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Sam Staton

Well Known Member
Curious to see what experiences folks have had with Klaus's ignition. Thinking of using it to replace the single mag setup on my engine.
 
I'm sure you'll find good reports on the lightspeed ignition, I would also encourage you to look at EFII. Browse through their install manuals and you'll have a good idea on which EI is best for you. I'm assuming you have a single dual bendix mag based on your post.
Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the info!

Andy -
Thanks for your input! I was not aware of EFII, and have taken a look at their web site. It looks very promising. You are correct in your surmise - I do have the single Bendix mag that incorporates both in one housing. I simply do not trust it. Heard too many horror stories.

Sam
 
Hot spark

Sam, I have three years and 300 hours behind Klaus's ignition and it's absolutely half of the solution to hot starts with these injected engines.

The issues I've had is quality control. On two occasions. my EMS showed two cold cylinders and a rough running engine during the mag check and on both occasions, it was a loose wire to the amplifier modules on top of the engine. The wires are not soldered, just crimped and they slid out....been meaning to speak to Klaus about that.

Best,
 
pierre smith said:
Sam, I have three years and 300 hours behind Klaus's ignition and it's absolutely half of the solution to hot starts with these injected engines.

The issues I've had is quality control. On two occasions. my EMS showed two cold cylinders and a rough running engine during the mag check and on both occasions, it was a loose wire to the amplifier modules on top of the engine. The wires are not soldered, just crimped and they slid out....been meaning to speak to Klaus about that.

Best,
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The only thing mounted on top of the engine are the ignition coils, the terminals for these are crimped on by the installer so this would not be a quality issue from LSE.

When I chose an electronic ignition for my aircraft, the most important thing to me was reliability and service history. The Light speed units have been around a long time and have a proven track record (more so than any of the others) so this is what I went with. I had one brain box fail very early on but other than that "burn in" failure I've had 100% reliability. I've been running dual EI for the last 800 hrs without a single hicup. My first 500 hrs was with a single LSE system.
 
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After ~500 hours on a Plasma II+ (crank sensor) and a Slick Mag (that had two issues), I added a small backup battery and a second lightspeed Plasma II+. It was the right decision for me.
 
I have 2,300+ hours on a Plasma system and had almost 700 hours on a second Plasma equipped EZ when I sold it. I intend to use a single LSE system and one Bendix mag on the 14. I think if I were doing it now I'd use Klaus' mini-sensor and send him the flywheel/ring gear for machining and installing the magnet ring.
 
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Closing in on five years and 650 hours with one Lightspeed with crank sensor, and one Slick mag. Lightspeed has been flawless.
 
Walt said:
The only thing mounted on top of the engine are the ignition coils, the terminals for these are crimped on by the installer so this would not be a quality issue from LSE.

.
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Thanks for the clarification...I did not know that the installer crimped the wiring.

Best,
 
One mag, one Lightspeed here too. Couldn't be happier with the performance. I'd consider replacing the remaining mag but (a) it works fine, too (b) I don't want to add more weight with a backup battery or do the rewiring work and (c) I don't want to spend more money.

But, yeah, the Lightspeed is everything as advertised.
 
LettersFromFlyoverCountry said:
One mag, one Lightspeed here too. Couldn't be happier with the performance. I'd consider replacing the remaining mag but (a) it works fine, too (b) I don't want to add more weight with a backup battery or do the rewiring work and (c) I don't want to spend more money.

But, yeah, the Lightspeed is everything as advertised.
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Ditto on the setup and experience.
 
LettersFromFlyoverCountry said:
One mag, one Lightspeed here too. Couldn't be happier with the performance. I'd consider replacing the remaining mag but (a) it works fine, too (b) I don't want to add more weight with a backup battery or do the rewiring work and (c) I don't want to spend more money.

But, yeah, the Lightspeed is everything as advertised.
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Same here. But when the Bendix needs OH, I will install another Lightspeed. I like the fact that you check the timing, but I have never had to adjust it. And with the mags missing from the back of the motor, it is nice and open back there.

As far as a back up battery, I have tested a power sonic 5A for shelf life over a 12 month period and found only a .2 volt drop during that time. I will charge the battery only twice a year if not used. I will have a push to test button during my shut down list to see if it needs charging. KISS.

One unit will pay for it's self in 400 hours or less in fuel savings.

If all you have is glass in the panel, then a b/u battery would help there too.
 
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gasman said:
If all you have is glass in the panel, then a b/u battery would help there too.
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Yeah, I can see getting rid of the remaining mag at OH.

As far as BU, I'm just a VFR guy so I have the internal battery on the Dynon D100 and, of course, the internal battery on the Garmin 296.

Noodling on this some, all a backup battery would do is give you a little more time if the alternator goes south, right? How much more time?
 
Happy

300hrs, flying all over. LOVE the set up, power, economy etc of one mag one lightstpeed. NO issues, happy happy. Wouldnt change a thing.

:)
 
LettersFromFlyoverCountry said:
Yeah, I can see getting rid of the remaining mag at OH.

As far as BU, I'm just a VFR guy so I have the internal battery on the Dynon D100 and, of course, the internal battery on the Garmin 296.

Noodling on this some, all a backup battery would do is give you a little more time if the alternator goes south, right? How much more time?
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You really wouldn't need the back-up battery until your main battery fell below 5 volts. Meaning, unless it shorted out, you would run out of gas first. The battery in my above post would last about 4 hours using one ignition.
 
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