections. The result is a properly functioning system. There is still a voltage drop at the radio when transmitting but it is now down to less than one volt which seems normal? Also the battery does not discharge as fast as it did before. I left all the instruments on for about six hours and still showed 12.0 volts on the radio display and no cutting out on the radio.

I have to say, the previous owner actually did a very nice job of rewiring the ship, wire size is plenty big, and are clearly labeled, and fused. Seems like the loose connections were just age/vibration, most wire ends were tinned already, I just did the ones that weren't.

Decided to leave it set up just the way it is and run everything off one battery at a time. The ship has two batteries and a switch to select which battery you want. It also has a master switch.

I want to thank everyone for your assistance and advice, this is such a great forum!

Now we just need some lift...

Excellent, thanks for the follow-up. Glad you found obvious issues & resolved them. Sounds like you will have a nice working electrical system from now on.
Yes, your voltage drop (at the radio) sounds much more reasonable although maybe a little high.

PS, did you meter your way through the wiring to find the issues, or did you just "wiggle test" connections? Obviously whatever you did worked, just curious.

On Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 3:05:51 PM UTC-6, Blake Seese 3Y wrote:
Hello all,

My Becker 4201 just started acting up. Specifically, it has a cyclic regular dead spot when transmitting, so the person listening to you gets about half of each word. It receives just fine, and all functions work as they should. Same thing happens with a fully charged battery or one that has been used for several hours. Has anyone ever run in to this?

Thanks,

3Y

I did meter through to the extent possible and found consistent voltage through the system up to the connection blocks (one for power and one for ground). I checked the connections, fixed and tightened them and that seemed to do it. The wires on the radio harness seem a little small, but they are short, so I think they are ok. I think it is a stock becker wiring harness.

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 8:27:18 AM UTC-8, Blake Seese 3Y wrote:
On Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 3:05:51 PM UTC-6, Blake Seese 3Y wrote:
Hello all,

My Becker 4201 just started acting up. Specifically, it has a cyclic regular dead spot when transmitting, so the person listening to you gets about half of each word. It receives just fine, and all functions work as they should. Same thing happens with a fully charged battery or one that has been used for several hours. Has anyone ever run in to this?

Thanks,

3Y

I did meter through to the extent possible and found consistent voltage through the system up to the connection blocks (one for power and one for ground). I checked the connections, fixed and tightened them and that seemed to do it. The wires on the radio harness seem a little small, but they are short, so I think they are ok. I think it is a stock becker wiring harness.

Measuring voltage with no load can be deceiving.
Wondering if the tinned wires are used in crimp or screw terminal connections, as opposed to tinned prior to solder connections. Tinned wire in a crimp or terminal strip in my experience is a recipe for future looseness.
Jim

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 11:51:50 AM UTC-5, JS wrote:

Measuring voltage with no load can be deceiving.
Wondering if the tinned wires are used in crimp or screw terminal connections, as opposed to tinned prior to solder connections. Tinned wire in a crimp or terminal strip in my experience is a recipe for future looseness.
Jim


Solid or "semi-solid" wire should NOT be used in a crimp connector, none I have ever seen are rated/recommended for these wires.
If you just crimp, you will have issues.
If you crimp AND solder, then you will be fine.
Solder (on any kind of wire) for the electrical connection in a crimp connector is the best way to go. The crimp is the mechanical connection while the solder is the electrical connection.

[Semi-solid wire is a stranded wire with a "tin" overcoat holding the strands together as opposed to stranded tin coated wire which is fine in a crimp connector.]

ah no. Do not solder crimp connectors. If you are having to do this to get reliable connections you either do not know what you are doing and/or are using the wrong connectors and crimp tools. Soldering is much less reliable that *well* done crimps and soldering a crimp connector causes issues including solder flow back up the stranded wire making that brittle. Look up any proper instructions for doing professional crimping and this will be made very clear, or get help from a skilled professional and they should kick you out in your arse for such sloppiness.

A properly done crimp connection is a cold-weld joint done under incredible pressure. You will only do these reliably with the right connector and wire guage and a ratcheting or power driven (e.g. As used in manufacturing) swage crimper. Matching the exact manufacturer connector to the crimp tool or replaceable head may be needed to get really good crimps. And in some cases that crimper may cost hundreds of dollars.

There was an earlier comment regarding aircraft wire.
This is a reference to the insulation type.
All wire is copper.
Aircraft wire insulation has been chosen for it's fire resistance and not giving off toxic fumes when overheated.
A short in a 12V glider wiring system, not protected by a fuse can result in a copper wire glowing red hot, and burning off the insulation rather quickly. Spend an extra few bucks on the "aircraft" wire.

There is no real penalty for a wire one size larger than you think you need.. It will run cooler and it will have less voltage drop.

Fuses on the battery can be the best thing you ever did when things go wrong. Those batteries look small, but there is a significant amount of stored energy in them that can start a nifty little fire without proper fusing. Given the propensity for composite materials to burn, little fires don't usually stay little for very long.

SF