My magnetos were approaching 500 hours so it was time to consider whether I wanted to overhaul them or try something different. My ignition harnesses were also getting ratty with fractures in the shield (necessitating crimping a new connector on one cable due to excessive radio interference). In this post, you can read about my changeover to automotive harnesses and plugs.
I decided to go with electronic ignition, opting for the SureFly magnetos rather than E-MAG's products. Back in August, I swapped out the left magneto for a SureFly to see how things would go, with the intent to later switch out the right magneto too.
The SureFly can be set for constant or variable timing. Using variable timing requires a hose connection for manifold pressure. There are little DIP switches that let you select the timing options. I chose 22° variable timing (the engine is placarded 20° ). An LED on the SureFly blinks using Morse Code to anunciate and verify its timing selection.
The gear from the original Slick magneto is reused. Removing the gear from the original magneto is straightforward after removing its cotter pin then placing the gear in a vise. Getting the new cotter pin on the SureFly is a challenge. I found that preforming the pin prior to insertion is the way to go.
Flying with this setup, I noticed no difference in how the airplane started (cold or hot) or how the engine ran. My GRT EIS (engine information system) could not resolve the tachometer signal from the SureFly. I tried using a coupling capacitor to no avail, so it was clear I would need to use SureFly's very expensive TACH2 signal conditioner. Until then, only my right magneto was providing RPM info (e.g., when I did a mag check, the EIS would show 0 RPM when the right mag was grounded out). So I used my TruTach II tachometer during mag checks until I later installed the TACH2 conditioner (shown later below).
After flying 15 hours with this setup, my condition inspection was coming up so it was time to replace the right Slick magneto with a SureFly also. I needed to consider a backup power option (outlined here) for one of the magnetos since it's just good sense to have backup power available to at least one of the magnetos when one has a fully electronic ignition, even though I have dual alternators.
Shown below is from the installation of the right magneto. It turns out that SureFly programs all their magnetos with retarded timing so you can fire both magnetos at start. This required removing a a jumper on my ACS A-510-2 ignition switch to ensure that the right magneto is not grounded out at start. I used the MAP port from cylinder 1 with the same fitting described as for the left magneto.
Here's the very expensive TACH2 signal conditioner that allows my GRT EIS to read the tach signal from the SureFlys. I was curious why it was so expensive, so I opened it up to see its guts. It remains unclear to me why its cost is so high. I installed this on what little space remained on my subpanel.
Next up was designing the backup battery setup. I put that in a separate post which you can find here.
