13brv3
Well Known Member
auto plug recommendation?- older Electroair inition noise?
Greetings,
The -3B I purchased has an older (purple) Electroair ignition, and I've been trying to eliminate some radio noise. I've been struggling with this for months now, and what I've determined is that it is RF noise that's broadcast, not wiring related. I can use a handheld radio and hear the noise, and moving the radio closer to the engine (reaching from the cockpit) makes the noise more pronounced. Turning off power to the EIS ignition 100% stops the noise.
It would appear that the high voltage ignition RF noise is not being suppresses, and that leaves the coils, wires, and plugs as obvious suspects.
The wires were the first thing replaced. The original wires were blue Taylor Spiro Pro 8mm silicone wires, with a special spring type insert for the plug end. First I cut the wires off an inch, and reterminated them, but that didn't help. Next I tried to order new wires, but bad timing (OSH) and the fact that the wires were out of stock was a problem. Eventually I ordered a universal wire set from Taylor, using the same 8mm Spiro Pro wire. Those were installed with the old plug spring fittings, but it didn't correct the noise issue.
The UREM37BY plugs had 160 hrs on them according to the logs, and looked OK, but I replaced them with new plugs gapped to .032". No change.
The plane used to have two of these EIS units, but a previous owner changed the left side back to a mag, though they left the unit bolted to the firewall. I had removed the unit, and I was able to use those coils to replace the ones on the working unit. Sadly, still no fix.
Electroair has a newer red set of wires, and a brand new adapter that converts the aircraft plug into a normal spark plug tower to eliminate the fiddly spring adapter. I'm waiting for confirmation that those are actually better suppression wires, and hoping they're in stock.
Has anyone else had this much trouble getting rid of ignition noise? I've had Lightspeed ignitions on two previous RV's, and never had any radio noise, so this is really getting frustrating.
Thanks,
Rusty (measuring RPM by the popping on the radio)
Greetings,
The -3B I purchased has an older (purple) Electroair ignition, and I've been trying to eliminate some radio noise. I've been struggling with this for months now, and what I've determined is that it is RF noise that's broadcast, not wiring related. I can use a handheld radio and hear the noise, and moving the radio closer to the engine (reaching from the cockpit) makes the noise more pronounced. Turning off power to the EIS ignition 100% stops the noise.
It would appear that the high voltage ignition RF noise is not being suppresses, and that leaves the coils, wires, and plugs as obvious suspects.
The wires were the first thing replaced. The original wires were blue Taylor Spiro Pro 8mm silicone wires, with a special spring type insert for the plug end. First I cut the wires off an inch, and reterminated them, but that didn't help. Next I tried to order new wires, but bad timing (OSH) and the fact that the wires were out of stock was a problem. Eventually I ordered a universal wire set from Taylor, using the same 8mm Spiro Pro wire. Those were installed with the old plug spring fittings, but it didn't correct the noise issue.
The UREM37BY plugs had 160 hrs on them according to the logs, and looked OK, but I replaced them with new plugs gapped to .032". No change.
The plane used to have two of these EIS units, but a previous owner changed the left side back to a mag, though they left the unit bolted to the firewall. I had removed the unit, and I was able to use those coils to replace the ones on the working unit. Sadly, still no fix.
Electroair has a newer red set of wires, and a brand new adapter that converts the aircraft plug into a normal spark plug tower to eliminate the fiddly spring adapter. I'm waiting for confirmation that those are actually better suppression wires, and hoping they're in stock.
Has anyone else had this much trouble getting rid of ignition noise? I've had Lightspeed ignitions on two previous RV's, and never had any radio noise, so this is really getting frustrating.
Thanks,
Rusty (measuring RPM by the popping on the radio)
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