I am a fan of P-Mags.... In Part the USA company has great customer support. There are some who for some reason are uber fans of one brand or the other. That is fine. My praise or P-Mag is in no way a slight against any other brand. But when it comes to facts, there is only ONE EI that is self powered. The installation of the P-Mag is simple.
Again it is not a trivial thing that P-Mags are self powered. They are the only one. People dismiss it as not needed because they have extra batteries and/or alternators. Great. The P-Mag design is mature and been refined over 14 years on the market, with a lot in service. So well known with good reputation as a product and company.
BIGGEST SPARK IN THE BUSINESS.... Or "Spark is not the hottest"....
Performance claims by some on spark energy, are hard to verify and almost irrelevant. No one has done a controlled study, one plane** swapping out different EI's and collecting data. There is enough data in my opinion there is no quantum difference in performance, even the GOOD OL Magneto at high RPM and HIGH power is no slouch. Both MAGS and EI's will make about the same power at high power settings. Some RENO winners are running magnetos. The real advantages of EI are:
Strong retarded timing spark for easier starting;
Timing advance sub 75% power (better econ),
Strong spark energy at low and high RPM, enough to fire auto plug (with 0.035 or greater gap) under compression.
We can get into duration, Joules. Again no controlled studies. All of the airplane EI's are HEI (High Energy Ignition). They all advance timing and all give Spark-O-Plenty. P-Mags needs no apologies about the spark energy. No difference in performance. ALL EI's are INDUCTIVE DISCHARGE except Lightspeed III which is CDI. I am not going to bash Lightspeed III, but would say the CDI is not really an advantage on a low RPM Aircraft engine. Not bad, just not necessary. If it turns you on, get it, will work dandy I am sure. Lightspeed II is inductive discharge ignition.
** There are RV's and other EAB's flying around with two different brands of EI's. There is no major difference in performance as I understand, when switching to just one ignition at a time, doing an A vs B test. Again no formal studies done, just anecdotal claims. If you talk to P-Mag, you do NOT get they feeling of any hype but good technical sober info. They don't get into apologetics or marketing making claims, but they are happy to answer your questions. They sell a bunch of them by reputation so there is that.
Yes some may claim "hotter" spark, whatever that means, more spark energy? How much. OK let's say there is hotter spark. There is only so much spark energy your engine can use or needs. At some point a bigger coil running higher input voltage reaches diminishing returns. All you are doing is using more electricity and hotter ignition coils (more likely to have shorter life).
They all make volts in the range that is considered HEI (High Energy Ignition). They are all based on the Kettering inductive ignition principle around since 1912. All the EI's have enough volts to spark a automotive gap spark plug. This bigger spark gap will results in better combustion.
PMAG USES A FORD COIL
A bash of P-Mags is they use a Ford Coil? Well the coil they use came from Ford Rangers with EI system. However the engine was made by Mazda and the OEM coil likely Hitachi not Motorcraft. The Ford/Mazda 4 bangers Revs twice as fast and makes as much HP as a Lyc 360. It works. Common technology everyone uses. No magic or secrets. Do you think the millions of these coils automotive industry makes every year are not designed and made well. No EI on market makes their own coil. Even Magnetos use a coil from a car.
Also ALL the other EI's user CAR COILS... ACDelco, Denso, Bosch. Hitachi, NGK, MSD. Look at them. They are coil coils. The FORD COIL comments are not relevant. P-Mag is not the "hottest"? I don't know what that means in actual practical terms and use. Again HOT can be a waste and just use more ships electrical power, be heavy, hotter, shorter lived. All coils depend on input voltage and saturation, dwell time. If all is equal they are going to put out 35KV to 45KV. Your engine is not going to notice the difference.
FORM FIT FUNCTION - Brand X is "Completely Configurable"
I go back to P-Mag, ease of installation, customer support is great, and P-MAGS are self powered, an exclusive feature that gets glossed over. It is WWW Big Dot Deal. Not trivial. No other EI can do that. P-Mags are not primitive. The magic is deep and well thought-out. P-mag has internal fault detection. Some say oh yes I got extra battery, extra alternator to assure my electrically dependent ignition works. Yep.
The P-Mag is "completely configurable". Yes you can change all kinds of things. But people are enamored with panel mounded ignition controls. That is fine. If you must have some panel mounted monitor to control and configure your EI , OK. What do you need to configure once it is set up? I just want my EI to work with no monitoring or configuring in flight. Timing is automatic.
