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dean.psiropoulos(at)veriz
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 Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:56 pm Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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Klaus wants the hot wire to go to the battery directly in order to minimize
voltage sag at the brain box during starting. I have a Lightspeed Plasma
II+ that I originally intended to activate with the aircraft's key switch
(along with the single slick magneto that I have on the left side firing the
bottom plugs). Note that the Plasma II+ (and III+) have two separate wires
that work with the key switch made for airplane magnetos. You can't wire a
Plasma II into a standard aircraft (magneto grounding) key switch, it
doesn't have these extra wires. After I read about some failures of the
standard aircraft key switch I gave it some more thought and decided to
eliminate the key switch as a single point failure (why lose both ignition
systems with the failure of one switch).
I decided to leave the magneto on the key switch and wire the Lightspeed to
one of the terminals of the bussman six-fuse-block that serves as my battery
bus. The fuse block is behind the instrument panel and its common terminal
is connected to the Odyssey battery (on the engine side of the firewall)
through a 14 gauge wire and a 20 amp klixon breaker (in a box on the
firewall next to the battery to protect the 14 gauge wire). The Lightspeed
shielded wire goes from the battery bus fuse block to a "BAT" switch (a
toggle switch whose stem has to be pulled out of machined notches in the
case in order to turn it on or off) and from the BAT switch to the
Lightspeed brain box behind the instrument panel (the brain box ground is
connect to a forest of faston tabs on the firewall).
So yes, I did wire it to the battery but, the signal path goes from the
battery through the CB on the firewall, the 14 GA tefzel wire (unshielded),
the fuse block, the BAT switch and finally to the brain box!!!
Bottom line....2.5 years of flying bliss, the setup works fine and I've had
no problems whatsoever. I start the engine using the key switch (impulse
coupled magneto only). Once the engine is running I turn on the Lightspeed.
It works great with no kickback and, I can still turn the electronic
ignition off during the run-up to see how the magneto and bottom plugs are
working. I've also started using the Lightspeed only and had no trouble.
Like many of these things that we builders tend to fret over, this is one
that you should not worry about, different wiring schemes are not a big
deal. Wire it in and get that bird flying.
Dean Psiropoulos
RV-6A N197DM
2.5 years of flying fun
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bicyclop(at)pacbell.net
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:58 pm Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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There is one other thing to think about before you go changing the way Klaus has the wiring diagram laid out. As was mentioned in a thread a while back, the Lightspeed box has a built in crowbar to protect itself from an overvoltage event. That's why the wiring diagram shows a pullable breaker as the only circuit protection device. If the internal crowbar decides to unload on the system, the breaker pops and can be reset after the errant alternator is offline. If there is a fuse in the circuit, it will blow before the breaker does and you're SOL in terms of getting the ignition running again until the fuse can be replaced.
If this one thin un-fused wire were to short to the airframe before the breaker, it would likely burn right through and become un-shorted. In the meantime, you'd be out one ignition. Best to be very careful in routing and securing this wire and after that - don't worry about it. Inspect it at annual and keep flying.
There was a case where some guy put 2 lightspeeds into a lancair and wired them, as I understand it, through fuses which blew and caused a forced landing. Think twice about failure modes before changing manufacturers' wiring diagrams. Once you think it through, then wire it as you see fit, but be sure you know why you made any changes.
