National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

Hi everybody,

At some point during the upcoming winter, I'm going to have to make a decision about whether to stay with the Delco-Remy generator that came with my project and refurbish it, or upgrade to an alternator. I just don't think the Delco generator is going to have enough ooomph to power my pending beverage chiller, seat heater and shiatsu seat massage Field Approvals.

A did a quick & dirty search of available STC's for 15AC and could really only find SA10921SC, for the Plane Power generator conversion. Spruce has the ER14-50 listed for $712, including hardware and a voltage regulator.

As far as I can see, there aren't any STC's for C-145/O-300 for an alternator, but this is really surprising considering how many O-300's are out there flying around on Cessnas. I must not have searched correctly.

Other than the Plane Power conversion STC, what else is available as a replacement on the O-300A? What's everybody else running on their C-145's/O-300's, and how did you (or the previous owner) go about it on the 337?

Are most alternators on the Sedan just Field Approvals based on C-170 data, is most everybody still using the Delco generator, or did I miss a manufacturer that makes an O-300 friendly conversion?

Thanks!
Eric

Eric,

Use the "search" function next time!

http://joea.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2031 We went over this about 9 months ago. Here is a guy a few miles from where I live who is putting the B&C alternator on the Sedan engine.

Am still really thinking about buying one as my 35 amp Delco-Remy installation (upgraded from the 25 amp version) just is not cutting it.

I know you are still in the restoration process of your Sedan, but I almost found out the hard way that my battery was bad and that the 35 amp genny will not handle the airplane AND landing lights. Was on 1/2 mile final just after dusk when I turned the landing lights on to land and unless I kept the engine RPM's up it got pretty dark. Ended up putting a new battery in but this showed in a very graphic manner that the old genny just is not up to the task.

Will send a message to Doug to see if there are any new developments in this alternator.

Joe A

Check out Endowment Enterprises, LLC at http://www.luscombe.org. Doug Combs holds an STC for several aircraft and I worked with them to add the 15AC Sedan to the approved models list.

I don't sell the kit but they do. I have seen the kit and it is top quality; it will do all you wish and more. Good, solid installation and light weight.

Burl

Burl,

Thanks for the suggestion. The link I posted above was to Doug's place.

Good to hear that its a good quality installation.

Joe A

I'm in the process (right now) installing Doug's STC'd B&C on my Champ (C85).
If you have the old "boat anchor" Generator, you'll love the weight savings.
I had a C150 Alternator (Autolite) that needed to be rebuilt, so I went with the STC'd B&C, (and still a very nice weight savings).
Kelly Aerospace wants just under $600. to rebuild, so, for a few bucks more you can get a very nice piece of equipment from Doug.

Service Life:
Rebuilt Alternator 500 hrs.
B&C 2000 hrs.
You can get a rebuilt Alternator on ebay for $250. but....NO PAPERS !
(and then, a field approval??)

I believe with the B&C, you get the best of all worlds!
should be running this weekend, I'll let you know.
Jim

How is the B&C working out? I had to get a jump start at the Palmer Pancake breakfast the other day flying Young Eagles because with a lot of airplanes in the air, I was flying at low power with both the landing and taxi lights on and drained the battery. (Embarasing when you are giving kids their first small airplane ride )

After having 3 mid air collisions in Alaska in the last two months, I am also going to put the strobes on the wing, when I do the access covers so I think the old generator has to go. Matt seems to like the B&C, but he doesn't have much time on it yet. Anybody have some feedback?

I still have a generator on my Sedan. What is different from standard is that I have a Zeftronics generator controller. If you are sticking with a generator I highly reccommend the Zeftronics controller. The generator comes online , and stays online, at significantly lower RPM's than it did with the old vibrator controller. If anyone is interested I can send them my field approval paper work to help them get their own field approval.

If the 25 or 35 amp gen is not doing the job consider putting in a HID or LED landing light. You will use a lot less power and will not have to change the bulbs all the time. I think the GE's are rated at about a 25 hour service life. Another nice addition, although it will not get you any more power, is Burl's battery box and a lightweight Obyssey battery. See Burl's site for this.

I have had the plane power alternator for about 3 years, love it. It replaced the chrysler alternator that lasted less than 100 hours after full overhaul. It was easy to install and has given 0 problems, highly recommend it.

Bob

Am still using the old generator but mine was upgraded to the 35 amp version years ago, so no issue so far on power.

My heartburn with the new alternator versions is that they are only 25 or 30 amp's and would love to see something with a bit more power.

joe A