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Lycoming engine/Mag Question
I emailed Van's about ordering the IO-390 engine from Lycoming. I asked the question about mags. Pmags, regular mags, etc.
Van's claim that Lycoming will only not sell dual electronic ignitions. So one could buy an engine with 1 P-Mag and one Mag. If you want two P-Mags then they will leave blanked off. Any idea as to why? |
My gut is that Van's is being conservative in terms of having at least one mag on the engines they provide - given the proven reliability, serviceability in the field, and independence from power source.
I ordered Thunderbolt option and talked with Jeff there who seems willing to offer some other options beyond the specs Van's has on their order sheets, but I don't have any idea how this applies to standard engines. I decided to go with one mag/one pmag for the reasons stated above - I'm conservative too. |
Ken
I have one mag and one electronic. I have flown many different versions. As this appears to be your first build I would recommend two mags, ease of cervicability etc. It will one less thing to learn on a new plane. Now after 4 or 500 hours when it is time for mag servicing, that would be a good time to consider a new or combination of ignitions. With good data from your first 500 hours you will really know if it was worth the money. Remember you built the plane and you can modify it. Most of my cross country flights are 10000 feet or more and the electronic ignition works well there. After 500 hours or so you will also know how high you typically fly. |
I ordered my IO-360-M1B with a pMag and the other side blanked off. They did include the mag gear I?ll need for the second pMag. I have dual pMags on the RV-8A for 700 flawless hours and will soon replace the mags on the RV-10 with their new six cylinder pMags.
I offer that the reason why Van?s will not sell the engine with dual pMags can be traced to lawyers (my opinion, no facts). Carl |
Thanks for the responses. Based on the email I got back from Van's, it sound like this was a Lycoming decision and not a Van's decision.
Yes, first build so I don't know much about mags other than the obvious. So what is there to learn with a P-Mag? I know they are electronic and generate their own power, like a regular mag. And one is supposed to get better fuel efficiency. a gallon or so per hour less, if you do lots of cross country flying. |
You might check with Thunderbolt. They seem to be more agreeable about leaving bits off you don't need for EI/EFI.
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I Just went through this
Lycoming told me at Oshkosh last year that due to legal reasons they were unable to fit dual pmags. So nothing to do with Van?s.
There is a few things that need to be considered when fitting dual pmags with a new engine. 1. You need to tell Lycoming as they will install short studs on the blanked magneto. 2. They give you $500 off for not fitting the magneto. 3. You will need to purchase a magneto ring gear for the pmag. 4. You need the magneto installation kit, which is the two small brackets available from ACS. 5. You will need a tach drive cap, as RPM is taken from the pmags. Rgs Chad |
2 Pmags
Ken, I just got my IO360 engine from Vans. Got the Prop discount, Long
Term Pickling, and Free shipping. Vans took off one mag and installed Pmag with their deal. I had talked with Lycoming, they took off the 2nd mag, gave me $500 credit, then installed 2nd Pmag charging me $1200. So when the engine arrived I had two Pmags for $700 more. If you need I can find the guy's name and number at Lycoming. Allen, Very Slow Build 7A |
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Also, not sure how new way of setting timing is a downside, setting timing on PMAG is lots easier than Slick. To the original question, I first ordered my engine with one PMAG and blank on the other side so I can add a second one since Lycoming wouldn't ship with two EI. I end up changing it with no MAG at all and going to install two PMAG myself, small saving this way but installing PMAG is very easy. Hope this helps. |
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