Hi guys,

I have a 182a that I am chasing firewall forward weight savings on. Has anyone seen any weight loss dumping the 50a generator?

Not a 182 but a 180;

Generator -15 -2 30
Brackets -1.3 -2 2.6
Voltage Reg -1.1 -1 1.1

Alternator 10 -2 -20
Bracket 2.6 -2 -5.2
Voltage Reg 1 -1 -1


Net loss about 4#. Worth $800 for weight loss? I got a screaming deal on a used kit, and I hated the gen light flickering at idle.

Rod

My 1953 C180 has had the stock 35A generator since new.
Works great, I see no need to "upgrade" to something different--
esp if it only saves me 4# or less.
I have seen a lot of trouble-shooting with alternator systems, often related to over-voltage units etc.
A buddy upgraded from the 50A gen on his old C210 to an alternator.
When I asked him why, he said "it's better".
I don't think there was anything at all wrong with his old generator, but OK.
Since he gave me his old generator, regulator, and bracketry to add to my inventory of spares,
I sure wasn't gonna argue with him.

I upgraded mine, it's lighter but at $200 a pound I hope that isn't your only reason. I do like that I can charge the battery at just about any usable RPM now though, rather than having a weak battery just get worse on low power descents and taxi. Had to jump my plane once right after a flight discovering that tendency. That will be far more important now that I'm making half the panel digital, so consider that as well; clean power available all the time is critical when you start swapping out steam gauges for screens.

Not a 182, but I have an alternator conversion in my '63 P172D, which I had installed 14+ years ago. Weight issues weren't nearly as important to me as electrical issues, although knocking a few pounds off the nose didn't hurt.

At even normal idle of 1000 rpm, or even at minimum idle of about 700 rpm, my battery is being charged. To me, that's important, because I have experience with generators, where landing at night required me to turn off things to keep the lights bright enough to see to taxi. Even using both my airplane's pitot heat and AOA probe heat, and every panel item on, my alternator will keep up with it at idle, and those are real power hungry items. When I taxi in, day or night, it's nice to know that my battery is getting a full charge, so that it'll be ready to go when I next want to fly.

I don't fault anyone for keeping a working generator, but I'm glad I had mine converted.

Cary

For further clarification, I used the PlanePower kit for the conversion.

Rod

Thanks everyone! I'll probably convert mine when the generator dies again. I added a Zeftronics solid state regulator a couple of years ago, it starts coming online around 1000 rpm and really doesn't bother me most of the time.

Wa180 wrote:and I hated the gen light flickering at idle.

Rod

Wow, I love that feature. I have even added it to several planes. Picture this, flying along in the middle of the night with beacon, nav lights, stack of radios and instrument lights on. All at once RED light in the middle of the panel. Time to start shutting stuff down to save that battery so you can get back into SAT! It happened to me!
Most amp meters are on the far side of the panel, and while we like to rink we would notice it immediately, that is more that often not the case. So why wait until you see a discharge condition? Just my .02
Buck

I wouldn't care if I gained 4 lbs putting an alternator in, a generator has no place in an airplane in this day and age. This isn't the 1940's anymore,

Mark Y. wrote:I wouldn't care if I gained 4 lbs putting an alternator in, a generator has no place in an airplane in this day and age. This isn't the 1940's anymore,

I almost agree with you Mark. But man it's nice that a generator will start charging a dead battery if it goes flat on you somewhere and you need to prop start it. Other then that, alternators are the way to go.
Sent you a PM btw.

A1Skinner wrote:

Mark Y. wrote:I wouldn't care if I gained 4 lbs putting an alternator in, a generator has no place in an airplane in this day and age. This isn't the 1940's anymore,

I almost agree with you Mark. But man it's nice that a generator will start charging a dead battery if it goes flat on you somewhere and you need to prop start it. Other then that, alternators are the way to go.
Sent you a PM btw.

In lots of years of starting cars with "dead" batteries, and starting my airplane several times some years ago when it's old battery was "dead", none were never quite "dead" enough that the alternator wouldn't start charging them. I wonder how really dead a battery has to be before it will excite the alternator. Anyone know?

