REFLECTOR: Emag/Pmag Reliability?

[Ron Brown]

I am a EAA Technical Counselor for our EAA chapter.  One of our members is 
building an RV-9 and had planned to use Pmags.  I told him that I thought 
they were still having some reliability problems.  Any updates from any of 
you using the Emag/Pmag?

He ran across the below note from Nick Ugolini, a LongEZ flyer.

Dear E-MAG,

After uneventful three hour cross country flight, my engine quit and would 
not restart while taxing to the hangar.  The Lycoming engine has a 
Lightspeed Electronic Ignition and a backup P-MAG for ignition.  When 
tracking down the problem, I discovered I had wired both the P-MAG and the 
Lightspeed to a shared common negative ground point.  The ground connection 
was corroded thus allowing no ships power to flow to either ignition system.

After reflecting on my trip, I realized that at some point in the flight the 
power had simultaneously failed to both ignition systems.  I had flown at 
least two hours completely unaware the P-Mag was my only source of ignition. 
Unlike the roughness of my previous magneto, the P-MAG causes no change in 
smoothness or sense of lost power.  The engine quit only after the engine 
rpm was reduced to a point where the P-MAG could no longer supply its own 
internal power (per design).

With absolute certainty, I fully credit your P-MAG for saving my plane and 
most likely my life.

Sincerely,



Nick Ugolini


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