REFLECTOR: When bad news is good!

[Scott Derrick]

A few days ago I was all set for first flight of new engine installation
and other extensive rework.  Hyped up, very nervous.

Gassed up, 15 a side, 40 lbs of sand on the copilot floor to move the cg
into the sweet spot. 

Taxied out to the runway, started going through the check list, got to
the mag check, lightspeed only, no drop,  right mag only, 800 rpm drop
sounded like sh**!!  WTF!

Tried it a couple times at different rpms,  it almost died at idle on
the mag alone.

Taxied back to the hanger, put her in and closed the door.

The EGT's didn't make any sense, some times #1 was cool, next run it has
hot?   Checked timing, right on. Plugs were kinduv black but I've been
messing with the mixture  map trying to get it right sense the original
setup was for a turbo so was not surprised to see rich running plugs.

Today I pulled the mag, what do you know,  points were fried, condenser
was toast.  Took the points and condenser out of the mag I removed to
make room for the lightspeed  and  was back in business!

Whats the good news????

This mag has been toast since just after I initially ran the engine and
tested the mags.  Once I get the new points in it, my static RPM jumped
up to +2200!  WooHoo!!!  Much better than the 1050-1100 I've been seeing!

All this time of whining about low Static RPMs and turns out the prop
looks to be dialed in pretty close, and it was a bad mag after all.
Hidden behind a well running lightspeed which makes the engine run
smooth in spite of the  almost non-existent mag.

Scott



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