ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

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Pehu
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ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Pehu »

I flew my DA40NG from LOAN back home and after refueling pitstop in Gdansk, climbed to FL 100 and passing few thin cloud layers. The aircraft was picking a bit of light icing, OAT was -2C, but I knew the layers were thin and the small ice would sublimate away once I got to the tops. It gathered a bit on the wings, but very little.

Suddenly I got ALTN AMPS (HIGH CURRENT, over 70 amps) warning. Looking at the amps gauge the amps were clearly on red zone.

Checklist says:
Consumption of electrical power is too high
Possible reason: fault in wiring or equipment
 Switch OFF electrical equipment as necessary and possible to reduce electric load

I was cleared of the clouds and started fiddling with the equipment. Pitot heat off, the gauge dropped to fluctuate between orange and red zone. Turned of stormscope and even MFD, still it jumped to red now and then.

Suddenly, it stopped and amps returned to normal green range. 5 minutes after, it started again. I was cruising at FL 110 at that time. In VMC thou.

I was looking to land the plane to a nearby field, but then thought that maybe there was ice on some part of the plane or wirings. Dropped the altitude to FL 80, OAT was +3-4C. The warnings stopped and amps returned to normal green range. No warnings during the rest of the 3h flight, I stayed at that cruising level for the rest of the trip.

I had alternate air open, as it should be when flying in situations where there might be ice. I closed alternate air too at that point.

Any idea if my assumption is true? Ie could this be because of ice? and/or alternate air being open?

The plane had a new MFD installed, no other changes. I don't think that could be the cause of such issue? I have flown it for 1+ years, sometimes in light icing too and never had the warning.
ES-TWN / DA62 #62.155
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Pehu
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Re: ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Pehu »

Possible reason:

"Regarding the ALTN AMPS warning, was the voltage value stable? (yes it was)

If this was the case we suspect that possibly the connection at the alternator cable / current sensor behind / in the instrument panel is bad and need to be checked."
ES-TWN / DA62 #62.155
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OH-WOW / DA40NG #N_328 (co-ownership, sold)
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Rick
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Re: ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Rick »

Pekka, do you have a log file from this flight? If so, you could post it to the Reports section of the DAN and see if anyone here can see anything helpful.
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Pehu
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Re: ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Pehu »

Rick wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 2:46 pm Pekka, do you have a log file from this flight? If so, you could post it to the Reports section of the DAN and see if anyone here can see anything helpful.
I can check later this week what it has in it.
ES-TWN / DA62 #62.155
OH-ASM / DA40NG #N_399 (sold)
OH-WOW / DA40NG #N_328 (co-ownership, sold)
Based in Locarno, Switzerland
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Pehu
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Re: ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Pehu »

Back home now with laptop and the data. Where is this reports section? :)
ES-TWN / DA62 #62.155
OH-ASM / DA40NG #N_399 (sold)
OH-WOW / DA40NG #N_328 (co-ownership, sold)
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Chris
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Re: ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Chris »

Pehu wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 3:17 pm Back home now with laptop and the data. Where is this reports section? :)
https://www.diamondaviators.net/reports/
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Pehu
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Re: ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Pehu »

the early departure log is there, id 12278

The alarm was going when I reduced my pwr to 65%, few minutes on both sides of that event.

The voltage seems to be holding the same, so I do suspect faulty connection to amps meter, as the maintenance suggested. I believe is some equipment would draw extra 50A+ power all of a sudden it would show on volts as well.
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Re: ALTN AMPS warning @ DA40NG

Post by Dollah2bills »

i had two reports from pilots on two separate da40ng's.

the first aircraft happened late last year, it was my first incident regarding this issue, i saved the replacement of the alternator cable as a last resort since it was such a hassle to remove the sealant on the firewall. i messed around by checking the battery capacity, replacing the GEA 71, replacing the alternator itself. nothing worked so i ended up replacing the alternator cable but the funny thing is, when i double checked to see the difference in amps on ground both cables suddenly worked fine. the issue suddenly fixed itself. so i hesitate to replace the cable. so far its been almost a year and there's no issues.

recently another aircraft had this issue, i did the same thing, but this time the old cable was definitely defective.

I'm going to see if i can just replace the current sensor ( if time permits, my manager is breathing down my neck ), but it seems like diamond doesn't sell individual parts.
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