Intermittent Fault Detector™ (IFD-256™) Test Summary

Introduction:

Electrically Heated Pitot Probes (0851HT-1)

S/N: 322473 & S/N: 393938

The listed Pitot Probes were tested for the purpose of demonstrating the advanced diagnostic capability of the Intermittent Fault Detector™ (IFD™). Universal Synaptics received the Pitot Probes on 31 May 2019, testing began on 3 June 2019 using the Portable Intermittent Fault Detector (IFD-256™). The Interface Test Adaptor (ITA) was designed and manufactured by Universal Synaptics for this test project. The customer-supplied banana jack test leads were utilized to connect the ITA to the Pitot Probes / Unit Under Test (UUT).

Test Procedures:

AutoMap™ – discovered the Unit Under Test (UUT) true as-wired configuration – no OEM data or schematics were used
- S/N 322473 utilized to build baseline map as S/N 393938 was received from customer with confirmed fail of a continuity test – “Gold” / Condition Code “A” asset needed for map
Continuity – tested for open circuits and measures resistance against established AutoMap baseline (open circuits / high resistance tests)
Shorts – provided shorts indication and shorts tracing
Intermittence – monitored all circuits to detect and isolate all three Stages of intermittent faults (see Graphic 1)
Fault Isolation – detected intermittent faults through programmatic isolation

Portable Intermittent Fault Detector (PIFD)

Graphic 1 – Three Stages of an Intermittent Fault

Stage 1 – random low-level nanosecond microbreaks, likely not operationally evident yet, but on curve of degradation to become Stage 2
Stage 2 – intermittent failure evident to pilot in operation, reported to ground crew, passes ground test and labeled No Trouble Found (NTF) or No Fault Found (NFF), on curve of degradation to become Stage 3
Stage 3 – semi-hard or hard failures, Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) and troubleshooting tools such as DMMs designed to detect hard faults (open circuits or shorted circuits)

Results:

S/N 393938

IFD-256 Continuity testing conducted – confirmed known open circuit in the Electrical Connection Assembly – ECA-1 to ECA-2 (see Graphics 2, 3, and 4)
IFD-256 Shorts testing conducted – no shorted circuits were detected in the UUT
IFD-256 Intermittence testing conducted – no intermittence detected

Graphic 2 – Continuity Graphic – Pitot Probe S/N 393938

Graphic 3 – Continuity Report – Pitot Probe S/N 393938

NOTE: Gold value above at 63.67 ohms includes 16 ohms resistance through the internal IFD circuitry switches plus the specified ohmic resistance value of 40 – 56 ohms +/- 4 ohms

Graphic 4 – Continuity Results – Pitot Probe S/N 393938 – ECA-1 Open

Results:

S/N 322473

IFD-256 Continuity testing conducted – passed continuity / no findings (see Graphic 5)
IFD-256 Shorts testing conducted – no shorted circuits were detected in the UUT
IFD-256 Intermittence testing conducted – multiple intermittent events detected and isolated on ECA-1 (see Graphics 6 and 7)

Graphic 5 – Continuity Results – Pitot Probe S/N 322473 – No Findings

Graphic 6 – Intermittence Fault Isolation Graphic – Pitot Probe S/N 322473

Graphic 7 – Intermittence Test Column View – Pitot Probe S/N 322473

Summary:

Universal Synaptics’ patented Intermittent Fault Detection technology has proven to increase aircraft component reliability. As proven by this demonstration, the IFD-256 will increase the reliability of the aircraft by ensuring that quality Pitot Probes are installed on customer aircraft, subsequently preventing Operational Difficulty Index (ODI) events and customer dissatisfaction.

S/N 393938

Functional test complete: FT 04/19 – stamped APR 30 2019 (see Graphic 7)
Passed traditional continuity test and marked Ready for Install (RFI)
Removed at 8.21 hours after operational failure
Failed Continuity Test @ 47.41 megaohms outside of 40-56 ohms range
Based on Time-on-Wing (TOW), an operational failure occurred soon after conventional testing certified the asset as RFI
- Indicative of a pre-flight intermittent condition that would have been detected and isolated by the IFD-256
- IFD-256 would have prevented an Operational Difficulty Index (ODI) event

S/N 322473