Pax,
Ed Holyoke
On 3/17/2011 7:52 PM, DEAN PSIROPOULOS wrote: [quote] [quote]--> AeroElectric-List message posted by: "DEAN PSIROPOULOS" <dean.psiropoulos(at)verizon.net> (dean.psiropoulos(at)verizon.net) Klaus wants the hot wire to go to the battery directly in order to minimize voltage sag at the brain box during starting. I have a Lightspeed Plasma II+ that I originally intended to activate with the aircraft's key switch (along with the single slick magneto that I have on the left side firing the bottom plugs). Note that the Plasma II+ (and III+) have two separate wires that work with the key switch made for airplane magnetos. You can't wire a Plasma II into a standard aircraft (magneto grounding) key switch, it doesn't have these extra wires. After I read about some failures of the standard aircraft key switch I gave it some more thought and decided to eliminate the key switch as a single point failure (why lose both ignition systems with the failure of one switch). I decided to leave the magneto on the key switch and wire the Lightspeed to one of the terminals of the bussman six-fuse-block that serves as my battery bus. The fuse block is behind the instrument panel and its common terminal is connected to the Odyssey battery (on the engine side of the firewall) through a 14 gauge wire and a 20 amp klixon breaker (in a box on the firewall next to the battery to protect the 14 gauge wire). The Lightspeed shielded wire goes from the battery bus fuse block to a "BAT" switch (a toggle switch whose stem has to be pulled out of machined notches in the case in order to turn it on or off) and from the BAT switch to the Lightspeed brain box behind the instrument panel (the brain box ground is connect to a forest of faston tabs on the firewall). So yes, I did wire it to the battery but, the signal path goes from the battery through the CB on the firewall, the 14 GA tefzel wire (unshielded), the fuse block, the BAT switch and finally to the brain box!!! Bottom line....2.5 years of flying bliss, the setup works fine and I've had no problems whatsoever. I start the engine using the key switch (impulse coupled magneto only). Once the engine is running I turn on the Lightspeed. It works great with no kickback and, I can still turn the electronic ignition off during the run-up to see how the magneto and bottom plugs are working. I've also started using the Lightspeed only and had no trouble. Like many of these things that we builders tend to fret over, this is one that you should not worry about, different wiring schemes are not a big deal. Wire it in and get that bird flying. Dean Psiropoulos RV-6A N197DM 2.5 years of flying fun ----------------
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fedico94(at)mchsi.com
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:04 pm Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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Thank you for your thoughts. So many details with the instrument panel.
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fedico94(at)mchsi.com
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:36 pm Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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Thank you for your insight. I enjoyed reading your email and found it to be a big help
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longg(at)pjm.com
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:47 am Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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I'm with Klaus and Ed,
If Klaus doesn’t have enough faith in the system to wire it to the bus, neither do I. Hardwire that sucker. If it smokes and you're still around, send it back to him. His problem.
I use the switch style breaker right on the panel so it's an easy hookup. I also use the optional aux 5 amp battery and mounted it under the tunnel in my Legacy. Big ole' red hooded panic switch on the panel to change over to battery power.
I chickened out on the dual system and pulled one in favor of one mag. I had a Lancair test pilot in that experienced two total failures on dual EI systems. Too each his own.
Don’t forget to check the amperage on the auxiliary battery over some interval.
Other than that the thing doesn't skip a beat. The box is supposed to put out a signal for an RPM hookup, but even with Klaus's help, I never got it working. Bought the cheapo transducer from Vans and it works fine.
Glenn
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nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:58 am Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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An excerpt from a LSI service bulletin found at:
http://www.lightspeedengineering.com/News/ServiceBulletins.htm
Electrical System Requirements
All Plasma CDI systems can be used with 12 or 24 volt electrical systems. Input voltages above 35 volts or reversed polarity can cause system damage.
For this reason it is mandatory that all aircraft using Plasma CD Ignitions are equipped with over-voltage protection in their alternator charging system(s). Over-voltage protection is a requirement for certified aircraft. Power connection must be directly to the battery terminals to avoid voltage spikes and electrical noise. Aluminum should never be used as an electrical conductor for the Plasma CDI. Use only the supplied aircraft quality stranded wire.
Minimum supply voltage for starting is 6.5 Volts.
Minimum operating voltage is 5.5 Volts.
------------------------
This ignition system has been under development since
1986. I met Klaus at OSH for the first time that year.
He was offering an MSD racing spark-generator combined
with his own trigger-timing system to make it more
aircraft friendly. In terms of engine performance, it was
indeed a quantum jump forward. He had the fastest Ez on
the planet back then. But the system wasn't ready for
prime-time in the OBAM aviation market. It was big,
heavy, and produced radio noise like Marconi's spark
gap transmitter.
The product has come a very long way since then. It
has suffered the odd error of design or fabrication
over the years, there are a hand full of failure events
due to manufacturing error . . . but no more than
one would expect to see from any emerging product
that was developed on 1% of a NASA budget for the
same device.
It's a safe assertion that Klaus has carried out
his development and marketing programs with due
diligence to the customers. He has learned his
lessons well over 25 years attendance in the school
of realistic free-market enterprise.
But Klaus is not a system integrator. As a very small
business entrepreneur he has properly focused his
attention to performance of the INNER workings of
his product. It follows then that there may be
errors of perception when it comes to recommendations
for the OUTER workings when his product is being
contemplated for use on YOUR airplane.
Klaus is not unique in this fundamental fact of
life in the aviation world. Really BIG names like
Garmin, King, Narco, ARC and others have displayed
their lack of knowledge of real-world conditions
that surround their installed products. Their
installation manuals have offered ideas and
recommendations based on "worries" that have no
foundations in fact for decades.
