Panel Upgrade

[painless]

So the time has come to upgrade the panel in N782P. 80% of the avionics currently installed are orphaned due to the parent company no longer being in existence or no longer being supported. That and my desire to comply with the Adsb mandate sealed the deal.

I am a VFR pilot, with no plan to go for the IFR ticket, so I was able to design, with the help of our illustrious webmaster Mike Bullock, a conservative panel that meets all my needs/requirements at a very reasonable cost.

So away we go.......



This is the before shot. Left to right, Ifly 740, Lowrance 2000c GPS, LRI Lift indicator,
ALT, Dynon D10, Trio EZ Pilot autopilot, Narco Escort II Nav/Com, Rockymountain Micromonitor, Icom A210, Narco AT150, PMA 4000, EI FL2C, Voltmeter. I plan to keep the 740, LRI, ALT, Trio, Icom, PMA 4000, FL2C and Voltmeter. Oh, the Zaon may stay too, not sure.



After "demolition" Ho-boy. What have I gotten myself into!!! Forgot to mention, Bucky stays too. Go Badgers!!


My plan is to make a panel overlay from the radio stack over toward the left side of the panel to accommodate all the new goodies, so I made a pattern out of poster board. I matched the current panel mount screws across the top of the panel.





I'm going with a GRT Sport SX EFIS, as well as a GRT EIS 4000 engine monitor. I like to have backup, so I am also reinstalling the ALT as well as adding an ASI. The Narco AT150 will be replacaed with a Garmin GTX 327, which I purchased off Ebay for $400 (credit goes to Mikey B for turning me on to that idea) and the Icom will also be reinstalled. I made a panel facing that the EIS mounts to to compensate for the difference in size between the Micromonitor and the EIS that is replacing it.



Trial fit of the panel overlay with the Sport SX in place. Also trial of the EIS mount. The Icom A210 is in place and the 327 is just stuck in there and not seated all the way. I still need to make clearance for the EIS and alternator warning lights.



All equipment trial fit in the panel overlay. The plan is for this whole unit to mount to the panel in one piece, making connections/service easy.

So that's where I am so far. Stay tuned for further installments.

[painless]

Progress on the panel upgrade has been a bit slow lately due to a trip to the St Louis area to welcome my third grandson into the world, then recovery time from getting the crud from my other two grandsons. Such is the life of a grandfather.



This is where I mounted the safely/echo UAT.




I mounted my magnetometer in the tail. My strobe power supplies are mounted in the wing tips, so the magnetometer could not be placed there. I mounted it on a tray up high to get it away from the rudder control cables.





Since it has gotten cold around here (NE Wisconsin) my shop is a tad chilly, so the paint I used for the panel overlays was not setting up well. So I used our toaster over to indirectly warm them to cure the paint. Worked great. An example of the stuff I get away with while grandma is helping out with the newborn!

[Vlad]

Nice work on the panel upgrade Jeff! Now you can see all the traffic

[painless]

Nice work on the panel upgrade Jeff! Now you can see all the traffic

Yikes! Actually, been there. Was part of a formation of geese once. Hope geese eventually get 2020 compliant!

[painless]

Instruments installed in painted panel insert. Warning lights still need to be installed




Backside, with pitot/static lines installed




Daughter Megan "in the hole" helping install wire conduit for the magnetometer. My kids are useful once in awhile...

[bullojm1]

Lookin' good, Painless! When do you think the "smoke test" will be???

[painless]

Thanks Mikey.

Gett’n there. Still have to locate the adsb antenna and wire up the EFIS. May run by you how I’m utilizing all the ports re baud rates/possible future expansion.

Too cold to work in the hangar today (high of 0) plus I’m making another trip to St Louis to get another dose of the crud from the grandkids. Smoke test hopefully in a couple weeks.

[S2Trivetbanger]

Looks nice

[painless]

Progress is very slow of late. Was out of town of a few days visiting the grandkids again, plus we are in the grips of an arctic blast around here. Been lucky to get above zero lately with highs in the single digits. Was a balmy 14 degrees today so I braved the cold hangar and forged ahead. At least until my feet turned into blocks of ice.

So I routed the magnetometer wires through the conduit daughter Megan installed for me. Got the mount for the magnetometer installed and then mounted the mag to it. I was concerned that it would get wet being just under were the empennage fairing meets up with the vertical stabilizer, so I put the magnetometer in a plastic bag before mounting it. I used zip ties to hold it in place.... quick, easy and non-magnetic.

