Yes and no. Done wrong and 2.4 gets hammered as bad as everything else. 2.4 does a much better job of eliminating issues elsewhere at the moment but I expect that to change in the next year or so.

Why, what will change in a year or so?

I tried everything except a new CDI. So, I will order an RCEXL and report back in two weeks.

Ignition interference (unwanted radio frequency energy from an ignition system) can get into a radio system through 2 paths. First, and I might call this the front door, it can affect the system through the antenna port. This would be true RF interference. Second, it can come in the back door or through the power and / or servo leads. All 72 MHz. systems (or 36 Mhz, 42 MHz. etc depending on where you are in the world) are prone to interference through the antenna port. The antenna simply picks up radiated RF energy that is being leaked from the ignition system. This received ignition signal plays heck with the receiver decoder and the receiver passes a corrupted signal onto the servos as glitches. 2.4 GHz. systems are relatively immune to interference from this source. This is a frequency thing, not a radio brand thing so all systems are relatively the same here. For 72 MHz. systems, PPM will show ignition interference readily where PCM will tend to tolerate the interference until the interference reaches a level where the receiver can no longer mask it. This will happen most often when received signals from the transmitter are weakest ... such as when the plane is far away or during a range test.

2.4 GHz. systems can be interfered with when ignition noice is at a high level. The interference from the ignition system is radiated and the various battery and servo leads act as antennas and conduct the signal back to the receiver through their respective ports. This energy can affect the receiver decoder and cause servo glitching. This is a different sort of interference than when it comes in the antenna port. If you see this sort of interference, the amount of interference will be fairly constant regardless of whether the received signal from the transmitter is strong or weak. So if you solve this "back door" interference on the ground, you don't have to worry about it coming back in the air when the plane is at a distance from the transmitter. Some brands of receivers have more RF filtering on the power and servo leads than others

The time honored methods of keeping ignition parts as far away from radio components is the easiest method to prevent both kinds of interference. Eliminate wiring rats nests in the plane. Bundle servo leads as much as possible ..... leads running every which way are just small antennas looking to pick up interference. Yes ... neatness counts! Many other preventative measures have already been mentioned in this threads ....no need to repeat them here.

With quality ignitions such as RCexl, the CH variant or the original metal box CH when used with metal cap plug connectors, I (knock on wood) have never had a problem with interference ... and I'm still flying 72 MHz. equip. for the most part. I have two planes where the ignition box is mounted inside the fuselage fairly close to receiver components and there is no trace of interference.

I have 20 years of gassers, I have never had interferences, neither magnetos nor CDI, I am thinking that the problem can be in the switch of ignition of the radio system, you can try this, put the pack directtly in the reciver, and make the test again.
(Your radio is a PCM of course)
Good luck

yes.........

I like the idea of shielding the ignition box. It might be easier to make the "box" out of brass screen. You could solder to it easily. Be sure to ground the box to the engine block.

I am getting ready to set up my 1st gasser, a Zenoah G26 ei.

I was lead to believe that the 2.4G radio wouldn't get interfiered with... Is that wrong?

I also am thinking of getting one of the opti-switcched systems that Troy Built sells, so that you can switch off he engine by an open radio channel, wom't that help, or do I still need to seperate everything, old school.?

Chuck, Read the above post by Truckracer. Then read all the advertisements run by the radio manufacturers. They are all toting how their system is the best for many reasons but not a single one mentions radio frequency interference immunity, and for a good reason. There is no such thing. What you have heard is the usual rapid excessive rhetoric that modelers expound when they in all reality know very little about what they are talking about. Layout your radio and R/C system using good RF techniques. Dan.

Wow! Offers no advice of his own but degrades everyone else. Dan, we don't agree about anything in a certain subject area but your post took a lot of damn gall.

2.4 GHz. systems can be interfered with by ignition noise. But ...... they are much, much better than previous systems. If you get interference with these systems, it is almost guaranteed to be coming in through the battery and servo leads. Good installation practices go a long way towards preventing this kind of problem. See several posts in this and many other threads for examples of good installation practices.

Years ago, I flew mag ignitions using old Kraft AM radios with no problems. These ignition systems which are still very common today had no shielding on the plug lead. Yet, with good separation of components there were no problems. Even then, some people had many problems .... some no problems at all.

Many people use the opto-coupled cut-off devices with excellent results.

I don't have experience with the Zenoah ei system but other than high current draw, I can't say I've read of any other problems with it. I've seen several Zenoah engines converted to after market ignitions and the results are usually excellent. Lots written about this also if you do some searches.

While I'm waiting for the new CDI module to get here, I am posting my latest setup. As you can see, it's pretty clean.

I want to first start out by stressing that I strongly advise against setting up a plane this way. This was an experiment, my first converted glow to gasser, and the work is very shoddy but it does work and works very well. It has been flying almost 2 years now and has accumulated about 100 hrs in it's current configuration. The engine is a Supertigre G51 converted using CH ignitions metal case SyncroSpark system. It uses a Rimfire 1/4X32 sparkplug. The point I am trying make is that if everything is right and the ignition has NO leakage it can lay right on top of the Spektrum receiver with no adverse effects. It even has the dreaded metal rod going forward to the throttle barrel on the carb.

I have had not one single glitch in those 2 years and the Spektrum data logger rarely shows any loss of any kind when checked. Once again, I strongly urge against setting a plane up in this manner but offer it as proof that it can be done with success. It also serves as a good example of how not to set up a gasser if you are concerned about radio interference. Yes, Spektrum (and all the other 2.4's) can be shot down with the right interference but they are way more robust than the older technology. I could never have gotten away with this setup on an older radio.

