Ball vario overhaul?

[Anthony Turiano]

My wife and I have recently acquired a 1-26B with a
Ball 400/6 (not a new installation). It is plumbed
parallel with a Winter mech. (and T.E. probe). Since
we acquired it, the Ball indicates climb pretty much
at all times, and no amount of adjustment (red knob
on back), setting selections, etc. have made a difference.
The Winter works fine, and I can identify no problems
with the flask or plumbing.

I note there are 2 potentiometers pigtailed off the
back of the instrument, but I have no paperwork or
manual of any kind on it.

I was wondering if anyone knew where I could send it
for overhaul, and better yet, if anyone has data or
ideas I could use first to more completely troubleshoot/adjust
it in the field.

Short of that my next step would be to find someone
with a hole in their panel to take it up in their ship
for a test hop...

[Tim Ward]

"Anthony Turiano" > wrote
in message ...
> My wife and I have recently acquired a 1-26B with a
> Ball 400/6 (not a new installation). It is plumbed
> parallel with a Winter mech. (and T.E. probe). Since
> we acquired it, the Ball indicates climb pretty much
> at all times, and no amount of adjustment (red knob
> on back), setting selections, etc. have made a difference.
> The Winter works fine, and I can identify no problems
> with the flask or plumbing.
>
> I note there are 2 potentiometers pigtailed off the
> back of the instrument, but I have no paperwork or
> manual of any kind on it.
>
> I was wondering if anyone knew where I could send it
> for overhaul, and better yet, if anyone has data or
> ideas I could use first to more completely troubleshoot/adjust
> it in the field.
>
> Short of that my next step would be to find someone
> with a hole in their panel to take it up in their ship
> for a test hop...

Blue Sky Avionics LLC apparently bought Ball. They have a website at
http://www.ballvarios.com/

I was not successful in getting my Graphics Comp vario repaired by them,
though.

Tim Ward

[Bob Korves]

When a vario indicates climb all the time, and is on a TE tube, the cause is
usually a leak between the vario and the capacity (or sometimes at the glass
of the vario face). The TE tube makes suction all the time. If there is
any leak downstream of the vario it will mimic lift (when you climb, air
flows out of the capacity through the vario). This is true of any vario
that uses a TE tube and a flask.
-Bob Korves
5H DuoDiscus
5K LAK-17a

"Anthony Turiano" > wrote
in message ...
> My wife and I have recently acquired a 1-26B with a
> Ball 400/6 (not a new installation). It is plumbed
> parallel with a Winter mech. (and T.E. probe). Since
> we acquired it, the Ball indicates climb pretty much
> at all times, and no amount of adjustment (red knob
> on back), setting selections, etc. have made a difference.
> The Winter works fine, and I can identify no problems
> with the flask or plumbing.
>
> I note there are 2 potentiometers pigtailed off the
> back of the instrument, but I have no paperwork or
> manual of any kind on it.
>
> I was wondering if anyone knew where I could send it
> for overhaul, and better yet, if anyone has data or
> ideas I could use first to more completely troubleshoot/adjust
> it in the field.
>
> Short of that my next step would be to find someone
> with a hole in their panel to take it up in their ship
> for a test hop...
>
>
>

[Brian Griffin]

At 00:32 23 November 2003, Anthony Turiano wrote:
>My wife and I have recently acquired a 1-26B with a
>Ball 400/6 (not a new installation). It is plumbed
>parallel with a Winter mech. (and T.E. probe). Since
>we acquired it, the Ball indicates climb pretty much
>at all times, and no amount of adjustment (red knob
>on back), setting selections, etc. have made a difference.
>The Winter works fine, and I can identify no problems
>with the flask or plumbing.
>
>I note there are 2 potentiometers pigtailed off the
>back of the instrument, but I have no paperwork or
>manual of any kind on it.
>
>I was wondering if anyone knew where I could send it
>for overhaul, and better yet, if anyone has data or
>ideas I could use first to more completely troubleshoot/adjust
>it in the field.
>
>Short of that my next step would be to find someone
>with a hole in their panel to take it up in their ship
>for a test hop...
>
>
>
>

