Pass-thru Power - iFly Wish-List

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Pass-thru Power

11/8/2012 9:37 AM

thammer

Joined: 4/22/2012

Posts: 42

Re: Pass-thru Power

I realize reading replies that perhaps it's not clear which end of the power connector I'm referring to. The part that plugs into the cigarette lighter has never been an issue. The little micro connector that plugs into the device is where the problem is. I use an iCom handheld in my Stearman and it hangs on a bracket when not in use with the power cord hanging down. After three years the connection became so bad that it was nearly unusable. I had to hold the power connector just so to ensure contact so I could transmit. I see intermittent power connections at the device power connection on my iFly 720 now after less than a year. I'm concerned this is going to become a big problem resulting in an RMA or worse to get the internal power connector replaced.

Tye

11/8/2012 3:45 PM

Walter

Joined: 7/8/2009

Posts: 2778

Re: Pass-thru Power

Thammer,

FYI: The internal plug rarely fails on the iFly. But if it's snagged or sharply yanked for some reason the cord itself can fault - it's not as strong as the internal plug, and if something is going to fail we would rather it be the cord not the internal plug. If this happens within a year we will send you a new cord, after that you can by a replacement on our site for $12 (so we're obviously not trying to profit from these sort of accidents!)

Hope this helps.

Walter

Walter Boyd
President, Adventure Pilot

11/10/2012 12:37 AM

Randy Mulkey

Joined: 11/9/2012

Posts: 1

Diodes to isolate

Diodes can be used to isolate your battery pack from your main bus bar (i.e. allow current to only go one direction and thus not discharge your battery back through the bus bar hence powering everything else in the plane such as lights, instruments, ect.)

However, diodes will have a voltage drop. I don't know at what level (or how precise) the battery pack will require from its charging source, but it may be possible that it would be low enough to not properly charge the battery pack back up. Diodes can commonly drop between .5 volts to 2.0 volts. I would say the general purpose ones I am most familar with do about .7 each. To bad we did not listen to Tesla and have everything wireless. In a few more years these products will probably power wireless just as some phones and tooth brushes do now. Just need a diode to rectifier all that RF that is out there? (lol)

11/10/2012 7:49 PM

Jeff Clark

Joined: 9/20/2012

Posts: 1254

Re: Pass-thru Power Modified By Jeff Clark on 11/10/2012 7:53:00 PM

Yeah, it seems my diode drops a half volt or a little more. I tested several old wall warts until I found one that puts out 14v/1amp. I have a small digital voltmeter wired to the battery so I can monitor the battery level, and I don't let it charge above 12.8-13v. Future enhancements include "brains" to shut off the charge at 12.8v.

I was hoping to use the iFly wall wart as a charger, but it only provides 11.9v.

The charging port is just under the switch. The inside 12v receptacle powers the SkyVector L, and the outside one is extra (for charging a phone or the iFly if no onboard power is available). It allows me to put the SkyRadar on the hatrack in the back, out of the way.

And yeah, Tesla was a mad genius. :)

Jeff Nokomis Clark, Mooney M20G, iFly app on ASUS ZenPad Z8s, ASUS ZenFone AR, ASUS Windows 10 tablet, Stratux ADS-B w AHRS

11/19/2012 8:39 AM

SOM

Joined: 7/8/2010

Posts: 148

Re: Pass-thru Power

Dave K wrote:
I'd rather see the resources go into an internal (and replaceable) battery. Design it so you can run ship power to the unit without damaging battery. Another factor is weight. A lighter, and perhaps thinner unit would be more beneficial. This probably means limited battery run times but if you could get at least an hr. it would be sufficient.

The current setup of having the external battery works but is cumbersome. Last thing I would want are more wires running to/from the iFly.

Dave

To the Adventure Pilot staff,

A battery that could connect to the back of the existing iFly 700 and 720s and also have a slot for the mount I think would fix some of the problems with the system either freezing or rebooting. In my case, the rebooting was due to a bad power cord. An attached battery should have less problems due to a more positive connection to the system and less likely to have a power interruption. Of course, I'd like to plug in this battery to a 12/24 volt connection in the airplane. If that power cord has a temporary problem, the attached battery would be able to maintain power, however long it could last.

S. Morgan

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