Posted for Steve Reeves <sreeves@sc.rr.com>:

I was wondering is some of you electrical gurus may be able to pinpoint this
problem. When my system is under heavy load (night), i.e. landing light,
interior lighting, strobes, navs, etc...all switches in the on position, I am
getting cycling of my alternator. It will kick on and off intermittently, and
sometimes trip my main breaker. The strobes seem to be the major culprit. I
have gone through individual switches and it seems to be related to the
strobes. I can get them to do this occasionally even during the day with no
heavy load, just strobes and the usual amenities (radios, etc.).

Think I may have a corroded connection pulling too many amps? I'm not sure
where to begin. Thanks for any input.

Steve Reeves
Glasair 1FT 38SR

 [How big and how old is your battery, Steve?  Have you added up all the loads you have on when the problem arises to see if you've outrun the capacity of your charging system?   Reason I ask about the battery is that it acts like a huge capacitor to help take those pulses out of the cycling alternator.  If it's got some age on it or is too small you could actually be overtaxing the charging system with all the load that the strobe power supply adds.  It could also be a poor ground somewhere, I'd start by checking the one from the strobe box.  Just a couple thoughts.   <marv>    ]