REFLECTOR: ENGINE OUT MYSTERY SOLVED

[Pat Shea]

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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