Cary

Cary wrote:

A1Skinner wrote:

Mark Y. wrote:I wouldn't care if I gained 4 lbs putting an alternator in, a generator has no place in an airplane in this day and age. This isn't the 1940's anymore,

I almost agree with you Mark. But man it's nice that a generator will start charging a dead battery if it goes flat on you somewhere and you need to prop start it. Other then that, alternators are the way to go.
Sent you a PM btw.

In lots of years of starting cars with "dead" batteries, and starting my airplane several times some years ago when it's old battery was "dead", none were never quite "dead" enough that the alternator wouldn't start charging them. I wonder how really dead a battery has to be before it will excite the alternator. Anyone know?

Cary

My 150 was dead enough a couple times... but with the new lithium boost packs I'm not worried. I personally wouldn't replace a generator with another one if it failed, it would be an alternator going in.

Cary, unlike most cars, unless modified with some type of disconnect, where the battery is always connected to the electrical system, aircraft have the master contactor which is powered from the battery side not the alternator (bus) side of the contactor. Even if the battery had adequate charge remaining to excite the alternator it may not have enough power to close the master contactor, which for a 14 volt system is in the 7 to 8 volt range when under load. The same is true for a generator also, the aircraft systems may be powered but the battery will not be charged. Cary, i am being kind of a smart alec here as I know that someone with your level of experience is aware of all of this.

Tim

Mark Y. wrote:…. a generator has no place in an airplane in this day and age. This isn't the 1940's anymore,

You could say the same thing about magnetos, nordo ops, tube and fabric construction, or any number of other things.
I like the generator on my 180, it works just fine and haven't seen any overwhelming reason to replace it.

I would agree with hotrod but I’m pretty certain I don’t have a solid state regulator. I’m thinking of putting in a G5.

What’s the story (if any) with “clean power” for glass instruments? Anyone have facts?

Yup, now your talking. Magnetos, tube/fabric are not a fair comparison to upgrading a gen to an alternator. Panels are not the same as they were in the old days. Engines and airframes might be, but no one runs the same old panels - defiantly not the same old radios or lack thereof. Not exactly sure about the clean power part, but you get a more stable charge rate with an alternator as they charge at a low rpm and don't suddenly spike on takeoff. i would never trust a generator powering an upgraded panel.

We saved 5lbs doing the PlanePower conversion on a 56 182.

It has been on since 2011. The only issue is the metal bracket that the alternator mounts to cracked and was throwing belts until I found the crack and replaced it.

I was in Atlee on Monday ready to buy the firewall kit, my biggest concern is removing 16lbs of aft weight in an already very forward CG airplane. I know alot of people do it, but I want to run the numbers a bit more. I'd really like the factory battery, box and ancient wiring out of my baggage area though.

BirdyinBOI wrote:I would agree with hotrod but I’m pretty certain I don’t have a solid state regulator. I’m thinking of putting in a G5.
What’s the story (if any) with “clean power” for glass instruments? Anyone have facts?

My C180 has digital com, a Garmin G5 electronic horizon, and a tablet for navigation--
All wired to my 12V electrical system with 35A generator and mechanical Delco regulator.
Everything works fine.

OK...thanks hotrod. I figure my 50A generator will be fine until it fails. No night flying right now so the load is not large. My gen light goes off at 900 RPM.

buck_justice wrote:

Wa180 wrote:and I hated the gen light flickering at idle.

Rod

Wow, I love that feature. I have even added it to several planes. Picture this, flying along in the middle of the night with beacon, nav lights, stack of radios and instrument lights on. All at once RED light in the middle of the panel. Time to start shutting stuff down to save that battery so you can get back into SAT! It happened to me!
Most amp meters are on the far side of the panel, and while we like to rink we would notice it immediately, that is more that often not the case. So why wait until you see a discharge condition? Just my .02
Buck

It's worth pointing out that the PlanePower kit includes an alternator failure light wired to their regulator, and the STC requires you to install it somewhere visible. Part of your runup check should include shutting off the alt field switch and making sure that light comes on. I agree this is way better than monitoring the amp meter, but is not a feature solely for generators.