LSE reliability

No issues at all. I have over 300 hours since installation. The only thing I did for maintanence is Check the plug gaps. A buddy has over 650 hours without ANY issues. Anther buddy has over 1000 hours without issue. No software to upgrade or "lost timing" issues. Talk to an airshow pilot and ask him what he trusts his life to while he is 50 agl off the deck and inverted. If he is old school its a Mag, if he is younger it's LSE
Tad Sargent
TeamRV 1 mag and installing the second one now
 
I have seen two on different aircraft.

The first one was due to the front pick-up plate being at the limit of the allowable gap. The engine would run fine at idle but cut out as soon as the rpm was increased. The gap between the sensor and the magnet in the ring gear would exceed the limit when power was applied due to the prop pulling the crank forward within the travel allowed by the crank end play. The fix was bringing the pick-up board into better alignment by placing a thin washer under each mounting location.

The second one involved a burned out component on the processor board. The ignition would initially cut out for a brief moment after the engine had run for a while (heat related). Eventually it did it more frequently and the board was sent back to Klaus for repair.

Martin Sutter
building and flying RV's since 1988
EAA Tech Councelor
 
It advanced the timing so far the engine would barely run. I made an emergency landing at another airport until I figired out what was going on. I removed it and installed a slick mag.
 
I have the Plasma III on my RV-10 + a traditional mag

It consists of the brainbox (inside the cockpit) and three capacitors (each capacitor runs the top plugs on two cylinders).

At around 250 hours, I noticed a significant rougher sound when I did my run up test. Watching the EGTs it was clear that one of the capacitors had failed. I bought two new capacitors (to have one spare for the future). 100 hours later I have not had another problem.

Klaus was responsive on the telephone and promptly shipped new parts when I called. He thought part of my failure was due to the brand of sparkplugs I used at the last annual.

I like the idea of two separate different ignition systems. I probably would not choose two LSEs for my airplane since they both require 12v of input power unlike a mag.
 
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