Feb 12, 2024     Fettling       Category: Ignition

I've been working on the SDS electronic ignition. I had to splice in some extra length to the coil trigger leads to enable me to pull the control module off the port fuselage side to adjust and program it. I marked the flywheel with some timing marks so I don't have to get so close to the prop to time it.

Also fabricated some shims for the LED strobe/nav lights so the vertical sectors are correct.

Registered the ELT.

Adjusted the Peter Anson flap stop for the right hand flap.

Secured the last few fasteners on the windscreen and puttied it up.

  Aug 19, 2023     Details       Category: Ignition

I've been struggling to replace the Alignment, heavily tapered wing pins with the "hero" pins for flight for the last few work days. I finally got the adt spar pins in.

Today I worked on finishing up the firewall penetration for the ignition and rounded off the brackets for the cowling fasteners.

  Aug 01, 2023     Cleaning up the install       Category: Ignition

Sealed the bracket to the case and safetied the bolts. Installed stand offs for the plug and sensor wires.

  Jul 01, 2023     Ignition and housekeeping       Category: Ignition

Working on the ignition wiring and moved my hangar mates car out so we can put the wings on and weigh the airplane.

  Jun 11, 2023     More ignition details, also wheel pants       Category: Ignition

I brought the wheel pants for the mains home to fill the gap between the halves. Using Smiths Fill-It epoxy wood filler, as it's both stronger and tougher than brittle Bondo. System 3 also makes a nice pre mixed filler. I wasn't in the mood to formulate my own "bog" out of microballons and fumed silica. http://www.smithandcompany.org/Fillit/ or http://www.systemthree.com/products/silvertip-quikfair-epoxy-fairing-putty
There are other ways to do this. The halves are glassed together on the inside with a single layer of glass cloth tape, leaving a gap on the outside of the gelcoated shells. I used a chain saw file to open up the gap and eliminate any possible voids. I COULD have used a very narrow strip of glass mat and polyester resin to fill the resulting gap, and that would have been stronger, but again, I pressed the Easy button and just filled it, albeit with a better grade of filler.

Sunday I made it out to the hangar in the late afternoon and finished the last plug wire, installed the manifold pressure port, and started work on installing the firewall pass- thrus.

I had also ordered a hall effect sensor with a longer "pigtail" from Ross at Simple Digital Systems/Racetech and cut it down to fit my installation per the previous version. The longer pigtail will enable me to mount the control box closer to the pilot. Ross is great, and gives excellent service.

  Jun 05, 2023     Ignition wires       Category: Ignition

Making up the ignition wires was surprisingly hard. Working the boots was the tough part. Stripping the wires way back to get the boots on by grabbing the white insulation layer and pulling the well lubricated wire through worked. I rode the Struggle Bus and got 3 of them done. Also dry fit the sensor bracket to the final configuration, setting the clearance of the sensor to the magnets.

  Jun 03, 2023     Still Igniting       Category: Ignition

Mounted coil pack, started to rough in the electrical, drilled the intake manifold for the manifold pressure tap, tightened up the fittings on the oil pressure sensor, pulled the switch that grounded the old magnetron ignition to re-purpose it for the coil pack ignition.

  May 29, 2023     Still with the ignition       Category: Ignition

At home, glued the trigger and synch magnets into the shaft collar. Fabricated firewall pass through grommets (per Tony Bingelis) for the manifold pressure sense hose and the new electrical connections between the coil pack and the controller.

The "orbit" of the "flying magnets" was too close to the surface of the prop hub, so I clearanced the sensor mount so that it would clear.

I emailed Ross Farnam of SDS bout how to tap into the intake manifold to sense manifold pressure. On a built, installed, tightly cowled engine, it's HARD. See the sketch. Ross says the tap should be on the plenum before the runners split, else you get a sine wave(s) from the intake pulse of each cylinder. We'll see if that's possible, the join is buried pretty deep. I might be able to drill with a right angle drill, but can I get the riv-nut tool in there? ID of the MAP sensor hose is about .1".

  May 28, 2023     More ignition progress       Category: Ignition

My skinny, limber nephew helped me deburr the interior side of the firewall and rivet in the nut plates to mount the coil pack. We also snaked the bottom magnetron out of the accessory case. It MIGHT be possible to change the lower magnetron with the engine mounted but I don't see how.

Once I got home, I put the pattern I'd developed on the shaft collar and drilled it for the magnets.

  May 28, 2023     Ignition bracket is mostly done       Category: Ignition

Draft Two. Did some fab at home during the week. Rock solid. Need to drill for the Hall Effect sensors.

  May 19, 2021     Further Evaluate Magnetron Ignition Coils - (8 hours) Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence used an ignition spark tester to fully evaluate all six of the Magnetron ignition coils and found two that presented the expected proper characteristics. The engine was then started and run, doing a mag check. Again, the primary Magnetron ignition system failed.

  May 18, 2021     Test New Magnet For Magnetron Ignition - (7 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued reassembling the engine by installing the intake manifold, the rear cooling baffle and reconnecting all the wires and tubes. Test running the engine revealed that the Magnetron would still not work and there was no change from before. Stumped!!

