Sensors for EI

which is the preferred method for EI triggering, hall effect or crank mount trigger?.

[gmcjetpilot]

Originally Posted by william weesner

which is the preferred method for EI triggering, hall effect or crank mount trigger?.i see a lot of crank mounts, but those look kinda cheesy to me and vulnerable..the hall effect on the mag pad seems superior.

I agree but I am told I am wrong. I am going with dual hall effects stuffed into the mag holes verses the crank trigger. The down side of the all effect is you need two non-impulse magneto gears. So even if you have original mags, you need to buy on non-impulse gear. Other arguments against the hall effect is back lash causing a slight imprecision. Of course the hall effect is an extra cost option for most EI makers. None of these Bothered me.

The crank trigger is lighter? Cheaper? More accurate? No HP loss to drive hall effect? No maintenance? The hall effect may need new bearings every engine overhaul. The gear drive takes a 1/10 a HP? I don't know.

"It looks kinda cheesy" as you say. It also may be vulnerable somehow as you say. This led me down the path I went. It seems two separate hall effect units provide more system redundancy or independence? The circuit board with both pickups mounted to it and small magnets in the fly wheel all seem a little..... less than satisfying. However I am sure it is more than sufficient for the job. I guess one of the magnet's or the trigger mount can come loose or crack? The magneto hole mounted hall effect can come loose also. To be clear both are hall effect devices. One is gear driven one is flywheel mounted.

In my case my front engine case was not drilled for the seal retainer (which the crank trigger mount uses), so that furthered confirmed my choice. I could drill and tap the holes but bolting hall effects into the back seems to look cleaner and be easier (shorter wire runs). I remember the early efforts to mount these and people complained. I am sure it is not as hard as it was made out. Also if you buy a new engine many companies will mount the crank trigger for you, so the installation is not a reason.

Bottom line all concerns and preferences are valid, but none are big factors either way. In the end it's a prefrence. The crank trigger has clear advantages in those questions rhetorically asked, but so what. I like the looks of the hall effect and easier installation. Although the crank trigger guys will say the installations is no big deal. They are probably right.

[Captain Avgas]

Originally Posted by william weesner

which is the preferred method for EI triggering, hall effect or crank mount trigger?.i

I'm not recommending either way because I do not have the knowledge or statistics to make a valid value judgment.

All I know is that a friend of mine with an RV7A has a single Lightspeed EI unit (one mag) which has run for years without fault...except for the Hall Effect Sensor which totally and suddenly died one day and had to be entirely replaced. I haven't heard of any crank sensors going west.

Perhaps this is a good opportunity for others to come forward with their real world experiences with Hall Effect vs Crank sensors for EI.

[zav6a]

I had one on a Jeff Rose system go bad. My fault though. Set it up with insufficient clearance. Knocked the top off of the pickup. 840 hours on the other one.

The new mag mount pickups by electoair (0thers have them as well) look slick and less failure prone.

[chuck]

I know of two pilots who had a very tough time getting the HE sensor gap set correctly. It took them a while to get it figured out. The only people I know have the HE sensor. After getting the install they have been happy (> 500hrs).