REFLECTOR: dual Plasma IIIs

Bellsouth Home dugasd at bellsouth.net
Thu Aug 4 18:31:29 CDT 2011


Several of us are waiting on the P-Mag option. The 6 cylinder box was on display at Oshkosh but no firm dates.
Don't want to be first or last. 

Sent from Rene's iPad.


On Aug 4, 2011, at 3:20 PM, Scott Derrick <scott at tnstaafl.net> wrote:

> I've been running single Plasm and a Mag for 650 hours total on an IO360 and IO520.  I haven't had a Plasma failure but I still like two independent systems and one that will still run even if the battery falls out of the airplane. 
> 
> I also didn't want the added complexity of dealing with electrical failure.  Klaus says you can get 5% better performance with duals vs single, but I question that number..
> 
> My Slick mag may have been initially designed when  dinosaur's were still roaming the earth,  but there is something to say about their proven dependability.
> 
> Scott
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: REFLECTOR: dual Plasma IIIs
> From: Douglas Holub <douglas.holub at gmail.com>
> To: reflector at tvbf.org
> Date: 08/04/2011 03:00 PM
>> One of my Plasma III boxes failed while flying to Tennessee from Texas last summer. After a post-mortem, Klaus couldn't explain why it failed. The box was the same one that was DOA when it was new, and was then subsequently repaired by Klaus. At that time he said he found a loose wire in the box, so I suspect that the flopping wire did some undetectable damage which eventually caused the box to fail while we were flying.
>>  
>> So today I'm replacing that electronic ignition with a Slick magneto, and I am amazed how much complexity it removes from my wiring. With only one electronic ignition I don't need: 1. The auxilliary back-up battery, 2. The auxilliary back-up battery charging circuit, 3. The circuit that detects and indicates the fault condition that causes the auxilliary battery to provide power (so I know when the back-up battery is being used), 4. The circuit that lets you know when one Plasma III is working while the other one isn't.
>>  
>> The reason you need #4 is because the ignitions are so good, there is often no perceptible RPM drop when one of them fails. And that's why I wish I had used one Plasma III and one magneto from the beginning. I thought I would get better performance with two Plasma IIIs, but if there is no RPM drop, I don't think the second one is helping much.
>>  
>> I my engine has 14mm spark plug holes on top and bottom, so that's a little problem switching to a magneto wiring harness. But I found some shielded automotive spark plug adapters from Great Plains, the VW conversion people.
>>  
>> Doug Holub
>> 
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