Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • Users
Collapse
Just Flight Community Forum
  1. Home
  2. Just Flight
  3. MSFS Products
  4. Black Square Add-Ons
  5. Starship
  6. Battery Tie Open

Battery Tie Open

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Starship
10 Posts 4 Posters 402 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • MarkSM Offline
    MarkSM Offline
    MarkS
    wrote last edited by
    #1

    I usually fire up Starship with external power in order to save the battery. Today I opted for a battery start and full checklist. Almost made it to 'Start Right Engine' when something tripped and all the power went out. I hooked up the external power, and when the EICAS came up, the message 'Battery Tie Open' appeared. I followed the abnormal procedure for the message, but the message stayed until I exited the flight, and it did not reappear the next time I loaded in. There doesn't appear to be a switch in the cockpit for this, so I'm wondering if this is something an A&P mechanic would need to fix IRL.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • O Offline
      O Offline
      OrionNZ
      wrote last edited by
      #2

      Just speaking as an A&P and Flight Engineer, with no experience working on Starship I may add! - I would say you would have a look as the possible causes and spend a little time fault-finding, but with electrical faults like that, particularly ones that go away after the TURN IT OFF-TURN IT ON fix there is usually no worries so long as it isn't a common occurrence.

      Did you check for any popped CB's before you exited the flight? General rule for ANY failure in an aircraft, Breaker-Bus-Component!. Is the breaker popped, is the bus powered that it is connected to...then you look at the component. Just last week working on our last old RNZAF C-130 here in NZ and Coulsons had an issue with the Aux Vent Valve not closing during APU ground run and were discussing getting a replacement valve off another Herc 4 hours away etc. I went and had a look and yep Aux Vent Valve CB was out - popped it back in and you could hear the valve closing in the FD.

      The RL Starship Maintenance Manual does state with Battery power on "If an electrical fault prevents closing of the battery bus-tie relay, the EICAS yellow BATTERY TIE OPEN caution message will display. The generator bus-tie switch must be placed in the MAN CLOSED position to power the LH and RH generator buses with battery power only." (24-31-00, Fig 2). So it could have just been a transient overvoltage or momentarily drawing too many amps etc.

      Obviously in MSFS it is hard to know to what depth the systems are exactly modelled to RL, but I believe the Starship is pretty deep and have had starter CBs pop, but to answer your question it wouldn't be a major if all was good after a restart. The previous Herc I mentioned was actually on it's way to Canada and had some AP and other avionic boxes issues on the way into Kona, but did a total power restart on the ground and were good to go.

      Hope that helps a bit - any Q's let me know 🙂

      REF:https://www.bobscherer.com/Files/Starship/Maintenance%20CD/mm/122-590013-21B_Vol1.pdf

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • Black SquareB Online
        Black SquareB Online
        Black Square
        Black Square Developer
        wrote last edited by
        #3

        Sorry I never answered this, btw. I was away on a trip at the time. I did look into the code when I got home. There are actually numerous conditions that can prevent the battery tie from closing within my code, including its own failure (visible on the failures page of the tablet interface).

        I would have responded, but I was struggling with how to answer, given that the many combinations of conditions are difficult to convey succinctly. The end result is a little easier to explain, which is simply that the battery bus does not connect to the center bus. You can witness this on the live electrical schematic page of the tablet interface too. I'm always here to try to answer your questions, though!

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • MarkSM Offline
          MarkSM Offline
          MarkS
          wrote last edited by
          #4

          @OrionNZ @Black-Square thanks for your responses. I did check circuit breakers and none of them were popped. Interesting that the generator bus ties get a switch in the cockpit but the battery tie does not.

          At this point my question is whether cycling power is a legitimate real-world solution to this issue, or it's a "sim thing".

          4 O 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • MarkSM MarkS

            @OrionNZ @Black-Square thanks for your responses. I did check circuit breakers and none of them were popped. Interesting that the generator bus ties get a switch in the cockpit but the battery tie does not.

            At this point my question is whether cycling power is a legitimate real-world solution to this issue, or it's a "sim thing".

            4 Offline
            4 Offline
            4339ulrik22
            wrote last edited by
            #5

            @MarkS

            I actully found out that a batteyr bus tie happens if main battery is low like starting both engines on 80% charge on main battery only triggers a bus tie open and the only way to resolve this was for me to reset the battery back to 100%, not sure if that was the case for you

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • MarkSM Offline
              MarkSM Offline
              MarkS
              wrote last edited by
              #6

              @4339ulrik22 that sounds similar to what I experienced. Probably drained the battery while running the checklist. I wasn’t at a location with a GPU so couldn’t charge the battery and had to go out to the menu and come back. If charging the battery fixed it for you, maybe it’s self-healing.

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • MarkSM MarkS

                @OrionNZ @Black-Square thanks for your responses. I did check circuit breakers and none of them were popped. Interesting that the generator bus ties get a switch in the cockpit but the battery tie does not.

                At this point my question is whether cycling power is a legitimate real-world solution to this issue, or it's a "sim thing".

                O Offline
                O Offline
                OrionNZ
                wrote last edited by
                #7

                @MarkS Cycling power (either system or entire aircraft) is definitely a real-world solution to a number of avionics problems (pretty much most TBH lol).

                Also, we were always taught NEVER to use CB's as a 'switch' to cycle power to systems - so don't pop the CB for a malfunctioning system them reset it to try and 'cycle' the power to it to solve issues. However it is fine to reset a CB once after a 2 min cooldown as it may have been one-off transient volt/amp issue. Pops again and is U/S.

                Awesome that BS has programmed in so much depth into his systems - gives people a taste of what it is actually like trying to deal with these mystery issues when you just want to fly lol.

                Black SquareB 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • O OrionNZ

                  @MarkS Cycling power (either system or entire aircraft) is definitely a real-world solution to a number of avionics problems (pretty much most TBH lol).

                  Also, we were always taught NEVER to use CB's as a 'switch' to cycle power to systems - so don't pop the CB for a malfunctioning system them reset it to try and 'cycle' the power to it to solve issues. However it is fine to reset a CB once after a 2 min cooldown as it may have been one-off transient volt/amp issue. Pops again and is U/S.

                  Awesome that BS has programmed in so much depth into his systems - gives people a taste of what it is actually like trying to deal with these mystery issues when you just want to fly lol.

                  Black SquareB Online
                  Black SquareB Online
                  Black Square
                  Black Square Developer
                  wrote last edited by
                  #8

                  @OrionNZ said in Battery Tie Open:

                  Awesome that BS has programmed in so much depth into his systems - gives people a taste of what it is actually like trying to deal with these mystery issues when you just want to fly lol.

                  I've worked very hard to supply these moments of inconvenient realism 🙂

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  1
                  • MarkSM Offline
                    MarkSM Offline
                    MarkS
                    wrote last edited by
                    #9

                    And your work is very much appreciated. For me, Starship is more like "operating an aircraft" than just "flying an airplane".

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • Black SquareB Online
                      Black SquareB Online
                      Black Square
                      Black Square Developer
                      wrote last edited by
                      #10

                      I hope all of my airplanes feel that way, but Starship is really something special. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      1
                      Reply
                      • Reply as topic
                      Log in to reply
                      • Oldest to Newest
                      • Newest to Oldest
                      • Most Votes


                      • Login

                      • Don't have an account? Register

                      • Login or register to search.
                      • First post
                        Last post
                      0
                      • Categories
                      • Recent
                      • Tags
                      • Popular
                      • Users