Cold Weather Issue...

[AGLyme]

I have a new CTLSi, w/ 100% Dynon gear inside.  3 screens.  The middle startup screen is set to reveal the EMS.  My CFI started the plane last week, the following condition occurred, his words:

While going through the engine start sequence - I turned on the battery switch which then turns on the center Dynon display. As usual all instruments have an "x" through them as they are not reading anything. Then I went through the engine start checklist and started up the engine. The engine started fine, but the display did not update with the engine information such as RPM, Oil Pressure, Oil Temp...etc.. there are numerous gauges on the display and none of them were reading anything. They all had the x through them.

When the engine started I switched on the avionics switch the other two Dynon displays on the pilot side and co-pilot side started up just fine. They displayed their usual information. I used the one in front of me to then try and read the instruments, and it too was not reading anything.
I let the engine run for 2 or 3 minutes to see if the gauges would read but nothing changed. So then I went through the shut down sequence and turned off the engine and all avionics. I also turned off the battery and generator.

Then I went through the whole process again and re-started the engine. This time the engine monitoring display showed all the instruments properly and everything was fine. The run-up period and follow up flying to other airports occurred without a glitch.

So Dynon, it was a 28 F degrees morning, the temps were lower that night.  Do you believe it was a one-off cold weather issue?  Should I send this middle screen in for repair? 

Please respond and thank you in advance for your follow up.

Andrew

 

[skysailor]

Check EMS module connections

Temperature should not have anything to do with it. My system has operated in these temperatures with no trouble. Since the information was missing on all three screens, I would start troubleshooting by looking at wiring (connections, ground etc) to the EMS module. It feeds engine information to the screens. Is the EMS module powered with the battery switch or does it require the avionics master? The EMS is designed to be on during the start sequence.

 

[Raymo]

Agree the temperature was not related. Sounds like it may be a loose connection somewhere.

 

[Dynon]

I probably wouldn't return it right away, but here are some thoughts:

First, for airplane specific technical support issues, we definitely recommend interfacing directly with our team at support at dynonavionics dot com or at 425-402-0433.

This is most likely to be a loose connection, an intermittent wire somewhere, or a bit less likely but still possible, a hardware issue. Whether it's temperature-related I think we don't have enough data to go on at this point.

Know that you can power cycle a display by pressing and holding the left most button to turn it off. Then repeat to turn it back on. If that reliably fixes the issue (if it happens again) with no other change to the aircraft engine being running or not, that would give us some additional information to go on.

 

[AGLyme]

Thank you both... Coincidentally, I have the plane at Flight Design right now to perform the 25 hours check. Will ask them to investigate the wiring, etc. Will report back.

Thank you again, Andrew

 

[AGLyme]

Dynon Tech Support,

I was responding when you chimed in... I will try that trick the next time (if it happens). Meanwhile, I asked the Flight Design Maintenance Chief to take a look at the EMS Module.

Thank you for getting back to me... Andrew