P-Mag can use the "EI Commander" (aftermarket 2nd party option designed to work with P-Mag). You can see the P-Mag is working, timing advance, make adjustments from panel. You don't need EI Commander to customize P-Mags internal programmed limits. You can get a free utility from P-Mag and with your Laptop make more deeper changes. However the stock P-Mag as programmed, with user selected jumpers and base timing set-up methods are more than ample for most people. Easy, fast and reliable to set up and safe.
For me I want my ignition to just work with no input from me, after it has been installed and timed, except turn it on or off. I just want engine to run and if EI stops working in flight I will know it without panel mounted monitor.
I don't need to CONFIGURE my timing as that is a GREAT way to blow up your engine. P-Mag is smarter than me when it comes to configuration. I have a lot of ways to tune and adjust to my preference. The main two are jumpers and base timing. I can change internal limits, but the sock settings are spot on.
The P-Mag hardware has been stable for a long time. There have been several SW versions updates, but nothing recent. These updates typically add features.
PMAGS HAVE MOVING PARTS.... "mechanical parts can wear out.", "Mechanical like a magneto" (FALSE)
Your whole engine has moving parts. To be clear
P-MAGS ARE SOLID STATE, NO MOVING PARTS, NO ROTOR/CAP, POINTS. The hall effect trigger in the P-Mag has no wear parts.
Magnetos have mechanical rotor/cap distribution, points, internal gears that the P-Mag does not have. If you include the magnet that many EI's have you drill or glue onto the ring gear wheel spinning around, than ALL EI's have moving parts.
Yes P-Mag does have a shaft that rides on bearing to the hall effect trigger magnet. BTW your crank and connecting rods and camshaft ride on bearings. This is such a non issue that it should be clarified. The P-Mag is a solid state electronic ignition, no rotor or points. OK not LIKE a magneto.
PMAGS REQUIRE INSPECTION
The biggest complaint people have (mostly not P-Mag owners) is you have to pull out the P-Mag and check the end play every annual. The actual inspection takes 60 seconds and is visual and feel. You already have cowl off, oil filter off during annual, it's and hour or two doing the P-Mag inspection. You get a good look at the wires, engine accessory case, gears.
Standard Magneto needs 500 hour check and replace some plastic parts as preventative maintenance. In an EAB you don't have to do that Slick/Bendix inspections. You don't need to do the P-Mag inspection. Some don't.
The P-Mag has internal electronic SELF FAULT monitoring and LED light to indicate a fault, like check engine light caution. If there is timing "jitter" or timing varies beyond allowed limits it will light an LED light, and likely not allow you use it after shutdown. That jitter could be too much bearing play. During run up you check the function of the P-Mag and the self powering feature. They have thought it all out for you.
Other EI's have magnets mounted on spinning wheel, pick up near ring gear teeth, fan belt and prop. All moving parts. ALTERNATOR BELT is right there. Let us imagine the alternator seizes and smokes the belt, flies off, and takes your trigger or wiring out.
The EI's with wires, triggers, magnets all over the engine compartment and cockpit, can become damaged over time.
I don't want magnets and pick-ups, coils and wires shotgun all over engine compartment and cockpit.. Wires, connectors, trigger, magnet press fit (friction) or bonded on a vibrating spinning mass after 10-15 years? Everything NEEDS inspection, and if needed repair or replacement. Every connector is a failure point.
SureFly, Electroair, CPI-II, Lightspeed II and II, FlyEFII and P-Mag are fine, but for me the overall P-Mag design, maturity, form/fit/function, performance, self powered and great customer service gave P-Mag the high score in my decision making, even with the perceived Cons. Brad and the staff are great. I recommend P-Mag. I am not smart enough to design and produce any EI better than the ones out there. So hats off to all the entrepreneurs who offer us many choices. I'm glad there are choices.
2. Pros: simple, easy to install, ignition advance. Cons: mechanical parts can wear out. It's my understanding that pmag wants you to pull the mag for bearing inspection every year.
3. Pros: Completely configurable, no mechanical parts to wear out, annual inspection is look at the wires. Cons: Totally dependent on electrical system, more complex to install, depending on system requires panel space.
Out of all of them I chose the SDS CPI2. The reason is because I liked the idea of having a LOP button, completely customizable, nearly no mx, no bearings, and because it has its own little backup battery it maintains which makes the electrical system no more complex than any other system. I view it like a pmag but instead of backup generator, you have backup battery and everything is solid state instead of bearings and gears.
Pick whatever works for you, the point is to explain the different engineering approaches to all of the systems.
sho
