Nigel and others Those ducatti /kabota type regulators (things) are for permanent magnet type alternators (no stator winding). They can very easily over charge battery and must have a jet of air to try and cool them and disapate the heat.
I guess mid nineties and after seeing over 15 local ultralights (mostly rotax) with powermate regulator I fitted an early model Powermate to our PIK20E and all of a sudden the battery lasted 5 to 6 years rather than 18 months. I ran the AC down the pilon to the regulator now in the engine bay Back to Jabiru and rotax 912 engines (and ASK21Mi) be it ximango or hk36 the original (ducatti /kabota) regulators keep failing over the years. To help these regulators they need to be mounted with fins vertical and a jet of air for cooling but they still overcharge the battery. Claus Gimm who originally made the POWERMATE regulator suggests you mount in cockpit and I add a jet of air. The powermate has 4 times the fin area of ducatti thing. Claus Gimm retired 8 years ago and nobody was making Powermate and then I went to LEAF a rotax dealer in USA and got theirs but was very disappointed. and removed it. Guess in past 12 months a guy Brad is back making the powermate bradm...@gmail.com. Yes expensive at about $240 from memory but so are new batteries like motorbat etc. Talk to airforce cadets about the number of ASK21MI that have had the duccati type regulator fail. I know charters towers AAFC would have to charge one of the ASK21Mi every night and think SA cadets have had two failures. I believe airforce have been approaching Schleicher to get an improved replacement. I just forget how many Diccati things i have thrown in the bin over the years but we'll over 10. Powermate gives me 13.8 volts to 14.1volts time after time ( the dual motorcycle type ignition takes about 0.2 volts so at taxi in after landing we all leave it off to give the battery a full top up) Most ride on mowers use this ducatti regulator and guess 8 years ago while staying with Goldsmiths Jenny comes in and battery is boiling. I say always mow for 15minutes then TURN ON THE LIGHTS to prevent over voltage. You get what you pay for. So in summary regulator in cockpit side of firewall, fins vertical, heat transfer paste at base and a jet of cool air on to fins of regulator and consider Powermate regulator and the bonus of 6 to 8 years battery life. Talk with smart RAAUS Inspectors as they sure know. Ian McPhee +61 428847642 Box 657 Byron Bay NSW 2481 On Thu, 28 Jun. 2018, 22:11 Nigel Baker, <ni...@limbachaustralia.com> wrote: > Hi All. > > While I am no longer RTOA for SA & NT I am still unfortunately & > reluctantly part of the GFA airworthiness panel re MG’s > > > > Now this is a request for info from the HK36 brain trust worldwide. > > Who is operating a HK36 with a Rotax engine that has experienced a voltage > regulator failure. > > This is specific to the HK Rotax as the Limbach engine uses a Bosch unit > known to be very reliable. > > > > We have an ongoing AW issue with self-launchers using Ducati volt regs of > a specific design but now believe the problem may extend past that specific > model to others including those used in the HK36 with the Rotax engine. > > Please advise off list if you have had this experience. > > It may not be a safety issue for a HK36 but we have identified a risk in > other SL types. > > Cheers. > > Nige. > > >
