Hi all, I have a Brison 3.2 engine with a CH Ignition. I bought the engine used so I figured it wouldn't hurt to send the ignition to CH to have a new wire and Bosch cap installed. I received the ignition a few weeks later with a clean bill of health. I test ran the engine on the bench and it ran great. I finally got the engine mounted on my plane and today I went to run it on the airplane.After about 30 minutes of cranking with no luck, I removed the plug and tried the plug in cap while touching the threaded part of the plug to the engine routine and there is no spark. I checked the battery and the voltage was fine. I even tried another battery with a full charge and still no spark. I finally have some nice days ahead and would hate to have to send the ignition back again. Any ideas as to how to check all components myself?[] P.S I also bypassed the switch and still no luck.

Why don't you call Bill or Terry at CH and talk with them about your problem.

Are you sure you don't have a broken wire to the sensor or battery? Could you have plugged the battery or sensor in backwards? You could order a spare Hall effect sensor and substitute it. They also have a nifty tester which plugs in where the sensor goes to test the ignition. About $20 I think.

Ken

The wires appear to be in good shape. Battery is plugged in correctly. I unplugged the deans connector and got good voltage coming out of the ignition going to the sensor. How difficult is it to replace the sensor? Is there a way to test the sensor without the ignition tester? If I'm getting 5.25 volts coming out of the ignition, then that kind of points to the sensor or wires going to the sensor Right??

Bass, take a magnet and pass it by the sensor (very close) see if you get a spark.
One of the things you will find about the Brison is that the gap between the sensor and magnet is too far.

Geistware, The only magnet I have is one of those rubbery type refrigerater magnets. I tried passing it between the sensor and hub and nothing happened. Is that what you mean?

OK, I went to the CH Ignition web site and they tell you how to test the unit. They say to ground the white wire from the female deans plug and if the plug fires, the magnet is reversed or the pulse switch is no good. Well, the plug fired fine so since I didn't do anything to the magnet it must be the pulse switch. Now my question is: How difficult is it to replace the pulse switch? Also, Do these things fail on a regular basis? This is my first gas engine and I am wondering if this is normal maintenance. Thanks for any insight..

This may sound silly but check to make sure he sent you the same ignition back.
And make sure the ignition was not mod'd to run as a syncro spark.

Bill is a very special man to the A&M, Brison A/C, Brison RC Engine Community but sometimes he forgets
who gets what unit.

jds

If you get a spark when the ignition is turned on and off the ignition is good...If no spark when the crank is rotated the sensor is bad...All ignitions from C&H operate the same, syncro or otherwise...The South pole of the magnet activates the sensor...Sensors are available from C&H, they just plug in on most engines...The sensor should be as close to the magnet as possible without rubbing..They will work to about 1/16 from the magnet...distance from the magnet has no effect on the timing....Pulse switches(Hall sensors) are very reliable and normally last a long time, so much so that I epoxy mine into the engine case...
How'd I do, TKG ?[8D]

cap10b, I have both types of CH ignitions, one with syncro spark and one without. The both use the same type of Hall effect switch. If Bass1's switch is good it should fire.

On the Brisons that I am familiar with there is a small screw next to the switch. The screw goes in the mount and just grazes the switch plastic which is what holds it in. Remove the screw and pull the switch out to replace it. The CH web site lists the switch. Why not try moving it a little closer to the magnet to see if you get a spark.

I've only had one Hall effect switch go bad in all my years of using these. It happened this past spring at a big bird flyin. I was flying my Brison 5.8 equipped Ziroli Corsair when the engine started missing badly. I landed and started checking it out. Changed the plug. Same miss. I found that a friend had the same trouble about a week before with his plane. I borrowed his spare switch and put it in. Re timed it and the problem was solved. Any time you change one of these switches you have to recheck the timing because it can change. I would have thought the switch would have been solidly good or dead. Not so, there can be an in between state.

Ken

RCIGN1, I do get spark when the unit is turned on and off. The engine is a Brison 3.2 and I am looking at the sensor and am having trouble figuring out how to remove it from the plastic timing ring. It looks like it's molded in but hey I ain't no expert.

Big Bird, You just answered my question on the removal of the sensor. The sensor is 1/16" away from the magnet. This is strange because the engine ran great on the test stand! Now, how in the heck do I re-time the engine as I have never timed an engine in my life.

