Adjust Dynon voltage reading

jnmeade

Active Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2011
Messages
342
Location
Eastern Iowa
My Dynon 120 indicates voltage at full throttle of 13.3-13.4 volts. A DVM reading at the cigaret ligher shows 13.8=13.9 volts.
How do I change the Dynon to read the correct voltage?
 

dynonsupport

Dynon Technical Support
Staff member
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
13,226
The D120 isn't wrong. The voltage at the D120 connector isn't the same voltage as what is at your cigarette lighter. Because every wire has resistance, voltage drops occur all over an airplane. You can't calibrate this out because it changes over load. The best thing you can do is run the D120 directly off the battery without sharing it's power wire with any other devices.

Also, if you use Bob Nuckol's system with a standby bus powered by a diode, your essential stuff is a diode drop lower (~0.4 to 0.7V lower).

Overall, absolute voltage is not as important as changes. If you know 13.4 is where the plane flies with everything working fine, then suddenly having 14V or 12V in flight is when you worry.
 
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