E-mag / P-mag

[penguin]

As a point of interest I believe that Jeff Rose is no longer selling new ignitions. Apparently he still supports those in the field, but I understand he found that problems with suppliers made it increasingly difficult to produce a quality product.

Pete

[Davepar]

We seem to have half a dozen EI discussions going. This link to Jeff Rose's site was over on the other thread:
http://www.electroair.net/

[RV7Guy]

Mine should be here today or tomorrow. I ordered one of each for my ECI IO360. Still a little confused on the wiring but hopefully it will come with a decent set of instructions.

FYI, they have been great to work with and have contacted me with information on availability and shipping. I don't really see a down side to these units.

Darwin N. Barrie
P19
Tired of wiring!!!!

[Davepar]

The only down sides of the P-mag/E-mag are the typical ones for a new company with a new product, relatively little accumulated flight hours and uncertain future support. From everything I've read, they have an excellent product and great support. Two key ingredients for success.

[penguin]

The wiring is straight forward - instructions are provided. There are 4 wires, +12v power, ground, "p-lead", and tach (or tack). The power should be protected with a 5A c/b or fuse, it should be switched by the master switch otherwise the electronics in the mag will be working all the time and flatten the battery. I grounded mine to a vac pad blanking plate stud. The "p-lead" wire will stop sparks being produced when it is grounded, it does not switch off the mag. The tach pulse will drive your engine analyser and will keep pulsing even if the "p-lead" is grounded (useful for a mag check - don't have to switch mags feeding the tach). Read the instructions about spacing the HT leads.

Hope this helps, Pete

[Davepar]

Good info. Thanks.

So an individual switch for the power lead isn't really needed? As long as it's switched by the master? And then have a switch for the p-lead just like for a mag.

[penguin]

That's right. My opinion is that the number of components between the battery/busbar and the emag should be minimized for reliability. I only have a c/b which is fed directly from the switched side of the master realy. If the master relay fails the mag (or pmag in a few weeks) keeps the engine going until I get on the ground. A "mag" switch is needed to tell the emag to stop producing sparks (for example during the run-up mag check) - it does not switch off the electronics. BTW turning the power off to the emag with the engine running is not recommended.

Pete

[szicree]

I am considering a Pmag for my project but have a question. Their info says the thing makes it's own juice, so in the event of an alternator/battery/contactor failure I'd be able to continue. If this is true, why does the unit require a power lead connection to the buss? Is this just to supply field current to get it going? If this is the case, has anybody out there actually pulled the power while running to make sure it really works?

Steve Zicree
RV4

[Wicked Stick]

I've watched my engine in the Mattituck Test cell running with two P-mags.

When we switched off the power from the alternator/battery, the engine never skipped a beat. It just kept on running from the self powered P-mag.

I'm told that once a certain rpm is reached the P-mag runs on its own generated power and the planes power is now the backup.

[Captain_John]

Hmmmm, I was just thinking about checklists and runups.

Would a prudent pilot then do TWO mag checks per side?

One for fouled plugs/inop alternate mag and another for power off operation?

One would need to wire each power lead to a switch. I understand this is adding a point of failure into which could be an otherwise bulletproof system.

Hmmmmmm, permanent magnets rarely "break" but the coils they induce can cook! It would be worthwhile to look at those during SOME kind of interval.

Maybe just a 100 hour/annual check is all that is needed?

Sorry, I try not to overthink things. What do you all think?

CJ