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VP-100 Product Information The VP-100 brings modern technology to experimental aircraft to simplify wiring and provide advanced electrical system capabilities. It groups almost all of the switches and indicators into one unit in your instrument panel. It replaces switches, circuit breakers, indicators, voltage alarms, trim relays, shunts, voltage converters and a host of other products. And it adds numerous capabilities that would otherwise be difficult to design and wire yourself. Plus, it makes wiring a modern electrical system simpler than other traditional alternatives.The VP-100 installs in your instrument panel and provides manual switching for the avionics, contactors, flap system, and trim system. It supports a single bus, single- or dual-battery, single- or dual-alternator electrical configuration. The lighted liquid-crystal display shows overvoltage and under-voltage alerts, short-circuit and over-current alerts, flap & trim position, and endurance bus status. It is built using the latest technology, yet is based on time-honored electrical architectures. The system provides device switching and circuit protection, trim & flap control, overall electrical systems management, and the flexibility to adapt to each unique aircraft. Wiring With the VP-100 Wiring your airplane is a serious project. No one can make it easy, but we can make it a lot easier. We provide complete instructions, how-to guides, tool rentals, wiring harnesses and wiring diagrams to assist with your project (you can download the documents here). Rather than point to point to point wiring, you wire from the Vertical Power Control Unit (CU) to the electrical devices. Run a wire from the CU to the landing light. Run a wire to the battery contactor. Run a wire to the transponder. Run a bundle of five wires to a trim servo. Run two wires to the flap motor. Run a wire from each trim switch to the CU. Until you’re done. You won’t need to wire any circuit breakers or busses, or generate complicated wiring schematics. |
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| Then use the setup menus on the character LCD screen to configure your system. You tell it what devices you have, what the circuit breaker values are, and which switch should turn each electrical device (or group of devices) on or off. The VP-100 requires that you wire an external starter switch and mag switch. You can optionally connect other switches (trim, flap, or switches to control specific electrical devices) using the eight inputs on the Control Unit. How It Works The VP-100 from Vertical Power includes two units that are connected via a data cable. These units provide almost everything you need to wire your aircraft and are featured below: Switch Panel  This mounts in the instrument panel and includes a lighted display and eight user-configurable LED-tipped switches. You no longer need to wire a master switch, avionics switch, or alternator field switches. Flap and trim switches are provided, and you can optionally install external switches as well. The light sensor automatically dims the display and LED tip lights at night. Also included is a sheet of labels to mark each switch in a professional manner.Control Unit  The “red box” houses solid-state circuitry the provides total protection and management of the electrical system on your aircraft. It turns electrical devices on and off, manages contactors and alternators, runs the trim and flap motors, handles short circuits, and watches for over-voltage and under-voltage conditions. And much more. Its fault-tolerant design allows it to operate should certain internal sub-systems fail or if other system components fail.Remote Control Key Fob  The middle button turns the system on and off. The other four buttons can be configured to your liking. For example, you can configure the remote to unlock your canopy and turn on the interior lights. It can perform a lights check for you by turning on the landing, strobe, and nav lights while you stand outside the plane.Cables The Switch Panel and the Control Unit connect together in about a minute with a pre-manufactured cable designed for ease of assembly.  |
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| Using the VP-100 Pressing either the key fob or the green power button on the VP-100 powers up your plane. You turn on the cabin lights with the key fob, and perform an exterior lights check during your walk around. Simply press one of the key fob buttons and your exterior lights cycle on an off. The VP-100 panel is shown below: |
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Once you’re in the pilot’s seat, the VP-100 tells you there are no electrical shorts or burned out landing lights. It indicates the trim position and battery voltage. You start the engine using the starter/mag switch (located separately from the VP-100 on the instrument panel). You then flip the alternator switch to Primary. You turn on the other five switches which you’ve configured (using the setup menus) as follows: Switch 1 Essential avionics that are used with the backup alternator Switch 2 The rest of the avionics Switch 3 Boost pump Switch 4 Landing light Switch 5 Strobe and nav lights Momentary switch 1 pitch trim up and down Momentary switch 2 panel light dimmer (up=brighter, down=dimmer) The flaps are controlled by a panel-mounted switch which is wired to the Control Unit. The panel-mounted starter switch is wired in series with the starter contactor power circuit. If you have a low-voltage condition during flight, the big green button will alert you by flashing red and the display with indicate a low-voltage alarm. This means you likely have a failed alternator or voltage regulator. You acknowledge the alert by pressing the small round button near the display, and then move the alternator switch down to select the backup alternator. You then load shed by turning off switches 2 through 5. When closer to the airport, you can turn on each of the switches as necessary. During trim, flap, or dimmer operations, the display indicates the position or brightness of that control. When the switches are down (off) the LED tip lights are off, when up (on) they show green. If a device on that switch is faulted (short circuit or over-current), then the tip light flashes red. The display will tell you which circuit is faulted, and you can attempt to reset the circuit if desired. The display also shows the total current draw of the electrical devices connected to the VP-100. This is a nice feature that allows you to compare real-time current draw with the capacity of your alternator, and it eliminates the need to install shunts or hall-effect sensors. Once you’ve shut the engine down, simply hold the green power button for 2 seconds and the VP-100 powers off. Control Unit The Control Unit, when used with the VP-100, provides circuit switching, short-circuit protection, over-voltage protection, current monitoring per circuit, reversible flap and trim motor drive, circuit dimming capability, and monitoring external of external switches (such as canopy switches). It manages power to the alternator field circuit and control of the battery contactor. Regulated 12 volts is provided to the trim motors and power, ground and analog inputs for the trim and flap position sensors. It can turn each device on individually, exactly as you configure it. The circuit breaker value and other features such as soft start capability (used to turn on incandescent bulbs gently) is configured for each pin using the setup menus. Any number of power pins can be assigned to a switch on the VP-100. The Control Unit uses the latest generation solid-state switches which have been designed for the automotive industry and are appropriately adapted for an aviation application. Each solid-state switch (i.e. a single integrated circuit) does the following: • On-off switching • Short circuit protection • Measures current draw through that circuit • Provides status to the microprocessor • With a little additional circuitry it provides dimming and soft start capability Each solid-state switch is rated for two billion operations, and this type of switch is in wide-spread use in the automotive, transportation, and marine industries. The Control Unit operates in real-time and does not have an operating system. It communicates with the VP-100 Switch Panel using the fault-tolerant RS-422 serial protocol. Each Control Unit is rated for 60 amps continuous load, and has the following power and sense pins: |
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| To connect a device to the Control Unit, simply run a wire from the appropriate pin on the Control Unit to the device. Ground the device as you normally would. |
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Software Updates and Setup |
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For additional information on Vertical Power products click on these links below |
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