Couple SDS CPI2 install questions

[agirard7a]

Best practice would be to protect the 20g purple wire with the appropriate size fuse. The size that is recommended in the install instructions.

[David Carter]

Originally Posted by sjarrell

Since my CPi-2 panel controller is on the other side of the cockpit I also have a third "LOP MODE" switch that turns the LOP mode on and off remotely and also causes a LOP Mode On annunciation on the G3X PFD.

I'm running the CPI-2 also, and have it pretty far over on the right side of the panel. I can reach it, but it's not convenient. I don't ever recall seeing anything about the CPI-2 supporting a remote LOP mode switch. Is that an undocumented feature? If it's available, I'd like to use it.

Thanks!

[sjarrell]

Originally Posted by David Carter

I'm running the CPI-2 also, and have it pretty far over on the right side of the panel. I can reach it, but it's not convenient. I don't ever recall seeing anything about the CPI-2 supporting a remote LOP mode switch. Is that an undocumented feature? If it's available, I'd like to use it.

Thanks!

Give SDS a call and talk with Ross or Barry. It is possible.

[rv6ejguy]

Yes, you can use an external switch for LOP instead of the keypad. We'd need to ship out a couple parts to do that.

Can only use one or the other, not both.

[lowandslo]

I replaced an unreliable left mag with the CPI-2 last December in the RV4 and it has been working great. Installation for me was straight forward and the few questions I had were answered quickly. Service could not have been better.
Nice to have a quicker starting and smoother running engine plus I really like having the display with RPM, MP and advance and the ability to scroll through other data and change settings if I want to. Also great to have no moving parts or seals to worry about.

[sjarrell]

Just my experience...

You won't find a company that's more responsive, and competent, than SDS. You have direct contact with the ultimate decision makers that have "skin in the game". I don't compliment people or companies like this often, but Ross and Barry are among the best I've ever dealt with. They're totally committed to their products and their customers, and they're extremely competent in what they do.

I'm proud to be a SDS customer.

[rv6ejguy]

Thanks Steve. We're always burning the midnight oil trying to make things better.

We think our customers are also the best!

[David Carter]

Originally Posted by sjarrell

Just my experience...

You won't find a company that's more responsive, and competent, than SDS. You have direct contact with the ultimate decision makers that have "skin in the game". I don't compliment people or companies like this often, but Ross and Barry are among the best I've ever dealt with. They're totally committed to their products and their customers, and they're extremely competent in what they do.

I'm proud to be a SDS customer.

I have to second this endorsement. Ross & Barry are the absolute best. They've helped me through some tricky troubleshooting and have always been eager to help & very generous with their time and advice.

I'm also proud to be an SDS customer.

[Bill Boyd]

Cross posted from another site, so some of you may see this twice.

I've had to let my chase plane buddy know that I'm postponing my first flight, which was to be tomorrow morning.

Turns out that on my first actual "mag check" with my dual SDS CPi2 setup, it's only running on one side. I can't believe I got this many engine runs into the project before using the A-B/L-R test function, but it's due in large part to my lack of understanding how completely the backup battery function takes over on these things - the power switches they say are required to turn it all the way off do NOT kill backup power to it and thus DO NOT substitute for a mag check done by grounding each side of the ignition by key-switch or by keypad menu entry. After I figured this out and actually did a true "mag-check" yesterday, the engine died with the key switch in the R or OFF positions but ran in L or BOTH. Same when tried with keypad. Left a voicemail at the shop 4:30 yesterday and called Barry's number later Friday evening - calls have not been returned yet. Given their reputation for customer service and my own prior experience, I know I'll hear from them at some point.

My other issue is that the ignition often lights off a charge when I first power it up. Typically it just kicks a blade back 60 degrees or so (still a hazard to anyone near the prop at that point!) but last night it fired one that sounded like a .44 mag without ear pro. Blew soot and fuel all over the floor of the hangar. Okay, I _might_ have had a hot start flooding issue just before that... This behavior is now no longer something I can ignore. A pilot should not expect an untouched prop to move by itself before cranking is begun. It's too easy to leave an ignition toggle on at shutdown and have the prop kick back the moment the Master is turned on - has already happened to me. Barry said it's a reported issue and he had a software type of fix for it but I'd have to send the CPU's back to him. Given the difficulty of access to my units and the approaching first flight target date, I decided at first to live with it and mitigate by powering up the CPU's first and then the coil packs (my left-to-right toggle sequence is LEFT COIL, LEFT CPU, RIGHT COIL, RIGHT CPU). Next time I tried this the fuel-air charge lit off as soon as I powered up the LEFT CPU with the coil pack switch still OFF!

It's obvious the unit is capable of discharging all plugs at once on power-up regardless of power/no power on the red wire to the coil pack, and one of these spark events will be on a cylinder with some residual fuel-air and sometimes an open valve or two.

What I've learned for certain is that mounting the CPU's way up under the forward skin between firewall and sub-panel was a big mistake. There were not any other attractive options I could see with the real estate taken up by the Advanced QuickPanel remote components, but I mounted them over the rudder pedal cross tubes thinking I'd never have to touch them again for the life of the airframe - and honestly, I shouldn't - but now I do. As it is, the seat and joystick must come out just to allow the tortuous yoga position needed for unbolting the ECU's from the stringers I put across the ribs from firewall to sub-panel.

I'm thankful to have found this issue before I naively launched on one ignition. I feel divinely protected from my own ignorance and folly once again.

[lr172]

Originally Posted by Bill Boyd

Next time I tried this the fuel-air charge lit off as soon as I powered up the LEFT CPU with the coil pack switch still OFF!

When they want to fire a coil, a CPU like yours sends a command to a coil module (sometimes called an ignitor) and that module creates a path from the coils ground wire to a frame ground for a few milliseconds, then opens that connection to force the spark. Each coil (sometimes many coils in a coil pack) gets a 12V feed and an output/ground (in packs, the 12V feed is common, with individual grounds for each coil). If you haven't supplied 12 volts to a coil, it should be impossible for the CPU to generate a spark from that coil.

If your CPU can generate a spark with the 12V feed switch off, I feel that you have a wiring issue somewhere, allowing 12V to the coil with the switch in the off position. You should lay out a schematic and follow each of your actual connections against that schematic.

Once you address the above, you should be able to cure your initial, power on firing issue by powering up the CPU's prior to applying coil power.

I don't know anything about the SDS system and how it manages power or B/U power for the coils, so don't mean to answer for them or step on toes.

Larry