Its finally cooling off Down here in Texas, and were planing out some winter projects for the 180. Among the list so far is some of the usual suspects, Firewall Battery, Carbon Fiber Flat Floor Ext Baggage, Light Weight Stater, LED strobes/nav/Ldg Lights. Ect.

With all the other stuff we have taken out, and the lower draw of the LED lights, We will only have a total load of around 10 AMPs with everything running. We currently have the 60 AMP Air Power Belt Driven Alternator, which is obviously WAY overkill for what we have. In my internet searching I found this little guy, http://www.bandc.aero/alternator20ampshomebuilt1.aspx. It is sold by B and C, and is a 20-40 Amp Gear driven alternator, looks like it just bolts right on to the old vacuums pump pad. This thing looks like it would be great, it would save us probably around 5-7 Lbs over the old alternator, and allow us to get rid of the whole belt mechanism.

Only problem is the Legal Aspect of it. It isn't PMA, but being a CAR3 TCDS that shouldn't make a difference. Has anyone ever gotten a field approval for one of these? Or would that even be necessary? Basically the same thing is STCed as backup in C210s, but not as a primary. Mostly just looking for any way to get this done right.

Any other ultra light weight options I am overlooking?

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Call B and C if you haven't already. They have always been really helpful with these kinds of questions, including providing copies of field approvals if any of their customers have got them and provided to B and C.

That'd be my first stop....good folks.

MTV

Couple points to consider:

Look at the "Quick Facts" sheet and see the output chart. Vacuum pad alternators have the disadvantage of a low gear ratio. I can't remember exactly the O470 vac pad radio but it is something like 1.5:1 maybe 1.75:1 so the engine will have to be turning somewhere around 1300 rpm before the alternator is generating much of anything.

Also, make sure your power consumption is accurate. I'm not saying your wrong but it might be worth double checking. I just calculated what mine will be and between the garmin com radio and the led landing light I'm at 10A, but that's calculated when transmitting (5A) not standby(0.5A).

That said, B&C is great to deal with and will help all they can. This same alternator is my plan B.

Sky-Tec doesn't appear to be advertising this, but at Airventure this year, they told me they are working on a spur gear driven starter that will replace not just the starter motor on a Continental, but the whole starter drive. No more broken springs. It's a clean sheet design with a better clutch arrangement. I'll be waiting for that approval before I spend anything. They expected it early in 2017.

As for the alternator, there's a lot to be said for the reliability of a belt drive over a direct drive alternator. There's a small weight advantage and a large reliability advantage to installing a Plane Power alternator. Also, the current and voltage will be more stable, a plus for today's avionics.

I have a plane power on my cub. It's internally regulated. Someone sent me a field approval on cubs. I haven't got that far with the project


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