hankpajari

My Feedback: (1)

Hi

Should be getting my second Zenoah conversion back from RCIGN soon. I have not run the first yet.

My question is what kind of switches are you guys using for the ignition system. I am thinking about a servo-operated switch so I can kill the engine using the transmitter in 2 ways, a switch and low throttle.

Do you use a slide or toggle? Double Pole or Single?

Maybe a Normally Closed micro switch with a cam to open it to disconnect power?

How about a spring toggle switch? So many alternatives!

Which of these makes the most sense. I am a little concerned about vibration. With a switch to ground the ignition on a magneto system you can use a Normally Open micro switch and a cam with no problem but with a Normally Closed will vibration eventually cause failure?

Thanks, any input from the experienced will be appreciated.

bubbagates

My Feedback: (32)

For in the air I'm kinda paranoid, here is what I have

I use the Smartfly Optical kill switch (fully electronic which goes between the main switch and the ignition), setup on the gear channel so I can just flip the switch on the radio.

The throttle servo can also be used to kill it. I just backed out the idle set screw (the big one with the spring) so that when I slide my throttle trim all the way down, it closes the throttle plate and kills the engine.

On the ground the "normal" ignition on/off switch is the MPI heavy duty.

So in all I have 3 ways to kill the engine, 2 can be used in the air, all three can be used on the ground

You could also have the choke on a servo and use it to kill the engine.

RCAddiction

My Feedback: (87)

I don't trust the mechanical switches actuated by a servo, even though I did set one up this way with a BME44. I used the microswitch Great Planes sells and it worked fine. However, I later saw 2 failures with these switches, where someone was having intermittent RFI issues, one resulting in a crash. The other guy just had glitches galore until he switched to a fiber optic kill switch.

I have both the $25 RC100 RCATS switch and the SmartFly Fiber Optic Switch ($59?)
http://rcatsystems.com/rc/electronics.php

My planes have (3) RCATS RC100's and (1) Smartfly. Surprisingly, even though the RCATS RC100 is not fiber optic (they also offer a Fiber Optic version), I've had no issues with interference on DA and CH ignition systems. The very small and light RCATS RC100 is apparently popular in giant scale racing, according to some threads I've read on RCU.

Okay, I'm even more paranoid than Bill.

I use a throttle servo set up to kill the engine by closing the butterfly fully.
I use a choke servo, which if closed, can kill the engine. It's mostly for closing the choke, but it's handy in an emergency.
I also use an electronic ignition kill switch, either RCATS RC100 or Smartfly

My trainer switch on the radio is set up to kill the engine (Futaba 9C or 14MZ). I assign throttle servo to close, and the electronic ignition switch to the same trainer switch on the radio. This makes sure that either way, the engine is gonna shut off! For electronic ignitions, both the RCATS and Smartfly will open circuit, shutting the ignition down in the event that the receiver loses power.

There is also the mandatory manual switch on the plane as well, which of course is not very useful when the plane is flying or in the middle of crashing..... for this I use an MPI or JR Charge switch. I like the MPI with the LED's in it to indicate battery condition. It also lets me know that the ignition is armed when the LED's are illuminated.

My wiring sequence is:

Battery-->RCATS-->MPI Charge/Switch-->IgnitionModule

bubbagates

My Feedback: (32)

I also use my trainer switch but never even thought of putting both the in flight kills on it (DOH) I just use it for the throttle servo. Easy change and nice idea

hankpajari

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, more to think about.