AC & DC Metering panel

AC & DC Metering panel - Classic

AC & DC Metering panel - NG

This panel is slightly non-standard because it contains

the optional APU BAT position on the DC side. Most
classics don't have this second battery.

Notice the new CAB/UTIL & IFE/PASS SEAT swi

GALLEY switch. These control the following servi

The Residual Volts button (not installed on the NG) may

CAB/UTIL
be used to test a generator that has dropped off a bus.
When pressed, if a voltage is seen then the generator is
still turning, therefore a generator showing zero residual Recirculation fan(s)
volts has failed and will not reconnect. Residual volts is
the only selection to use to the 30V scale on the AC
Door area heaters
voltmeter, for this reason residual volts should never be
pressed when a generator is connected to a bus (will get
Drain mast heaters
115V).

IFE/PASS SEAT
115V AC audio IFE
115V AC video IFE
28V DC video IFE

Lavatory water heaters Airphone equipment

All galley buses

Pax seat elec outlets

Introduction
Each engine has an AC generator. The constant-speed
Shaver outlets
drive unit (or other system) is the link between the
generator and the engine. The drive unit has its own oil
Logo lights
system for cooling and lubrication and should be
checked in the sight glass before flight. This oil system is
independent of the engine oil system.
Potable water comp

CSD - Constant Speed

Drive
Check oil quantity in
sight glass, note different
levels for left and right
engine as unit is same for
both sides.

VSCF - Variable Speed

Constant Frequency

IDG - Integrated Drive Generator (NG's only)

Check oil level in the sight glass,

Check oil level in the sight
glass, note different levels note different levels for left and right engine as unit
for left and right engine as
unit is same for both sides. is same for both sides.

The photograph shows an IDG's will auto-disconnect with a high oil

The reset handle (red) is old style VSCF (two
LED's). Notice "Fault" and

visible at the bottom.

Supply capacity is
45KVA.

"Open Phase" LED's. Press

"Indicate" button (top left)
with cockpit lights set
bright for indication. If any
LED's illuminate, cross
temperature, thus no IDG oil temperature gauges
check the generator
diagnostics panel & report
to engineer. Button on top on the gen drive panel. They are cooled by both fan
right is the LED lamp test.
air and a fuel-oil heat exchanger.
In 2001 Boeing &
Supply capacity 90KVA, with options available for
Hamilton Sundstrand
introduced modifications to
up to 180KVA eg for AEW&C aircraft.
the VSCF to improve its
reliability which had been
approx 1/3 that of CSD's. Notice the three coloured plugs at the top right.
The failure rate was just
over 1 every 2000hrs. You These are the three phase cables and are colour
can identify a new VSCF
by the three LED's rather coded as follows:
than two on the unit. The
instruction plate for the
A = Red
buttons & LED's is located
just below the LED's.
B = Yellow
Due to poor reliability, if C = Blue
either generator is a VSCF
there is a (UK CAA)
limitation to remain within
45mins flying time of a
suitable airfield.

To correctly check the oil level the CSD/VSCF/IDG must first be vented for 15 seconds to release pressure.
emit from the vent during this process. The vent on the IDG is at the top of the s

The purists may like to know that the DC voltages are measured at the following points:

DC Selector
switch
STBY PWR
BAT BUS
BATT
TR1
TR2
TR3
TEST

Voltage measurement point Typical Voltage Typical Current

DC Standby bus
Battery bus
Hot battery bus
DC bus 1
DC bus 2
TR 3
Power system test module

24-30
24-30
22-30*
24-30
24-30
24-30
See table

N/A
N/A
0
20-25
20-25
10-15
See table

*May be up to 33V during pulse mode charging.

Do not leave the DC meter selector at BAT on a dead aircraft, because indicating draws some current and will

TR's

The TR's convert AC into DC. The check for TR serviceability is current, not voltage, because the TR voltage
associated DC busses (for TR's 1 & 2). TR's should always be checked before commencing an autoland becau
cross bus tie relay opens at glideslope capture and this will leave DC Bus 1 unpowered if TR1 had previously
light which illuminates if either TR1 or TR2 and TR3 fail in flight or if any TR's fail on the ground. The TR's
rated to 50 Amps.
Limitations:
TR voltage range:
Battery voltage range:

24-30V
22-30V (May be up to 33V during pulse mode charging)

The TEST positions are used in conjunction with the Power System Test panel (1-500 see below). This test in
within the metering panel on the NG.