[Ralph Jones[_2_]]

On 16 Jun 2009 21:15:08 GMT, Brian Griffin >
wrote:

>At 00:32 23 November 2003, Anthony Turiano wrote:
>>My wife and I have recently acquired a 1-26B with a
>>Ball 400/6 (not a new installation). It is plumbed
>>parallel with a Winter mech. (and T.E. probe). Since
>>we acquired it, the Ball indicates climb pretty much
>>at all times, and no amount of adjustment (red knob
>>on back), setting selections, etc. have made a difference.
>>The Winter works fine, and I can identify no problems
>>with the flask or plumbing.

Does "pretty much all the time" include on the ground? If so, it's the
instrument electronics. If not, I'd suspect a leak between the Ball
and its flask. The suction from the total-energy probe would suck air
from the leak through the instrument, giving a climb indication.

Finding a leak can be tricky, but detecting its presence is a simple
matter of pressure testing with a water manometer. Put some water in a
length of transparent tubing, let it hang in a U shape, connect one
end to the probe connection, and CAREFULLY lower the other end until
the water levels in the two arms of the U are a few inches different.
If the system is leak-free, it will hold that pressure difference
indefinitely.

Obviously, be very careful not to let water into the plumbing! Always
keep the level in the outer arm lower, so you're applying suction, not
positive pressure.

rj

[ContestID67[_2_]]

Define "lift all the time" for me. I had a vario that when on the
ground was showing slightly up all the time. This (winter?)
mechanical vario doesn't have any adjustments available. I was told
that the paint on the needle looses a slight amount of mass over
time. The fix was applying a very small amount of clear nail polish
to the needle until it settled down to zero. Took a few dabs to do
but fixed the issue.

On the leak test idea from Ralph - Interesting but I don't quite get
it so let's see if we can add some more details. There are three
possible culprits of leakage. 1) The tubing (from tail to vario and
from vario to bottle). 2) The vario (often at the face plate). 3)
the bottle. Now to test. So I have a U shaped tube with some water
in it. Disconnect the TE probe. Attach the U shaped water tube to
the female TE probe's connection on the ship (typically at the
rudder). Be very careful not to allow water into the ship's tubing
going back to the vario for obvious reasons. At this point one end of
the U tube is open to the air (true?) and the other end is aimed back
at the vario/bottle. Then create some slight positive pressure on the
system (ship's tubing to vario to capacity bottle) by lowering the
open end. I would think that the open end would need to be sealed to
create this pressure. Because the ship's tubing and vario is a sealed
system (we assume), the water in the tube will not be level. Mark the
current water levels. Then check back in an hour. If the two levels
haven't changed, then the tubing+vario+bottle are leak free. If the
levels have changed (become level over time) then you have a problem
somethere in the system. To determine which part is leaking you need
to do a process of elimination by performing the same test at the
vario and then at the bottle.

Thanks, John DeRosa

[Ralph Jones[_2_]]

On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:30:45 -0700 (PDT), ContestID67
> wrote:
[snip]
>at the vario/bottle. Then create some slight positive pressure on the
>system (ship's tubing to vario to capacity bottle) by lowering the
>open end. I would think that the open end would need to be sealed to
>create this pressure.

No, the end away from the probe connection should be open. The
pressure is provided purely by the unbalanced weight of water in the
two arms of the U.

Since you have the system pressure on one end and atmospheric pressure
on the other, you're measuring the "gage" pressure, or the difference
between the two. One inch of height difference between the arms
represents about 0.036 psi.

You can make the gage pressure either positive (water level higher in
the outer arm) or negative (higher in the inner arm), but negative is
safer: if the system is indeed leaking under positive pressure, the
water level in the inner arm will gradually rise, and if you aren't
sufficiently careful, it can get pushed into the system.

rj