This just got posted on FB. I don’t know the back story but it looks like issues continue
Is that a conventional one or a Max?
It’s an EFD 1000 fitted in 2018.
Peter wrote:
I don’t know the back story but it looks like issues continue
Climb rate +5320 ft/min? Whoa!
There are reasons why I keep the old gauges in my cockpit….the Aspen display is veeeeeery nice whenever it works.
As I wrote before many times, the Aspen runs way too hot to ever be reliable – due to thermal cycling alone.
I think it too broad brush to condemn the EFD series with such negative sweeping statements.
I have been using the EFD1000 Pro since 2008, and recently (18 months ago) upgraded to the Max.
In my particular installation this has proved to be a very reliable instrument which I enjoy flying with. It is also a key single point of failure since it routes most of the AP integration, so it needs to be robust and dependable in my Jetprop.
Yesterday it was 37oC OAT which is fairly typical here this time of year. No overheating issues in this environment.
My new Avidyne units run considerably hotter then the EFD.
I have had a couple of hardware issues many years ago as previously reported, but then again the same can be said of various other brands over a similar period of time.
I would install another Aspen without hesitation, and may well do so for redundancy on the co-pilot side in the future.
Cheers – E
It is very possible that this issue is airframe dependent, and e.g. the amount of ventilation behind the panel affects it.
eal wrote:
I think it too broad brush to condemn the EFD series with such negative sweeping statements.
I agree. My EFD1000 Pro is running fine since it’s installation in 2014 and has seen a lot of heat while parked as well as during flight, we never had any issue with it whatsoever. All that got done is a change of stand by battery.
I very much like how the device is set up, I like the way it is used and the wealth of data I get from it like in flight wind and TAS in particular, without which I would not like to fly anymore. I will eventually upgrade it to Max when a chance arises, simply for the failure point the older one has. If I “win the lottery” or have too much money, I’d install a 2nd Aspen with a separate pitot tube for redundancy. I also like the way it interfaces to almost everything, does not force you to use a particular brand or series of navigators to work with and offers stuff like GPSS for legacy autopilots without even a Nav mode. And it leaves space for any form other than e.g. the G500 which fills up the whole panel.
Sometimes when I browse plane adds for that elusive upgrade to a light twin which will probably never happen, my first idea is always that I would immediately put an Aspen Max in the day I buy it.
Clearly there are other EFIS by now which are attractive, yet I still think the Aspen series is very good value for what it offers, particularly in airplanes where panel space is a real commodity.
I agree too. My Aspen PFD 1000 has operated flawlessly since I installed it in 2009 and I also recently updated to the Pro MAX version which doesn’t suffer from pitot single point of failure as others have pointed out. On my Mooney, with the original PFD I did occasionally see red crosses on the ground after startup in strong crosswinds but they always disappeared again within minutes while still taxiing so they never bothered me.
The Aspen drives the Stec 55x in my case which makes it a uniquely integrated little display.
