I am helping a friend with an RV-12 equipped with a Skyview Classic. He bought the aircraft used is on the learning curve. I also have an RV-12 with dual Skyview Touch screens and am pretty familiar with the SV and so am helping out a hangar pal.
It appears the autopilot on this -12 has never worked in the air. It would work on the ground but not consistently when on the ground. Vibration when flying could therefore be an issue if there were an intermittent ground somewhere on the AP disconnect wiring or in the Dynon SV Classic or in the Van's control module (AV-50000A). The AP disconnect grounding is in the control module when the disconnect button is pressed. Lately, this SV has been booting up with the autopilot inop and a "AP DISCONNECT STUCK" warning. Once Skyview sees a stuck disconnect on boot-up it will not allow the AP to function.
We have checked the wire colors and pins in the fuselage harness to both servos and also the short harness and molex connector to each servo visually and with a Fluke multimeter. This all appears correct and we don't think there is a wiring error. We did find a couple of minor issues with the connector to the roll servo, corrosion and poor pin connection but fixing those did not solve the problem.
We kind of stumbled on a significant clue. When on a couple of times we had the AP running on the ground we found that tapping on the panel would cause weird AP indications and/or a stuck disconnect warning. Doing some detective work in the EFIS menus we found this:
Note the DISCONNECT SWITCH: PRESSED
Then by just tapping on the panel near the EFIS we saw: DISCONNECT SWITCH: NOT PRESSED for about a half second until the next tap.
We tried another SV out of my dual side panel in the plane and did not get a AP disconnect warning and tapping on the panel did not cause a stuck disconnect warning. So our conclusion so far is that something is going on in the SV Classic in this ship, and it may have to go in to Dynon for evaluation.
Can anyone say what the current turn-around time is at Dynon?
I see others in this forum have reported a flat-fee of $450, is that correct?
Is the Dynon office in Woodinville open for a personal delivery of the unit?
Thanks for any comments or help!
Tony
It appears the autopilot on this -12 has never worked in the air. It would work on the ground but not consistently when on the ground. Vibration when flying could therefore be an issue if there were an intermittent ground somewhere on the AP disconnect wiring or in the Dynon SV Classic or in the Van's control module (AV-50000A). The AP disconnect grounding is in the control module when the disconnect button is pressed. Lately, this SV has been booting up with the autopilot inop and a "AP DISCONNECT STUCK" warning. Once Skyview sees a stuck disconnect on boot-up it will not allow the AP to function.
We have checked the wire colors and pins in the fuselage harness to both servos and also the short harness and molex connector to each servo visually and with a Fluke multimeter. This all appears correct and we don't think there is a wiring error. We did find a couple of minor issues with the connector to the roll servo, corrosion and poor pin connection but fixing those did not solve the problem.
We kind of stumbled on a significant clue. When on a couple of times we had the AP running on the ground we found that tapping on the panel would cause weird AP indications and/or a stuck disconnect warning. Doing some detective work in the EFIS menus we found this:
Note the DISCONNECT SWITCH: PRESSED
Then by just tapping on the panel near the EFIS we saw: DISCONNECT SWITCH: NOT PRESSED for about a half second until the next tap.
We tried another SV out of my dual side panel in the plane and did not get a AP disconnect warning and tapping on the panel did not cause a stuck disconnect warning. So our conclusion so far is that something is going on in the SV Classic in this ship, and it may have to go in to Dynon for evaluation.
Can anyone say what the current turn-around time is at Dynon?
I see others in this forum have reported a flat-fee of $450, is that correct?
Is the Dynon office in Woodinville open for a personal delivery of the unit?
Thanks for any comments or help!
Tony