Having worked both sides of the fence as both
a supplier and integrator of black boxes, I'm
blessed with an appreciation of how badly that
'fence' can block the useful exchange of simple-
ideas between the two camps. A major component of
my professional activities in general aviation was
to function as a liaison between the black-box
and airframe guys. I've got some jaw dropping
stories to tell about $millions$ blown down the
tubes because somebody on one side of the fence
or the other wasn't interested in understanding
the simple-ideas that tied his product to stuff
from the other side of the fence.
Suffice it to say that I perceive only two niggling
'problems' with Klaus's perceptions of the world
in which his products live and perform quite well.
Further, both problems are residents of that wildly
misunderstood world of noise, spikes and overvoltage.
One is the shielded power wire thing. Shielding
does NOTHING for the mitigation of noise in anything
except a very narrow range of issues. See:
http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/MagnetoSwitchOptions.pdf
Page 12 of
http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/richter/response_2.pdf
Shielding of the power wire for an LSI ignition
system accomplishes nothing.
The excerpt above contains the statement:
Power connection must be directly to the battery terminals to avoid voltage
spikes and electrical noise.
We have discussed the spikes and noise thing at great
length here on the List. Some of you will recall lengthy
discussions about 10 years ago with a couple of gentlemen
who had a great deal of shade-tree folk lore to share
but neither of whom spent one hour in a DO-160 test lab
or crawling around an airplane chasing root cause of a
real noise issue.
There are no products with any track-record in aviation
that will benefit from "purer power" offered at the
terminals of a battery . . . and the LSI system is a
member of the community of aviation products with long
and successful track records.
Suffice it to say that the LSI system is at no risk of
improper function or premature failure for getting its
power from ANY point in the system as DICTATED by your
own design goals and failure modes effects analysis.
The folks here on the list fly everything from Kitfoxes
to LA-IVP. Any and all might avail themselves of the
value offered by the LSI ignition systems. If it were
my airplane, my LSI ignition(s) would power from separate
5A fuses/breakers tied to the battery bus. If you've got two engine
driven power sources (Z-13), then you might power one of the
ignitions through a 5A fuses/breakers on the e-bus. If Z-12,
then one from the battery bus and the other from the main bus.
Whether you use breakers or fuses matters not. Whether
you can REACH the breakers or fuses matters not. Exactly
where that power comes from is of very little significance
except as it becomes a part of your Plan-B for dealing
with an alternator-out situation.
The LSI system may have ov protection for levels that
exceed it's maximum operation voltage (35 volts) but
even if it were a crowbar system that pops breakers/fuses
it is of no concern in a 14v system . . . or any system
that's properly fitted with ov protection at 16.4/32.8
volts per legacy design goals.
I'll be meeting with Klaus on other matters later this
year and we'll discuss an AEC review of his published
installation recommendations. In the mean time, know that
the worries circulating amongst the OBAM aviation community
have no foundation in facts known to us at this time.
Bob . . . [quote][b]
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fedico94(at)mchsi.com
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:50 am Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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Thank you this information to increase my understanding and eloquently stated as well. I will stay with the design per Z-12. I have one Slick mag on the left and the LSI Hall effect sensor on the right mag location on the Aerosport IO-320. As you have mentioned on other posts, I will probably use the Slick mag until it fails and then switch to a dual electronic ignition system. The traditional magneto gives me some comfort at this time but I would expect the next 10 years to see considerable progress in this area. I to have a great respect for the product which is why I choose it over competitors and the other alternative of using traditional magnetos, although I have never met Mr. Savier he has a well thought out system that is very good considering the shoe string budget.
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fedico94(at)mchsi.com
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:54 am Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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Thank you for the practical advice regarding the rpm hook-up. The Garmin G3X sytem I am installing uses a pick-up off the Left Slick mag. I will still use the output section of the LSI control box which I beleive can be used for checking timing.
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longg(at)pjm.com
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:52 am Post subject: Wiring Lightspeed Plasma II |
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Yes,
I bought the Simpson display and wiring harness that Klaus sells on his website. It's very helpful in determining rpm/map/timing for each. One note is that the dual system display only works for both if the powered side (on mine, that's the left IGN) is on. If you go this route and are planning dual EI in the future, get a display for each which makes the wiring easier and isolates the display in case of a failure.
The display values seem very accurate. If you are comfortable with wires and solder you can buy the display cheap and wire it yourself.
Glenn E. Long
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