Take the spark plug out..Lay it on the cylinder...Turn the ignition on..Slowly turn the crankshaft counterclockwise until you see/hear a spark..Put a pencil mark on the sensor mount and another directly across on the hub .Measure The diameter of the hub close to the magnet..Multiply by .244.. Make another mark on the hub that distance clockwise from the first one..Put the piston on top dead center..Move the sensor so that the second mark on the hub is opposite the mark on the sensor.....This is 28 degrees...Slowly rotate the crank counterclockwise to confirm that the spark occurs at the first mark on the hub before the piston reaches the top....Easier than it sounds, try it a few times....
[8D]

Awesome!

Do you have a screw driver with a magnet built in?
You can use an old speak or anything with a magnet but it does have to be fairly strong.
If you loose the ground on your ignition you will fry the sensor really quick!
If your sensor is dead, did you loose your ground, or the ground wire come off?

Here is a link to the C&H instruction page with the timing instructions:
http://www.ch-ignitions.com/CHinst.html

Geistware, I have a Bosch cap that has the ground soldered to the cap then it is secured with a clamp. The only thing that is different from the test stand setup is a contact switch between the positive battery lead ( from the on/off switch) to the ignition battery to open the circuit to kill the ignition. Could that have fried my sensor? I'm dead in the water now as CH Ignitions is closed until Sept. 20, due to family medical emergency. Hope everything turns out ok there. Is there any other place to purchase a new sensor for my engine? It's going to turn into winter before I can maiden my new plane.[]

Give Brison a call. They should have one.

http://www.brisonrcengines.com/

Big Bird, I did call Brison today and I have a new one on the way. Nice people over there! I hope I don't blow up the new one. Is that a Decathalon or a Citabria avitar. I have a neat Nosen Citabria in my gallery.

Ken
I was refering to his flip flip flip and no start, a syncro box hook up to a TCSA system will pop and go dead
it even starts once in a while but never restarts. Gary and I worked on my 3.2 for two weeks and finally realized he sent Syncro boxes instead of TCSA boxes after I told him three times what motor I had.
LOL
You gotta love bill..........

jds

Cap10b, you are right about Bill Carpenter. He is very enjoyable to talk to on the phone.

Bass1 the avatar is my 33% scratch built Super Decathlon powered by a ZDZ80RV. I'll be flying it at Bomber field next week. I built and flew a Nosen Citabria. It was a good plane.

Ken

That is the setup I have on my 3.2
THE sensor is the only thing left.
Let me know how the new one works.
Remember you may have to rotate it to get the right orientation to work properly.

Just for conversation, I fried a sensor once when i had the spark plug separated from the engine but still plugged into the cap. Turning on the ignition and rotating the engine without the plug being grounded to the engine turned out to be the wrong thing to do. That was on an old Sachs 4.2 with CH ignition.

Everytime I turned on the ignition after that the plug would fire once with the application of voltage, but nothing more. Repairs were definitely in order.

Silversurfer, Did you have to do anything else to the ignition system other than a new sensor? Does your screen name have anything to do with you being a seasoned surfer?

Hi there Bass 1,
I was just reading your post regarding the problem you are having with your CH ignition. I had the same problem with my CH ignition which came with my Brison 2.4. I installed my 2.4 in a new model and fired it up to run the engine in,no problems at all. The engine ran great,ignition obviously working fine. Then I read on RC Universe that CH ignition units manufactured during a certain period could experience a temperature problem and owners were advised to send them in for repair. I sent mine in to CH (What a great bunch of people to deal with) after a call to Terry and promptly received it back DOWN UNDER by Air Mail good as new. I installed it back in my model and proceeded to fire it up. No Spark, dead as a doornail. I spent hours on the set up checking everything narrowing it down to no power to the hall sensor. The problem turned out to be a dry soldered joint on the DEANS connector between the ignition box and the hall sensor. Resoldered all the Deans terminals and not an ounce of trouble since. Sorry to drag out this post but it just shows how an intermittent problem like that can really be a mind bender. I hope this may be of some help to you if your new hall sensor does not fix your problem.

All the best IAN

Ian, Thanks for the heads up on the solder issue. If the new sensor doesn't do the trick, I'll re check all connections. I did apply some heat shrink around the deans connectors when I installed it on the airplane. Maybe I overheated something with the heat gun.