182RG question

Have you tried posting to a type club for the Cessna 182 line? They are
full of great ideas such as you are asking.

I know there is a general Cessna club for such things.

Kobra


"Paul Anton" wrote in message
...
I am hoping to tap some of the expertise here to solve a problem I have run
into.

I am a retired guy who was called by a local Part 141 school to fill in as
their flightline mechanic until they could find a permanent A&P. They have
an early 182RG (serial 141) that has an ongoing electrical problem.

My first question concerns the ammeter. I have definitely confirmed that
the ammeter is defective. It appears like the ENTIRE gage cluster will
have to be replaced. The parts manual shows that the original gage is not
available. A supersession was listed which also consisted of a single
gage. However when this was pursued it was not available as a single
replacement.

So my question is has anyone come up with a solution for a single
defective gage in this cluster that does not involve replacing the entire
thing? How about an instrument shop that would rebuild the ammeter? I have
been unable to find an instrument shop that would bother with an ammeter.


Here's my second question. I think the reason the ammeter broke is that it
simply wore out. The voltage and hence the current is constantly varying.
The original ammeter needle was oscillating so much that you couldn't tell
if the system was charging or not. I put a test ammeter in series and the
although the ammeter could be read, it was still oscillating. A check with
an analog meter showed fluctuations that increased in frequency as the RPM
was increased. Ditto for increasing the load. A scope shows about 900 mv
peak.

Persons before me have replaced the alternator and regulator. (a note
here, the regulator is the simple 3 wire unit)
All grounds were cleaned and remade.

Any hints of where I should begin my search would be greatly appreciated.
I have to pull this beast out of the hanger to run it up. With out
Northwest weather I haven't had two clear days to work on it outside and
I'm too old and stiff to do a lot under the panel. So any hints or
experience of a similar trouble would really be appreciated.

I'm going to jumper the alternator field portion of the dual master switch
to start with but beyond that ----------------


Thanks in advance

Paul Anton