Problem.. Black screen..

Dave_Staten

New Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
6
Ok.. Something has happened.. and I dont know what.

The device in question is a D-100, new, barely installed. We ran the internal battery down prior to installation demo'ing it during hangar flying. The device has been stored in a hangar environment. We installed it into our panel Saturday morning and connected ONLY the power 14v + and Ground leads. The remaining wires on the premade harness from SteinAir were left unconnected.

When ships power was applied Saturday, the Dynon powered up and all the screens were accessible. Displays seen were consistent with a stationary aircraft with no EDC connected. Ships power was cycled numerous times which caused a cycling between ships power and internal battery, but the device was left powered externally for at least 3 hours straight, and 5 hours cumulative time (static display at an airshow). Internal battery time during this period was estimated as less than 3 minutes.

Device was located inside an aircraft, inside a hangar with an open door. Rainfall did occur, but no direct moisture entered the cockpit. When not raining, the aircraft was outside of the hangar on the ramp. Ambient temp was short sleeve weather and humid. No condensation was observed on any components inside or outside the aircraft or cockpit. Coldest temp since installation was perhaps 60 degrees F, hottest temp 90 degrees F estimated.

Today, sunday morning, I went out to the ship and tried to power up the dynon for display, got a flicker only, followed by a black screen. The screen is totally black. I ensured power and ground continuity to the pins on the premade harness. I ensured no other wires were connected (no other hots were possible, and minimal grounding opportunities were present). When I attempt a power down, 2 seconds hold on left button, followed later by a short press, I get the flicker (less than a second of a screen starting to display) followed by black screen. I still have the protective plastic on the screen but thought it is clear and not contributing to dimming the screen, and have not removed it. With the exception of the flicker, it is not possible to visually distinguish the black screen from a power down condition.

I was starting to think perhaps someone had over-dimmed the display when the cockpit was unsupervised, but the online manual indicates that this should not be possible.

Is there a master restore function of any kind on the box?
Are there any pointers for field troubleshooting this problem?

Purchaser was my building partner, Chris Barber, Device located in Houston, Texas.
 

dynonsupport

Dynon Technical Support
Staff member
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
13,226
Hi Dave,

Our products always power up to full brightness, so this certainly is not the issue.

There are a few things that you can do to troubleshoot your unit in the field.

First, fully "reset" it by disconnecting both all external power and the internal battery. The internal battery connector can be found under the service door on the side of the unit. Then try powering the unit up with the internal battery disconnected but with master power connected. If that works, reconnect the internal battery and see if the unit comes up with everything connected again.

Second, double check that you do in fact have power coming into the unit and that none of the other harness connections are improperly shorted to places they shouldn't be (particularly the remote magnetometer wires if the magnetometer is not yet installed). Most of the time, when we get units back that won't power up in the field, we can not find anything wrong when we hook them up to a known good harness and power supply.

Give us a call at 425-402-0433 if you continue to have problems.
 

Dave_Staten

New Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
6
Sorry about the delay... work and life prevented me from messing with the dynon until today/tonight...

I rechecked wires, ensured that all the ends were still insulated that should have been and no shorts along the wires.. in a dark hangar.. it stills flickers breifly to the battery.. and then when ships power is on it flickers again a bit.. 12 power to the harness was verified with a probe light and previously with a multimeter

I pulled the unit, disconnected the internal battery and didn't see anything different when trying to power up off the harness. On a side note, I checked the internal battery and got at least 15 volts off it.. I don't recall the exact value. I'm out of ideas if the internal batt has charge and the unit wont power up. I still have the box here, and will get with Chris about getting it back to you. I reinserted the internal battery but left it disconnected for now.

This leaves me stumped because it was performing flawlessly on initial internal battery charge, and then later on ships power and internal battery...
 
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