A cessna 182 pilot reported losing all electrical power.

Attributes
ACN	1467630
Time
Date	201707
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Electrical Power
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25 Flight Crew Total 32000 Flight Crew Type 50
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude

Narrative:

In cruise flight at 6000 feet IMC condition working ZZZ ATC. I had an electrical problem. A battery was replaced as plane would not start. About an hour and a half [later] I noticed volt meter was going between a high reading to a low reading. I was on autopilot with altitude hold. The aircraft is equipped with an air impact generator which I was trying to deploy; and the generator would not deploy. A jammed cable I think; I had asked to descend to 4000 feet and was given clearance to 4000 feet. The autopilot was acting up. It was turned off. I had started turning off equipment I could do without. Also at this point I had experienced a total electrical failure. The aircraft is equipped with an aspen display system receiving information from a garmin 430 so with trying to restore some power I descended to 3600 feet; realized it and immediately returned to 4000 feet. When the controller asked if I was ok; I had made him aware that I was having an electrical problem. The ATC people worked very well with me; I had not flown this plane in a while and dealing with the electrical problems made a very strenuous situation. The backup generator not deploying added to the problem. There was no other aircraft near me. At the time I was cleared to ZZZ1 about a 280 heading at 6000 feet.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Cessna 182 pilot reported losing all electrical power.

Narrative: In cruise flight at 6000 feet IMC condition working ZZZ ATC. I had an electrical problem. A battery was replaced as plane would not start. About an hour and a half [later] I noticed Volt meter was going between a high reading to a low reading. I was on autopilot with altitude hold. The aircraft is equipped with an air impact generator which I was trying to deploy; and the generator would not deploy. A jammed cable I think; I had asked to descend to 4000 feet and was given clearance to 4000 feet. The autopilot was acting up. It was turned off. I had started turning off equipment I could do without. Also at this point I had experienced a total electrical failure. The aircraft is equipped with an Aspen display system receiving information from a Garmin 430 so with trying to restore some power I descended to 3600 feet; realized it and immediately returned to 4000 feet. When the controller asked if I was OK; I had made him aware that I was having an electrical problem. The ATC people worked very well with me; I had not flown this plane in a while and dealing with the electrical problems made a very strenuous situation. The backup generator not deploying added to the problem. There was no other aircraft near me. At the time I was cleared to ZZZ1 about a 280 heading at 6000 feet.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.