Gen Drive & Standby Power panel

Gen Drive & Standby Power panel - NG

Gen Drive & Standby Power panel - Classic

LOW OIL PRESSURE and HIGH OIL TEMP cautions are replaced by a single DRIVE caption on the NG. T
IDG low oil pressure, since the IDG's will auto disconnect for a high oil temperature. They will also illuminat

A higher than normal rise (ie above 20C) indicates excessive generator load or poor condition of drive. These
deemed to be redundant and have been removed from the NG.
Limitations:
Max gen drive rise:
20C
Max gen drive oil temp:
157C
If aircraft is fitted with a VSCF, must operate within 45mins of a suitable aerodrome.
For more details about the different types of generators (CSD, VSCF, IDG) fitted click here.

Generator Bus panel

Gen Bus panel - NG

Gen Bus panel - Classic
The amber TRANSFER BUS OFF light comes on when the respective AC transfer bus does not have power.
The amber BUS OFF light (classics) indicates that the respective AC generator bus is not energized.

The amber SOURCE OFF light (NG's) indicates that the respective AC transfer bus is not energized by the so

The engine and APU generator OFF BUS lights illuminate when the respective generator is running and of th

The blue GND POWER AVAILABLE light on classics only means that the GPU is physically plugged in to th
indication about the quality of the power. You may not be able to connect the ground power to the busses even
NG's the quality is checked and the light will only illuminate when external AC power is connected and the q

There are three golden rules of 737 electrics:

1. There is no paralleling of AC power.

2. The source of AC power being connected to a generator bus takes priority and automatically disconnects th

3. A source of AC power does not enter the system automatically (when it reaches proper voltage & freq). It m

Busses
AC Busses - NG's
Transfer Busses - Point of connection for the
power sources (engines/APU/GPU).
AC Busses - Classics
Used for heavy, essential loads eg hydraulic
Gen busses Point of connection for the power sources
(engines/APU/GPU). Used for heavy, important loads eg pumps.
hydraulic pumps. Effectively now renamed transfer
Main Busses - Fed from respective transfer bus.
busses on the NG
Main busses Fed from the respective gen bus. Used for Used for non-essential loads eg recirc fans.
heavy non-essential loads eg fuel boost pumps.
The main busses are next to be load shed after the
Transfer busses Normally powered by respective gen
bus. If these fail, will feed from other gen bus if BUS
galley busses
TXFR switch is in AUTO. Used for essential loads eg
trim.
Galley Busses - First in line to be load shed.
AC standby bus Powered by transfer bus 1 or the
AC standby bus Powered by transfer bus 1 or
battery via an inverter. Used for essential loads eg ATC 1
the battery via an inverter. Used for essential
loads eg ATC 1

DC Busses
DC busses Powered by the respective transfer busses via a TRU.
DC standby bus Powered by DC bus 1 (Classics) / TRs (NGs) or battery bus (Classics) / battery (NGs).
Battery bus Normally powered by TR3, alt power is battery. Powered when the battery switch is ON or the
Hot battery bus Always live, used for fire extinguishing & Captains clock.
Switched hot battery bus - Only powered when the battery switch is on.

Standby Busses
Are for essential AC & DC loads and are guaranteed for 30mins from the battery.
SBY AC bus Is powered from AC transfer bus 1 or the battery via an inverter.
SBY DC bus Is powered from DC bus 1 or the battery via the battery bus.

Bus transfer switch - when off will completely isolate left & right sides of the electrics.
See also Generators

Batteries

Battery - Is a 36 ampere-hour, 24 volt, 20 cell, Nickel-cadmium battery and should provide 30 minutes (20 m
if all other generators fail.

APU Battery - This is a customer option that I have only seen on Series 500 aircraft. It is primarily used for st
in parallel with the main battery to provide 45mins of standby power. One of its best applications is that powe
EFIS with the loss of all generators, similar to latest build classics.

Aux Battery - This is a reserve battery on the NG which is normally isolated unless the main battery is power
operates in parallel with the main battery. The aux battery combined with the main battery will provide 60 mi

The NG also has 2 extra dedicated batteries for the engine and APU fuel shut off valves and the ISFD (150mi

BAT OVHT & APU BAT OVHT lights are a customer option on classics. They are located on the aft overhea
required if they should illuminate.

Normal battery voltage range is 22-30 volts.

