ronny Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Hi all, I have been reading about serveral guys moving away from mags and installing electroninc ignition on their Lycomings. Why isn t this standard issue yet. Looking at the automotive world, the move to electronic ignition has happened many years ago and these systems have been perfected to the extreme. Also noticed on some posts that some have installed two different electronic ignitions on their engines, why would that be? Thanks Ronny :D :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilK Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Magnetos have their place. They operate completely independent of the aircraft electrical system and independent of each other. If one should fail, a replacement is available at just about any airport you land at. Electronic ignition provides a better spark. That is for sure and I would agree that they have been pretty much perfected. The bigger issue is that they rely on the builder’s skill at electrical wiring. P-MAG being the exception since generates its own power. As for builders installing two different makes of electronic ignition, I can only guess they are looking for that “independence” from common failure points. i.e., a common crank sensor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelj Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 I have one Electroair electronic ignition and one dinosaur ( I mean impulse mag). I like having the mag since I can shut the master switch off and it still runs fine. The electronic ignition ROCKS! The fact is that the timing has some logic to it instead of being fixed at 25 BTDC. The chances of it failing are slim but in the event that it does, the mag provides a limp home mode. Hypothetically, if I were to leave the master on and left for a few hours the voltage would probably be too low to crank the engine, I could hand prop it with the mag and charge the battery with the engine running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Swenson Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Unless you bled down the battery too much---in that case, the alternator would not have enough juice going to it to generate juice. I carry one of each also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.