LeftSeatATX
Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2018
- Messages
- 24
- Reaction score
- 2
Would love some input from members on my Century IIIB (Single axis wing leveler) issues that I am having.
Plane: 1976 PA-28-181 Archer II
Avionics Set Up: Garmin 430 GPS, Dual G5s with Gad29B driving the Nav/Heading bug on my autopilot via the G5 HSI. Still have a backup attitude gyro (52D66) run by the vacuum system to get rate/roll information for the autopilot.
I have used the autopilot for 1000's of miles all around the country and it worked beautifully. Went up the other day for a flight and used it and it worked no problem, flew like it was on rails. Nice easy landing and put the plane up in the hanger just like I do every time. A couple days later I take it out and go fly and I take off, hit direct enter enter on the 430 to square up the course so we are right on the money and I go to engage the autopilot and it just banks hard to the left where I had to disengage it after a second or two or it would have rolled me over. The attitude gyro spins up nice and tracks just perfect, vacuum system is showing 5-6in mercury like normal. I trouble shoot it in the air, pull the breaker and put it back in, tried both heading and nav mode and the same issue happens, either banks hard left or right and I have to disengage quickly or else it would roll me right over.
Landed and went under the dash and made sure (to the best of my ability, I am pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff) that all the 7pin connectors were secure and hadn't come loose and nothing looked out of sorts. Took it back up and same issue. I talked to some people on the field and an A/P that said the rate/roll indicator or information that came out of the 52D66 attitude indicator might have gone bad so I got an overhauled unit sent in and swapped it out with the old one and took the plane up and had pretty much the same issue. Except this time when I engaged the autopilot it didn't roll over as violently or as quickly as before. I would engage the autopilot and it would just slowly start rolling over, but not as abrupt or as violently as before. Not sure if there is any correlation there.
I am at a loss as what to do. Should I pull out the back seats and lift the floor board and check the roll servo? If so, what should I be looking for? I heard sometimes those 7pin connectors come loose and the female in doesn't grip the male pins as tight and that might cause an issue? Any other ideas or thoughts as to what I can try doing before I have to take the plane up to Autopilots Central in Tulsa? I am located in San Antonio, TX and from what I have heard they are the best people to take it to when it comes to old Century autopilots. I am not wanting to spend the money on a new autopilot. The old one worked perfect for me for so many 1000's of miles and it seems like it just quit working for some odd reason. There was no hard landing, no one messing with wiring between the last flight when it worked and the next one when I discovered the problem.
Please help! I am happy to post a video of what happens when I engage the autopilot if that helps anyone.
Plane: 1976 PA-28-181 Archer II
Avionics Set Up: Garmin 430 GPS, Dual G5s with Gad29B driving the Nav/Heading bug on my autopilot via the G5 HSI. Still have a backup attitude gyro (52D66) run by the vacuum system to get rate/roll information for the autopilot.
I have used the autopilot for 1000's of miles all around the country and it worked beautifully. Went up the other day for a flight and used it and it worked no problem, flew like it was on rails. Nice easy landing and put the plane up in the hanger just like I do every time. A couple days later I take it out and go fly and I take off, hit direct enter enter on the 430 to square up the course so we are right on the money and I go to engage the autopilot and it just banks hard to the left where I had to disengage it after a second or two or it would have rolled me over. The attitude gyro spins up nice and tracks just perfect, vacuum system is showing 5-6in mercury like normal. I trouble shoot it in the air, pull the breaker and put it back in, tried both heading and nav mode and the same issue happens, either banks hard left or right and I have to disengage quickly or else it would roll me right over.
Landed and went under the dash and made sure (to the best of my ability, I am pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff) that all the 7pin connectors were secure and hadn't come loose and nothing looked out of sorts. Took it back up and same issue. I talked to some people on the field and an A/P that said the rate/roll indicator or information that came out of the 52D66 attitude indicator might have gone bad so I got an overhauled unit sent in and swapped it out with the old one and took the plane up and had pretty much the same issue. Except this time when I engaged the autopilot it didn't roll over as violently or as quickly as before. I would engage the autopilot and it would just slowly start rolling over, but not as abrupt or as violently as before. Not sure if there is any correlation there.
I am at a loss as what to do. Should I pull out the back seats and lift the floor board and check the roll servo? If so, what should I be looking for? I heard sometimes those 7pin connectors come loose and the female in doesn't grip the male pins as tight and that might cause an issue? Any other ideas or thoughts as to what I can try doing before I have to take the plane up to Autopilots Central in Tulsa? I am located in San Antonio, TX and from what I have heard they are the best people to take it to when it comes to old Century autopilots. I am not wanting to spend the money on a new autopilot. The old one worked perfect for me for so many 1000's of miles and it seems like it just quit working for some odd reason. There was no hard landing, no one messing with wiring between the last flight when it worked and the next one when I discovered the problem.
Please help! I am happy to post a video of what happens when I engage the autopilot if that helps anyone.
