EI or JPI, Experience,Evaluation, thoughts, recommendations

[Bob Axsom]

Background information only - When my wife and I built our RV-6A we had owned a PA28-181 Archer II for 22 years and I flew it well over 4,000 hrs including flights to work every day for 15 years. It had a Lycoming O-360-A4M (solid crank) with a fixed pitch prop. I like dedicated independent instruments that perform one function and provide the information without clutter in the same place all the time.

I selected the Lycoming O-360-A1A and a Hartzell constant speed prop of 72" diameter and 7666 blades. I installed a single probe EGT guage and no CHT gauge like the Archer.

We intended to race the RV-6A in long cross country races like the 1996 Aircraft Spruce "Great Cross Country Flying Race from Denver to Oshkosh. In that race we had to stop and refuel in Cherokee, Iowa. With the best of haste it cost 15 minutes of zero speed and I did not want to repeat that experience. So, when we bought the kit, we also bought wing extending tip tanks from Farn Reed in Grants Pass, Oregon (no longer manufactured) and I bought two "two tank" fuel quantity gauges from EI to monitor the 4 tanks. I made the first flight in March of 2004 and those gauges have performed flawlessly ever since. I also installed an EI tachometer that still works perfectly.

In the process of modifying for speed and running in every race we could I yielded to the sugggestion that I monitor all four cylinder head temperatures and all 4 exhaust gas temperatures to assure that i could tell the state of all four cylinders at any time. So I several years ago I bought the 8 probes and two 4 cylinder individually selectable (one at a time) gauges (instruments) for CHT and EGT from EI. They have been very reliable until recently when the cylinder #4 CHT stopped working.

Last December I worked with Red Hamilton in his hangar and shop to rebuild the engine to boost the power. We installed high compression pistons and other internal performance enhancing goodies while maintaining the 360 cubic inch displacement. We shipped the cylinders to Barrett's in Tulsa, OK to have them flow balanced.

Fast forward to today:

Fuel burn rate - With the new engine configuration in racing mode I can burn over 20 gallons per hour but if cut back on the manifold pressure and RPM I can get the burn rate down to a much more reasonable but unknown level (useful for travel). For around 30 years I have been able to flight plan for 10 gph with rock solid reliability. This change made me realize I need a fuel flow gauge in order to control that parameter. So... I went with EI again but I have no space to install it. I do not let having no obvious implementation stop me from proceeding when the need is obvious.

Operation/leaning - The engine is so smooth and well balanced in function and performance that some of my old practices do not work anymore. The primary operational difference is leaning for best power. I used to lean until the first sign of roughness then back off ~100 F and 1300F on cylinder #4 eventually became my standard. Now I get no roughness. I can keep leaning until the oil temperature goes very high, the oil pressure drops and the power drops off as indicated to me through sound and feel. You only have to experience that once to know it is not a good thing.

After consulting with Red I went through a process of finding the peak by some tedious testing involving manually leaning switching the EGT through all 4 cylinders writing down values and through that process developed a new target number that produces good power and keeps me out of trouble with the engine.

BUT... I have no confidence in this mode of operation for finding the optimum power for any race in any environment. Consulting with Red again he repeated something that he told me back in December, "you need to be able to instantly see the state of all 4 cylinder CHTs and EGTs all the time."

I see the EI UBG-16 appears to satisfy the need for EGT and CHT and that would free up an instrument hole for my still in the box fuel flow gauge but Red uses JPI. He has no knowledge of the relative EI quality, function and performance and suggested that some inputs from people that have experience with them would be a good idea.

OK that is the purpose of this post, to get your inputs on JPI and EI combination EGT & CHT instruments.

Bob Axsom

[penguin]

Bob,

I installed a JPI 700 series box in a C172XP that used to own. Installation was straight forward, in a 2.25" hole, even though it required a 337. I was very happy with the instrument, it did what it was supposed to and was reliable. Leaning was very straight forward. I believe that the 800 series boxes are more capable, but more $$$. If you can wait until Osh they usually have a rebate scheme running.

Pete

[Walt]

I've used and installed EI for years, never had a problem with any of their stuff and support has always been absolutely first class. I personally prefer them over JPI. I now have an EI MVP-50 installed and I love it.

