REFLECTOR: ENGINE OUT MYSTERY SOLVED

[Tom Martino]

After close inspection ... I found the problem.

First the good news ... the engine on my Velocity is perfect!  It cranks and
fires up with fuel and oil pressures where they should be.

The prop governor did not fail.

And the is minimal airframe damage.

So what went wrong?

The power source for the electronic ignition went bad.

I had a primary battery and secondary battery and used Wayne Lanza's "Power
Guard" ... To quote his website ... "The Fail safe secondary power control".

Well, this fail safe module failed and caused power interruptions to my
ignition modules.

As it turns out ... I would've been better off NOT to use a secondary power
source and not to use Lanza's controller.  The chances of the alternator and
battery going out at the same time are remote.  Even if the alternator
failed ... The battery could keep the engine running for quite some time.
And if you wanted a backup battery for extended power ... Simply put one in
with a mechanical switch.

The thing that puzzles me is that the electronic ignition is critical ...
And the very unit that was supposed to preserve my spark, ended up
interrupting it.

I am in the process of having it diagnosed to find out where the unit
failed.  But FAILED it did.

Gee ... I lost almost $200,000 on this ... Think I can get my $100 back on
it?

Tom Martino