  May 15, 2021     Replace Magnet for Magnetron Ignition System - (9 hours)       Category: Ignition

The new trigger magnet for the Magnetron ignition system arrived. Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence disconnected all the wires and tubes to the engine and pulled it from its mount. The new magnet had more square corners where the old one had rounded corners so some hand milling was required on the shoes to properly seat the new magnet. The engine is rehung on its mount, ready to reconnect all the wires and tubes.

  May 08, 2021     Test For Spark At Spark Plugs - (6 hours) Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence tested for spark at spark plugs, installed plugs and torqued, reconnected wires and ran engine. Mag check revealed that Magnetron ignition still not working.

  May 05, 2021     Add Ground Wire From Magnetron Ignition Coils to Engine Block - (6 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence added direct ground wires from the Magnetron ignition coils to the engine block. Ran engine and checked mags. Still will not run on primary Magnetron ignition system. Running out of ideas for solving problem.

  Apr 28, 2021     Finish Reassembly of the Ancillary Parts of the Engine and Check the Magnetron Ignition. - (6 hours) Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence regapped the Magnetron coils, cleaned and regapped the spark plugs and reattached all the wires to the engine in preparation for a Mag check. There was no rubbing between the flywheel magnet and the Magnetron coils now but the Magnetron Ignition system STILL will not fire! A BIG disappointment! Back to the drawing board!

  Apr 27, 2021     Pull Engine to Inspect Magnetron Ignition Magnet on Flywheel - (8 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled engine, inspected, cleaned and realigned magnet on flywheel for Magnetron Ignition system. Reinstalled engine on mount.

  Apr 21, 2021     Check Piston Positions and Plugs for Magnetron Ignition Firing - (2 hours) Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled Magnetron fired plugs for cylinders 1 and 2 and found that plug for cylinder 2, upper Magnetron fired, was not firing but plug 1, lower Magnetron fired, appeared to be firing. Confirms suspicions that magnet rubbing on upper Magnetron coil is probably the problem. Clearance issues will be addressed. Piston positions appeared to be correct for Magnetron firing timing.

  Apr 03, 2021     Third Set of Magnetron Ignition Coils Unsuccessful - (4 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence completed installing the third set of Magnetron ignition coils, confirmed that the gap was correct and adequate and test started the engine. Again, the engine will ran only on the secondary electronic ignition. Convinced that the problem is not with the coils, back to the drawing board for a solution.

  Mar 17, 2021     Remove Lower Magnetron Coil - (2 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed the lower Magnetron ignition coil in anticipation of the arrival of new coils to be installed hopefully on Saturday.

  Mar 16, 2021     The Magnetron Ignition Dilema Continues - (4 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence remove the upper engine cooling baffles to access the upper Magnetron ignition coil in preparation for replacement. Unfortunately, the genuine Briggs and Stratton coil was replaced by an updated part and it is physically different and will not fit the rear engine adapter plate. Back to the drawing board for another attempt at a solution.

  Mar 10, 2021     Continue Testing and Research Into Magnetron Ignition Concern - (4 hours) Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued testing the Magnetron ignition system and researching the concern. Everything seems to be pointing to the ignition coils being defective or too weak to generate sufficient spark.

  Mar 09, 2021     Another Attempt to Run Engine On Magnetron Ignition - (5 hours) Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured NGK spark plugs, gapped and installed plugs, added some 100LL fuel and started engine. Again, runs very well on electronic ignition but will not run on Magnetron ignitiion. Back to the drawing board! Of good consequence, no oil leaks from newly installed oil cooler or valve covers.

  Mar 07, 2021     Still Researching No Spark From Magnetron Ignition - (4 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed the side engine cooling baffles to access upper spark plugs, removed upper spark plugs and again tested for spark from the Magnetron ignition using a spark plug tester. Still no spark. Still continuing to research the problem.

  Feb 17, 2021     Install New Magnatron Ignition Coils - (7 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence installed new both upper and lower Magnatron ignition coils and began re-installation of all pieces previously removed for access.

  Feb 14, 2021     Re-set Secondary Ignition Timing - (4 hours) Category: Ignition

After consulting with technical advisor at Sonex and researching proper secondary ignition timing procedure, Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence checked secondary ignition timing and found it to be far advanced of specs. They then proceeded to adjust timing to the specified setting of 28 degrees BTDC.

  Jan 30, 2021     Static Time Engine - (6 hours)       Category: Ignition

Eric Schuldt and Tracy Peters pulled lower spark plugs, positioned spark plug wires for number 1 and number 3 cylinder near valve covers so as to be able to check for spark and rocked prop to set timing for electronic ignition.

  Jan 12, 2021     Make Spark Plug Wires for the Lower Spark Plugs - (6 hours)       Category: Ignition

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured materials and made spark plug wires for the lower spark plugs, routed and installed wires and secured wires to spark plugs and ignition coils.