Circuit Breakers
From the QRH CI.2.3 March 29, 2004
"Flight crew reset of a tripped circuit breaker is flight is
not recommended. Unless specifically directed to do so
in a non-normal checklist. However, a tripped circuit
breaker may be reset once, after a short cooling period
(approximately 2 minutes), if in the judgement of the
Captain, the situation resulting from the circuit breaker
trip has a significant adverse effect on safety. A ground
reset of a tripped circuit breaker by the flight crew
should only be accomplished after maintenance has
determined it is safe to reset the circuit breaker.
Flight crew cycling (pulling and resetting) of circuit
breakers to clear non-normal conditions is not
recommended."
According to Boeing there is 40.6 miles of wire on the
737-300 but only 36.6 miles on the 737-700 !

Behind the P6 Panel

P
panel

hotograph of the P6

Photograph of the P18 panel

C/B location chart by F/O Libor Kubina, CSA. (PDF

119kb)

Just to prove that electrics is not the exact science that engineers would have you believe, check out this story
Boeing flight test pilot for 18 years: Systems that seem fine alone can interfere with one another, she recalled
switched the power on, she heard the toilet in the lavatory flush. After confirming that no one was in the lavat
on again. This time, all the toilets on board flushed. The reason: interference between electrical systems.

The Generator Diagnost

(M238) Series -1/2

Easily missed as it is tucke

side wall as you enter the f
indication of whether or no
are powered, and provides
malfunction lights, why a G

It is arranged into three are

DC Bus lights:

The first 3 lights on the top

INDICATE to see which DC
AC Bus lights:

These lights show which A

are behind the shield to av

The top row is phase A, the

Phase B is checked on the
overhead panel.
Malfunction lights:

The last 6 lights on the top 2 rows will illuminate immediately when a fault occurs on either engine o

If any lights are illuminated not covered by the shield, something may be wrong, make a note of the
engineer. If the fault is on either Gen 1 or 2 and you have VSCF's fitted you can confirm the fault by
unit. A list of malfunction lights and their possible causes is given below.
Possible causes of Generator Diagnostic Panel lights are as follows:

Annunciator Panel Troubleshooting Guide

Malfunction Light

Possible Cause

FF (Feeder Fault) light comes on followed by GCR, GB

tripping:

Defective CT.

Defective GCU.

Over-current condition, check lines for

Defective circuit to manual trip.
MT (Manual Trip) light comes on:

Generator switched off.

CSD disconnect.

HV (High Voltage) light comes on (130+/-3V):

Defective Generator Control Unit (GC

Defective generator.

LV (Low Voltage) light comes on (100+/-3V):

Damaged CSD shaft or spline.

Defective GCU.
Fire handle pulled.

The Power System Test panel (M400) Series -1/2/3/4/500 only

Shows the phases of the various AC busses in accordance with the following table:

B (Default posn)

No1 Gen field

No2 Gen field

APU Gen field

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

No1 Main bus #A No1 Main bus #B

No1 Main bus #C

No1 Trans bus

#A

No1 Trans bus

#B

No1 T
#C

No1 GCU DC

No2 GCU DC

APU GCU DC

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

No2 Main bus #A No2 Main bus #B

No2 Main bus #C

No2 Trans bus

#A

No2 Trans bus

#B

No2 T
#C

Eng GB1 Close

coil

APU GB1 Close

coil

Eng GB2 Close

coil

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

Gnd Serv bus #A

Gnd Serv bus #B

Gnd Serv bus #C

Ext Pwr bus #A

Ext Pwr bus #B

Ext P

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

APU GB2 Close

coil

4
Phase A
5

7
8

Phase B

Phase C
EPC 1 Close coil

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C
EPC 2 Close coil

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C
APU 95% switch

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

Phase A

Phase B

Phase

Note: S2 (Left switch) is normally left in position B. This connects all 3 generator ammeters to phase B and le
relaxed.

NG Series Differences

The functions of the above panel are al

DC Metering panel on the NG.

The M400 panel space is now occupied

Electrical Schematics

The following electrical schematics are included to give the reader an overview of the basic electrical configu
737. Please note that although these contain slightly more information than FCOM Vol 2, they are still a great
system (particularly in the way I have represented the standby power switch relays). Furthermore there have b
configurations over the years for different customers, so please do not assume that your particular aircraft ma

Electrical schematic diagram - Original's

Electrical schematic diagram - Single Battery Classic's
Electrical schematic diagram - Two Battery Classic's
Electrical schematic diagram - NG's

See also on this website:

Electrical schematic diagram - classics

Generators

Circuit Breaker location chart