This thread is about CDI interference and if you have the right CDI (read the good stuff not the cheap knockoff junk) set up correctly you should NOT even have to think about interference. My hat is off to Bill and Terry and Company at CH; they make some of the most awesome ignition equipment I have had the privilege of working with. On top of that they are some of the most helpful and nice folks I have dealt with.

Looks like my ordeal is finally coming to an end. I received the Rcexl ignition module a few days ago. It was installed this morning, and then I fired her up in my driveway. Range check seems good. I got out to 40 paces before starting to see servo glitch, with antenna down. Lets see how she does for real tomorrow.

It sure has been somewhat of a rocky road for you up until now and I do hope it all goes well for you so best of luck.

Karol

Good luck man. I hope she treats you good and comes back intact.

P.S. Since you are here in Houston, what field do you fly at? I am on the North side at Sport Flyers. I also fly some at Tom Bass, Alvin, Jetero, Prop Nuts, Scobie, and Barnstormers.

Does anyone make an ignition system with a removable spark plug wire? I ask this for packaging reasons, it would be nice to be able to just drill a hole the size of the wire or grommet, fish it through and then add the boot.

I often take the spark plug connector off of the CH Ignition systems unit to run the plug wire through the firewall. Just be very careful to get it back on properly. www.ch-ignitions.com

AV8TOR

The first test flight was completed with only minor damage to a prop and the spark plug cap. The engine is mounted inverted, and during taxiing, the tail jumped up and caused a nose-over, thereby destroying the prop and slightly damaging the spark plug cap. I failed to keep elevator up; it was my fault. The stainless steal cover on the spark plug cap split open. So, I just force it closed again with a plier and screwdriver. Fixed. Good as new. I haven't yet been able to get the engine to run at its full potential, but it has been running quite reliably. Hopefully, it'll get stronger as it gets broken-in. Is there a simple way to protect the engine, in case of nose-over? See how the cap is sticking out the bottom.

The simplest way I know of to prevent damage to the engine when a simple nose over while taxiing is to mount the engine upright.

I just had to say that? Not fair at all?

I want to close out this thread by providing an update on the RCexl ignition and the stock "blue" ignition module, so that people don't get the wrong idea about these cheap Chinese modules and engines. The RCexl never ran right on my XYZ-26 with a 5-cell Nicd; it didn't give max power. I don't know why. The RCexl started to fail after a dozen or so flights; it become harder and harder to start the engine and tune it. The RCexl finally decided to quit sparking at all last week.

I replaced the RCexl with my stock "blue" module. The stock "blue" module has been running excellent; it produces very healthy looking sparks. The "blue" module kills my 72 FM receiver; however, my 72 PCM receiver appears to be unaffected by the noisy "blue" module.

In summary, here's my current (more importantly, good running) setup.

XYZ 26cc,
5-cell Nicd,
stock "blue" ignition module,
72 Mhz PCM receiver,
16x8 prop,
7200 RPM.

I'm taking this engine out of my Spitfire, and putting it into something more aerobatic. Any recommendations?

The 7V that a fully charged Nicd delivers is way over the maximum recommended 4.8V-6V that the ignition is designed for. the 4.8-6V designation does not mean 4 or 5 cell operation. use a 4 cell pack, or get a regulator
Pete

The label on the Rcexl shows "4.8/6V".

The XYZ manual shows for "blue box": "Input voltage: DC 6v. Voltage more than 7V will destroy the ignition. Larger than 10V will cause explosion."

Hi kksiu2002:

RCEXL current ignition must be used to a MAX 6.0 V full charged battery. You can damage the ignition if you are using a 5 cell battery.
Also , when you are using the RCEXL ignition, have you tested properly the static ignition advance timing angle ? The magnet diameter and sensor housing has some influence on timing advance.
I've mounted the RCEXL ignition on many engines, including XYZ brand . Also to replace original and expensive ignitions for DA, 3W, Zenoah, Kroma, ZDZ, MVVS (Evolution in USA), RCGF, CRRCpro , single and twin cylinder. Also on glow to CDI conversions (gas and methanol fuel) on OS, Saito , ASP, JBA, YS Yamada, in many sizes, from 0.51 to 1.80 .
All of them are great runners, easy to tune and performs awesome. All of them have been checked to set the ignition advance to 28ΒΊ BTDC. Some of them works better at 26 and only one works better at 32ΒΊ BTDC , but all advance measures are taken with a ignition timinig kit , a device to check with a led and a buzzer when ignition time occurs.

About XYZ blue ignition ........ Some last more than first hour of running time. I've decided not to work anymore with this ignition. Many people with XYZ engines has some burned units ..... They are cheaper, but IMO , the quality is lower than RCEXL.. Current RCEXL ignitions have the plug wire shielded with carbon added to metal shield, the sensor wire shielded and protected, a rpm output wire, nickel plated ABS case , the shrinking tube is adhesive , it has a collar on rear side of plug cap, boot is silicone made .... and more .....

Regards

Yes, the RCexl is definitely higher quality looking than the "blue". So, the concensus seems to be that I used too many cells on the RCexl and burned it.

For my blue box ignition, should I keep using 5-cell Nicd or should I switch to 4-cell?

Check the voltage of your battery when full charged. Some users of xyz blue ignition has burned it on a direct usage of a full charged 5 cell NiCD. Or use a 6V regulator.
On the hobbycity customers reviews of this product , many of 'bad' opinions has been deleted.
All engines manufacturers have the faillure rate about their engines / parts. Also about ignitions. Ask xyz ......
Maybe on last production , they have improved the cdi ...... XYZ manufacturer know this ....

Regards