kicktireslightfires
New member
Hi ya'll, I recently had a couple of Garmin GSB 15s installed in my Cessna 162 by a reputable avionics shop. On the takeoff roll or a few seconds after takeoff, I start smelling an electrical burning smell. The first time it happened I pulled the Cab Pwr circuit breaker just to kill power to the accessories and the smell started to dissipate. I took a look at the wiring and couldn't find any issues or any sign of burning. Each time I go flying, same smell during the takeoff roll, pull the circuit breaker and the smell starts to go away. What's curious is that there is no smell prior to the takeoff roll, nor during run-up, so there is some correlation between applying full power and the burning smell.
The only thing I can think of is to take a test flight with a smoke mask and fire extinguisher at the ready and circle near my airport for 30 minutes without pulling the circuit breaker to see what happens and see if pulling the circuit breaker was merely a coincidence to the smell dissipating. If the burning smell worsens or becomes smoke, I'll put on a mask and land and then have the whole thing pulled apart to find out what's going on. You might suggest I do that now at this stage and not do the test flight, but put yourself in my shoes ... right now I've only experienced some minor burning smell and perhaps it's merely something that needs to harmlessly burn away and then the smell/issue will be gone forever. Ideally, I wish I could ground run this issue but I'm not sure how to do that given the issue seems to only present itself under full power. Which I'm assuming is when the alternator is sending the maximum amount of power through the wires.
Is there some way to simulate max electrical power from the alternator while on the ground?
The avionics shop opted for installing two in-line fuses rather than adding a whole separate circuit breaker due to the way the Cessna 162's circuit panel is constructed. Is there any possibility that the burning smell is coming from the fuses?
Any thoughts/ideas? If you've read this and have no constructive suggestions and just want to tell me I'm a dumb*** for even considering a test flight, please move on and don't post. I would appreciate any thoughtful suggestions of how this could be tested most safely but without having to pull apart all the wiring or anything too expensive.
Thanks in advance.
The only thing I can think of is to take a test flight with a smoke mask and fire extinguisher at the ready and circle near my airport for 30 minutes without pulling the circuit breaker to see what happens and see if pulling the circuit breaker was merely a coincidence to the smell dissipating. If the burning smell worsens or becomes smoke, I'll put on a mask and land and then have the whole thing pulled apart to find out what's going on. You might suggest I do that now at this stage and not do the test flight, but put yourself in my shoes ... right now I've only experienced some minor burning smell and perhaps it's merely something that needs to harmlessly burn away and then the smell/issue will be gone forever. Ideally, I wish I could ground run this issue but I'm not sure how to do that given the issue seems to only present itself under full power. Which I'm assuming is when the alternator is sending the maximum amount of power through the wires.
Is there some way to simulate max electrical power from the alternator while on the ground?
The avionics shop opted for installing two in-line fuses rather than adding a whole separate circuit breaker due to the way the Cessna 162's circuit panel is constructed. Is there any possibility that the burning smell is coming from the fuses?
Any thoughts/ideas? If you've read this and have no constructive suggestions and just want to tell me I'm a dumb*** for even considering a test flight, please move on and don't post. I would appreciate any thoughtful suggestions of how this could be tested most safely but without having to pull apart all the wiring or anything too expensive.
Thanks in advance.
