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Old 05-20-2005 | 05:52 PM
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JohnBuckner
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From: Kingman, AZ
Default RE: Questions about power panel

As many have already stated power panels usually end up a waste of money and an undeniable safety hazard when the panel driver is used.

A panel driver in addition to the safety hazard of the extra cable that always wants to be in the path of the prop, that has a manual current adjustment is an additional hazard to your wallet. You see most folk when experiancing a balky engine will keep upping the current just a bit and this invariably results in many wasted plug burnouts. Worse than this, The plug heat we use both by plug design and current supplied is the only way we have to control the ignition timing. Now additional plug heat will have the effect of advancing the timing, But for easy starting we need to retard the timing a bit. This applies to all internal combustion reciprocating engines.

As far as fuel pumps go you have already upgraded. Manual pumps are far, far more reliable and have the advantage of being able to count the cranks when fueling and by counting when defueling you will know exactly how much you have used. The very best arrangement is a manual strapped to to a metal gallon can.

I use only the very cheapest hobbico starters in a portable arrangement with 14 Nimh 3000's for a total of 16.8 volts and this handles very large engines with ease as well as very small engines without the loss of RPM of the geared types (not desirable for small engines). There are many portable setups on the market that work fine.

Most who have tried severing the umbilical cords completely will never go back to the panel.

Oh by the way this link is to the very best ignitor avaliable Is does have a short cord but does not go to the field box that is always in the wrong place. It has four cells and circuits that sense the plug resistance automaticlly and instantly adjust current to clear a fouled plug and back off instantly, will never waste your plugs for you. It also shuts it self off.

http://www.darrolcady.com/Accessorie...Pro-driver-pic

John