REFLECTOR: ENGINE OUT MYSTERY SOLVED

[steve korney]

Hi Tom...

I'm sorry for you loss as many are... I don't think manufacturers sell 
products they think will fail... Most design and build the best they can...  
There is always a chance a component will stop working properly... If I'm 
not mistaken, you said the power source failed, which in turn caused  the 
electronic ignition to stop working... I haven't heard of any electrical 
panels to fail before... Maybe something else caused a problem with the 
panel... Most electronic ignitions only draw about 3 or 4 amps max...


Best... Steve




----Original Message Follows----
From: Tom Martino <tmartino at troubleshooter.com>
Reply-To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>
To: Velocity List <reflector at tvbf.org>
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: ENGINE OUT MYSTERY SOLVED
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:02:07 -0600

My opinion of dual electronic ignitions has changed drastically.  When you
think about the routing of electricity to get spark ... A simple toggle
switch that turns on the module could build up carbon and disrupt the flow
of electricity thereby interrupting your spark.  In fact, every connection
from power to ground is a potential can area of failure!

Tom






On 8/21/07 7:12 PM, "Pat Shea" <xl340hp at yahoo.com> wrote:

 > Tom,
 >
 > Sorry about your incident.
 >
 > There was some discussions about EI's a couple of
 > years ago on the Reflector. I just about got my head
 > taken off for suggesting that electronic ignition may
 > not be as reliable as many hope/suggest. I was
 > reporting on a non-velocity incident similar to yours
 > due to an EI issue - that plane came down too.
 >
 > Since then I have discovered EI problems are not all
 > that uncommon. Most of the problems tend to be in the
 > related sub-systems/wiring, and not in the solid state
 > electronics of the EI. Since installation is different
 > on literally every homebuilt, I suspect this is
 > contributing factor.
 >
 > Don't get me wrong, I'm aware mags fail all the time
 > too - more often then EI's. However, I don't recall
 > ever hearing about two mags failing during the same
 > flight (although it's probably happened). As you said,
 > ignition is critical. I also realize we all feel our
 > installations are bullet proof - and many are on
 > paper...
 >
 > Currently I'm running two mags. I'd like to switch to
 > one mag and one EI. But that's me - I have steam
 > gauges and an EFIS...
 >
 > Pat
 >
 >
 > --- Tom Martino <tmartino at troubleshooter.com> wrote:
 >
 >> 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
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 > 
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