[GeneL]

Hi Bob, I met you in Mitchell, SD last year at the race. I have had a UBG16 & EI fuel flow with GPS provision in my 7A and liked the way it worked (for sale, PM me if interested), I recently switched to the JPI 740 because I ran out of space in my panel. They are both good units. I actually miss my big tach and M/P gauges, in formation they were much easier to read. hope to see you in Mt. Vernon Ill. in July.

[flyeyes]

Originally Posted by Bob Axsom

OK that is the purpose of this post, to get your inputs on JPI and EI combination EGT & CHT instruments.

Bob Axsom

Bob, like others higher in the thread, I have used or flown behind a variety of EI instruments over the years. I would have no hesitation at all installing any of their products if they had a feature set I needed.

The customer service at EI is excellent, and I have personal experience to confirm it.

I have never heard anything bad about the function or reliability of JPI gauges.

Several years ago, before VAF, when the Matronics list was the only large RV community resource, JPI started playing "lawyerball" and attempting to shut down small competitors. One of those small shops was Matt Dralle, who sponsored the list. A predictable outcry ensued, and eventually a confidential settlement was reached.

During the kerfuffle, I sent a letter to the principal at JPI. It was polite, reasoned, and gave him the benefit of the doubt. I received a reply that made it clear that this was a quite deliberate strategy, and not a case of lawyers being overzealous protecting his copyrights. I realize that he was probably angry, and had gotten a huge volume of likely rude comments from the community, but his reply also made it clear that he was someone I never cared to support with my business.

Again, As far as I know both companies make excellent products. The EI guys appear to be genuinely good guys, and have been supportive of general and experimental aviation over the years.

[Bob Axsom]

I still have your card with the racing boat on top. I plan to be in Mt. Vernon for sure. The AirVentrure Cup Race is my favorite.

Bob Axsom

[skybolt31]

I put a JPI 740 in a Christen Eagle last year and I am very happy with it. The Eagle has the instruments in the front seat and the pilot sits in back, JPI put extra wires in the unit so that I could put remote buttons for the pilot. I called tech support once and they were polite and helpful.

I had EI units in another plane and they worked flawlessly and EI had also agreed to put the wires for the remote buttons, I had considered the MVP-50 which is a great unit, but much more expensive with a lot of capabilities that I had no use for.

So, while I haven't said anything that will help you choose between them, I don't think you will go wrong with either one of them.

[zav6a]

1400 hrs so far. Great service when you finally do burn out a probe. Note that you can reserve a channel in the UBG to read fuel flow. Now you have space!

[sf3543]

I have used EI gauges in several planes and they are great, as is their customer service. I currently use the bar graph UBG-16 and it works great, along with the fuel flow and other gauges. I highly recommend them.
As for JPI, I have never used them due to feedback I have gotten from other JPI users who basically like the instruments, but report that customer service really sucks! (Third party information, but from folks I trust.)
Good luck.

[rv7boy]

Originally Posted by flyeyes

Bob, like others higher in the thread, I have used or flown behind a variety of EI instruments over the years. I would have no hesitation at all installing any of their products if they had a feature set I needed.

The customer service at EI is excellent, and I have personal experience to confirm it.

I have never heard anything bad about the function or reliability of JPI gauges.

Several years ago, before VAF, when the Matronics list was the only large RV community resource, JPI started playing "lawyerball" and attempting to shut down small competitors. One of those small shops was Matt Dralle, who sponsored the list. A predictable outcry ensued, and eventually a confidential settlement was reached.

During the kerfuffle, I sent a letter to the principal at JPI. It was polite, reasoned, and gave him the benefit of the doubt. I received a reply that made it clear that this was a quite deliberate strategy, and not a case of lawyers being overzealous protecting his copyrights. I realize that he was probably angry, and had gotten a huge volume of likely rude comments from the community, but his reply also made it clear that he was someone I never cared to support with my business.

Again, As far as I know both companies make excellent products. The EI guys appear to be genuinely good guys, and have been supportive of general and experimental aviation over the years.

I remember the kerfuffle very well, too, and although I didn't write a letter to JPI I would spend my money with EI any day rather than JPI. James described the fiasco quite eloquently.