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- Aug 18, 2006
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As expected the Dual Mag setup on my engine is problematic for the Pitts S1 engine mount. I kinda separated the engine rebuild from the reality of putting it on the aircraft - and on purpose. I wasn't sure how the rebuild would go, and whether the engine would even start, lol, but with that now behind me, I am confident I have a good, solid, low time 360, that runs! Hooray! At the time of rebuildig the Dualmag, I did pause and consider whether we should opt for another ignition option, but it would have delayed things and been a distraction, but now is the time to re-evaluate.
My options are threefold :-
1) Keep the dualmag as is, and extend the engine mount by a few inches. This was my initial plan, and frankly would work better for my CG issues in the future, but it does create hassles around the Wolf Cowl, and although I haven't measured it up to see if it has enough extra length, it's starting to feel a like a lot of work. I spoke to Raven who made my engine mount, and they didn't have a jig available for this extension, so it would be a custom jig, take longer, cost more, etc. And suddenly my S1 is no longer a known animal anymore...
2) Take a bite out of the firewall build a box up closer to the fuel tank. This is actually as per the plans since the oil filter needs a bit more space anyway, but I'm not convinced I'll have enough room, and I dont want to start looking at the fuel tank to give it a laparascopic surgey so I’ll need to measure carefully to confirm this option.
3) Final option, which I am tending towards now, is to remove the dualmag and cover it with a blank and oil stop, and install dual electronic ignition, and be done with it. Maybe I can get a few bucks for the Bendix D3000 dualmag, since it is recently rebuilt with a 500 hour inspection, and they are quite rare and no longer in production, so someone will eant it for sure.
So before I go with option 3, I will remove the engine mount and actually see if I can attach it to the engine. It looks too long but it's quite difficult to be recise due to the angle of the dynafocul mount. I'm assuming I will conclude the dulag will never work, and move to option 3.
So.. if going with electronic ignition, I have some options:
1) Light Speed unit.. will have to go with the Direct Crank Sensor or Mini-Sensor and can't use Hall Effect since they only have this for single mag setups. I spoke with Klaus and this seems quite a popular and well established solution. The only thing I dont like is the sensor that needs to get attached to the Flywheel. The whole setup feels a little flimsy for me.
2) Electroair unit.. looks similar to the Light Speed, but alas it looks like it is driven off the single hole mag as well.. I can't find too much information on them - very limited website, but it looks like this won't work on my engine.
3) EFII Systems unit.. looks very nice and is the cheapest option as well. They have a custom dualmag blank with oil shutoff extension designed just for the dualmag accessory case, and their sensor unit up front looks very sturdily built. It requires me shipping the Flywheel over to them (no small undertaking from NZ) so they can install the magnets, but this is top of my list, unless I hear negative feedback on them. I will have to install the coils on the firewall as I dont think the two coils will fit on the dualmag blank as they do on the single mags. There are only 100 or so sold, and I dont know how many flying aircraft, so no statistics on longevity.
4) PMAG .. a dual setup here would be my first choice since they are self powered. Unfortunately they havent produced their DualMag version yet, and I can't continue to wait endlessly. I have sent an email to Brad every 2 years since 2005 now!
5) G3, LASAR, etc.. only works only two single mag setup.
So unless there are others have escaped my attention I really only have two options.. the Light Speed Dual Plasma 2, and the EFII Systems Dual Mag setup, and based on current research I’m favouring the EFII unit.
If anyone has used either, please let me know, thanks.
My options are threefold :-
1) Keep the dualmag as is, and extend the engine mount by a few inches. This was my initial plan, and frankly would work better for my CG issues in the future, but it does create hassles around the Wolf Cowl, and although I haven't measured it up to see if it has enough extra length, it's starting to feel a like a lot of work. I spoke to Raven who made my engine mount, and they didn't have a jig available for this extension, so it would be a custom jig, take longer, cost more, etc. And suddenly my S1 is no longer a known animal anymore...
2) Take a bite out of the firewall build a box up closer to the fuel tank. This is actually as per the plans since the oil filter needs a bit more space anyway, but I'm not convinced I'll have enough room, and I dont want to start looking at the fuel tank to give it a laparascopic surgey so I’ll need to measure carefully to confirm this option.
3) Final option, which I am tending towards now, is to remove the dualmag and cover it with a blank and oil stop, and install dual electronic ignition, and be done with it. Maybe I can get a few bucks for the Bendix D3000 dualmag, since it is recently rebuilt with a 500 hour inspection, and they are quite rare and no longer in production, so someone will eant it for sure.
So before I go with option 3, I will remove the engine mount and actually see if I can attach it to the engine. It looks too long but it's quite difficult to be recise due to the angle of the dynafocul mount. I'm assuming I will conclude the dulag will never work, and move to option 3.
So.. if going with electronic ignition, I have some options:
1) Light Speed unit.. will have to go with the Direct Crank Sensor or Mini-Sensor and can't use Hall Effect since they only have this for single mag setups. I spoke with Klaus and this seems quite a popular and well established solution. The only thing I dont like is the sensor that needs to get attached to the Flywheel. The whole setup feels a little flimsy for me.
2) Electroair unit.. looks similar to the Light Speed, but alas it looks like it is driven off the single hole mag as well.. I can't find too much information on them - very limited website, but it looks like this won't work on my engine.
3) EFII Systems unit.. looks very nice and is the cheapest option as well. They have a custom dualmag blank with oil shutoff extension designed just for the dualmag accessory case, and their sensor unit up front looks very sturdily built. It requires me shipping the Flywheel over to them (no small undertaking from NZ) so they can install the magnets, but this is top of my list, unless I hear negative feedback on them. I will have to install the coils on the firewall as I dont think the two coils will fit on the dualmag blank as they do on the single mags. There are only 100 or so sold, and I dont know how many flying aircraft, so no statistics on longevity.
4) PMAG .. a dual setup here would be my first choice since they are self powered. Unfortunately they havent produced their DualMag version yet, and I can't continue to wait endlessly. I have sent an email to Brad every 2 years since 2005 now!
5) G3, LASAR, etc.. only works only two single mag setup.
So unless there are others have escaped my attention I really only have two options.. the Light Speed Dual Plasma 2, and the EFII Systems Dual Mag setup, and based on current research I’m favouring the EFII unit.
If anyone has used either, please let me know, thanks.
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