AAflyer

AAflyer

Well Known Member
Am getting my electrical system laid out for my RV-8, and was wonder if anyone had any advice from their installation of P-Mags with a Vertical Power system? Any gotchya's or fried avionics stories would be appreciated. I'm getting dizzy trying to make sure my wiring is correct by referencing 3, or 4 separate installation manuals.:confused:
 
Totally confused???

I was too. Looking at one manual then the other and then back again. I had Stein make me an "interconnect" diagram of all my equipment and that laid it out all on one (large) page. The Pmags became just an addon and there are not too many wires for them. Stein's diagram sure helped me.
 
Vert Pwr & Stein

That's good to here. I just hung up after talking to my "harness maker" at Steins, but I did not know he was going to include a diagram for the VP-X wires. He talked about the "printout" for his harnesses; will look forward to getting his shipment.
 
I have both, designed by Stein and no issues so far! Very simple to operate:

Flip the battery on
Power up both P-Mags
Key to both
Hit the button and it starts one or two turns.

Obviously there are a lot of other steps involving fuel and avionics but as far as P-Mags and VP-x, thats it.
 
The info coming from Stein will be what you need, but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
 
I too have the Vertical Power system. But, opted to not connect the P mag/Lightspeed to the Vertical Power system. My thinking, which might be in error, that if that system went down, my P mag goes also. Isn't the Vertical Power a computer? True, I would have the regular Mag. in case that did happen. I still have not regretted wiring the way I did. Just another way of building experimental aircraft.:)
Dave
 
AA,

I understand your concerns. You want to have good sparks in the unlikely possibility of a VP meltdown.

The P-Mag works fine under it's own power at RPM's greater than idle. It is marginal or ineffective below (IIRC) 1,500 rpm or so.

Powering it from the VP-X shouldn't be a problem, as the VP-X isn't likely to go Tango Uniform anyways.

I chose the G3i electronic ignition system and when I lose power, it reverts back to the Slick Mags. These will work just fine (as you might expect) without power. That meant to me that powering the G3i with the VP-X was simply the way to go.

If I were to have P-Mags (like you) I would consider powering them with my backup battery. I know that the P-Mags draw a mere fraction of an ampere and the backup battery should serve well in a critical situation.

My two...

Lots of different ways to do this. I really don't think that any of them could really be wrong.

It comes down to how you want to build YOUR plane!

I hope that helps.

;) CJ
 
The Pmag can power itself down to about 700-900 rpm depending on the unit.

The odds of getting to a low enough RPM in flight are slim to none unless you are trying to do it.

How many levels of redundancy do you need for a single engine airplane with at least a hundred single points of failure that will ruin your day?
 
I'm going to power my P-Mags through the VP-X on a constantly powered circuit. Then use the EFIS to switch off those lines for checking the P-Mag internal generators. The P-Leads will be wired as normal to standard switches.

I think this setup is perfectly fine since, in the off chance the VP-X croaks, the P-Mags, by design, will continue humming along. The VP-X and both P-Mag generators would have to fail for there to be a problem.
 
There are three methods for P-mag installation in the manual, all are equally acceptable and your choice.
 
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