Precise Lvar definition of how to switch on generators[Answerd]

[qqwertzde]

Hi,

I am making good progress with my Ruscool panels and have almost everything working now. However, I think I need a bit of help.
When start from cold and dark, I do (roughly) the following:

- Battery on, Gen ties closed and back to norm, fuel lever cutoff
- Starter on, wait until N1 at 21, then fuel lever on low idle.
- Wait until N1 at 50, then Starter off
- Wait until everything stabilizes, then reset generator and set it to on, the Gen ties close and back to norm

With only the VC, this procedure works perfectly fine. The Gen tie switch in the VC switches back from closed to norm (middle position) automatically. I follow the same procedure with my panels, except that I have to explicitly move gen ties from closed to norm. All works pretty much in the same way, but when I do that with the hardware panels, I get LC Gen and RC Gen warning lights on the annunciator panels, plus a green light "Gen ties closed". If I then reset the generators, I lose power for a moment, then I am back to the warning lights.

What could go wrong here? Which Lvars do I need to check/set to make sure that the airplane is properly powered after the engines have been started?

[qqwertzde]

After a bit more of playing around, I have the impression that it is the gen ties switch that creates the problem. What could one do wrong with it?

[Victory103]

Are you doing night starts or want both gen/center buses powered by the battery bus? That would be the only reason I can see for moving the gen ties to MAN CLOSE prior to start, otherwise they should be in NORM. The gen tie switch is spring loaded for the MAN CLOSED (up) as you indicated in the VC. During the run up, the electrical system check calls for placing the ties to switch OPEN to check that the center bus has been isolated.

[Taguilo]

After a bit more of playing around, I have the impression that it is the gen ties switch that creates the problem. What could one do wrong with it?

Yes, probably. I assume you have linked a switch on your hardware to GEN TIES in the aircraft right? Then if your switch is not spring loaded, and you need to manually switch back from MAN CLOSE to NORMAL, I believe it won't work as expected.

Perhaps you'll have to keep using the GEN TIES switch on the VC. Or if your hardware console is custom made, you could design the switch as a spring loaded part.


Tomas

[qqwertzde]

Hi Victory and Tomas,

thanks for your help. I was studying the B350i power system to learn more about how and when gen ties are used before Tomas sent his message. Yes, the hardware switch is not spring loaded. How fast would I have to switch back to "normal" to avoid problems? It would be a shame if I had to go back to the VC for a single switch.

I wonder in which way a spring-loaded switch is different from a normal switch, apart from the obvious point that you have to hold it in order to keep it in position. In the real airplane, I could probably do that. In the Milviz, model, what happens when the switch is momentarily put in the upper position? I could re-program my hardware switch so that it does not change the Lvar B350i_GenTies, but whatever Lvar is changed when the switch is in the upper position. Would that be possible? If yes, which Lvar would have to be set?

Thanks
Peter

[Taguilo]

Peter,

If your GEN TIES switch is a three position, then make a script do:

(L:B350i_GenTies, enum) == 1 UP
(L:B350i_GenTies, enum) == 0 MIDDLE
(L:B350i_GenTies, enum) == -1 DOWN

Hope this helps.

Tomas

[qqwertzde]

Hello Tomas and Dustoff,

thanks a lot for your input. What Tomas described was exactly how I programmed the interface, but it just didn't work. After a lot of testing I now found the culprit: bad programming.

I am using Mobiflight to control an Arduino Mega, which connects to FSUIPC. I adapted a code that I found on the Mobiflight forums to program my switches. That code uses a perpetual loop and continuously checks all FSUIPC offsets to see whether any switches have been changed. That loop is very laggy, it sometimes took several seconds until the simulator became aware that a operated a switch. Sometimes it even completely missed it.

In anyway, I decided to reprogram everything using Lua event.intercept functions. Now the lag is gone, and suddenly the generators appear to work properly. I don't know what exactly went wrong, but lag in interpreting switches does not bode well with the Milviz KA350i. I guess that's realistic, I don't think the real airplane would like it if there was a substantial delay either

Thanks for you help again. I am now really close to have everything working as it should. I will then post a video of your plane and the switches in the general Milviz forum.

Cheers,
Peter