Hope to get out there to do more work this weekend. Mid-twenties predicted for Sunday. Might wear shorts!

[leffler]

I was concerned that it would get wet being just under were the empennage fairing meets up with the vertical stabilizer, so I put the magnetometer in a plastic bag before mounting it. I used zip ties to hold it in place.... quick, easy and non-magnetic.

Since this is an air cooled device, any concerns about it overheating in a plastic bag with no air flow?

[painless]

I was concerned that it would get wet being just under were the empennage fairing meets up with the vertical stabilizer, so I put the magnetometer in a plastic bag before mounting it. I used zip ties to hold it in place.... quick, easy and non-magnetic.

Since this is an air cooled device, any concerns about it overheating in a plastic bag with no air flow?

Not that I’ve heard of. In my research others have done the same with no ill effects. The heat generated is minimal.

[bullojm1]

I have the same magnetometer, and can confirm it does not get hot and doesn't need any cooling.

I would be concerned using just a couple of zip ties and perhaps vibrations causing the magnetometer to slightly move. My official recommendation as an EAA Technical Counselor and all around genius is to mount the magnetometer with some nylon screws and nuts. Readily available at your local hardware store in the elusive aviation aisle.

[painless]

I have the same magnetometer, and can confirm it does not get hot and doesn't need any cooling.

I would be concerned using just a couple of zip ties and perhaps vibrations causing the magnetometer to slightly move. My official recommendation as an EAA Technical Counselor and all around genius is to mount the magnetometer with some nylon screws and nuts. Readily available at your local hardware store in the elusive aviation aisle.

Since my grey matter doesn’t srack up to that of your cognative capacity, I couldn’t figure out how to get a nylon nut on the bolt at the rear end of the magnetometer. The connector is right above the mounting hole with very little clearance.

The zip ties I used are pretty beefy. That magnetometer isn’t going anywhere.....real fast. I will add it to the annual inspection list when the empennage fairing is off.

[painless]

Finished installing the panel insert with all the goodies. Nice to see the gaping hole in my panel covered up for once.



Initial smoke test. Notice anything amiss??? My Sport SX is just giving me a blank stare. What a bummer. Power and ground connections were checked. Fuse was not blown at the buss. I have an email waiting for GRT tomorrow. I suspect I will have to yank the unit out of there and send it in.

[leffler]

Power connections checked. Does that mean that you just checked wire continuity or did you validate that you had the proper voltage on the pin? I just re-rewired my panel. Everything worked correctly except one dpdt switch. I was about ready to tear things apart thinking I did something stupid when I put things back together. The VOM showed very quickly that is was a lack of voltage issue, not a connectivity issue, which drastically changed my troubleshooting methodology.

If you have another power source, you can pull the efis and power it up on the bench without anything else attached.

Will GRT let you open the EFIS? Sometimes it could be as simple as a loose ribbon connector.

[catmandu]

Just a thought if you do pull for a bench power test, the SX will auto-switch between two 12v sources, I would apply power individually to both inputs as part of the troubleshooting.

[painless]

Just a thought if you do pull for a bench power test, the SX will auto-switch between two 12v sources, I would apply power individually to both inputs as part of the troubleshooting.

Good point. I’m going to mess with it tomorrow so I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.

[painless]

All the lights are on now! Long story short about why my EFIS wasn't powering up. Blown fuse. I was checking the wrong circuit. Yup. Lame-brain move wasted a bunch of time. Par for the course for me!

Now its on to setting limits, calibrating etc, making sure everybody is making nice with each other. Good to finally see the finish line!

Mine is not an elaborate panel, but for VFR and my needs, its going to be great to fly behind. Looking forward to initial flights

[AbramRi]

All the fantastic Max Performer results are on now! Long story short about why my EFIS wasn't powering up. Blown fuse. I was checking the wrong circuit. Yup. Lame-brain move wasted a bunch of time. Par for the course for me!

Now its on to setting limits, calibrating etc, making sure everybody is making nice with each other. Good to finally see the finish line!

Mine is not an elaborate panel, but for VFR and my needs, its going to be great to fly behind. Looking forward to initial flights

These things happen, Jeff. Glad to hear you're getting to the bottom of this though. When are you expecting to get her flying again?

[painless]

It was good to see that screen flicker to life, that’s for sure!

Going to do all the calibration etc tomorrow (1/20), and if I get it done, may get a flight in as well. Just want to get everything “sorted” as Ed says on Wheeler Dealers.

Sure is great to see 782P back in one piece!