Sport Pilot Talk

What's your opinion on solid state circuit breakers like VP-X? (https://verticalpower.com/index.php/products/vp-x)

They advertise being safer and more reliable than older mechanical circuit breakers because less high voltage has to flow on your side of the firewall. The fact that they report detailed information about current and voltage at each wire to your EFIS is a big plus. But the little skeptic inside my head is asking if it's such a great technology, why is it not standard? So is there any downside in reliability or safety compared to the older thermal circuit breakers we all use?

fatsportpilot wrote:The fact that they report detailed information about current and voltage at each wire to your EFIS is a big plus. But the little skeptic inside my head is asking if it's such a great technology, why is it not standard? So is there any downside in reliability or safety compared to the older thermal circuit breakers we all use?

Does that mean if things aren't perfect . . . they will trip?
That does not seem too desirable to me. Electrical fluctuations are the norm for the Rotax 912 ULS.

No they won't trip with a slight fluctuation. I think they can be programmed for the tolerance you want. If you want it to cut the circuit only when a mechanical thermal circuit breaker would do it then you can which is what you're supposed to do.

I have the VP-X in my new Bristell. I'll post a PIREP once I have some experience with it.

drseti wrote:I have the VP-X in my new Bristell. I'll post a PIREP once I have some experience with it.

Thanks! Does the Bristell include that as standard or did you request it as custom?

fatsportpilot wrote: Does the Bristell include that as standard or did you request it as custom?

It isn't standard, but it's an available option. Since the plane I bought was the dealer's demo, they ordered it that way (dealers generally put all available bells and whistles on their demos).

I built my RV12 with a VPX. I like how easy it was to wire and over the years I have added things and reprogramming was easy. I did find an old pic from about 8 year while building.





Old pic with an even older phone. Quality is not very good but you get the idea.

I control my wig wig and trim speed off of the airspeed and the VP controls those functions

Why would the VP-X control trim? I thought it's just an electronic circuit breaker and monitoring system.

fatsportpilot wrote:Why would the VP-X control trim? I thought it's just an electronic circuit breaker and monitoring system.

I'm not sure, but I think it might also include variable voltage regulators.

Paul corrrect - the electric trim speed is controlled via the VPX and based on airspeed setting when you configure it - Fast trim at lower speeds and high speed slower so it isn’t so sensitive.

When I spec’d out my SLING, I went with standard circuit breakers rather than with a Vertical Power unit. At the time, one of the pilots from the around the world flight of the SLING, as well as a builder/owner, related problems they had with the units, which persuaded me to go the traditional route. I basically erred on the side of caution in this case and went with what I was familiar with.

Sling 2 Pilot wrote:When I spec’d out my SLING, I went with standard circuit breakers rather than with a Vertical Power unit. At the time, one of the pilots from the around the world flight of the SLING, as well as a builder/owner, related problems they had with the units, which persuaded me to go the traditional route. I basically erred on the side of caution in this case and went with what I was familiar with.

What problems did he say he had? Were they installation troubles or problems with the units operation?

fatsportpilot wrote:

Sling 2 Pilot wrote:When I spec’d out my SLING, I went with standard circuit breakers rather than with a Vertical Power unit. At the time, one of the pilots from the around the world flight of the SLING, as well as a builder/owner, related problems they had with the units, which persuaded me to go the traditional route. I basically erred on the side of caution in this case and went with what I was familiar with.

What problems did he say he had? Were they installation troubles or problems with the units operation?

Operation.

Any other details about the problems he had that you could share? It would help me in making my decision.

fatsportpilot wrote:Any other details about the problems he had that you could share? It would help me in making my decision.

It was over two and a half years ago. All I recall, was it tripped constantly and not not at a good time. Like over water miles from land. Hey, bottom line, I’m sure the units are pretty solid a d way more reliable, as many use them. My application is simple, I took into consideration what was told to me at the time and went with what I know...standard breakers.

Friends who have the Vertical Power setups, report pretty trouble free operation. The ones who have issues usually route back to the install/programming process.