Copperhead Aviation Ignition system
 

I bought an airplane from an estate sell and it has a Zenoah 26 with an Copperhead Aviation ignition system. On the ignition box it says 4.8 to 6 volts for the battery. My question is can I use LiFe (A123) battery with this system? It I also dated 2007. I did test it with a 4.8 battery and I got a good spark. This was former old club member who did take care of his airplanes, engines and radio equipment.

Thanks
Rich

The Copperhead ignition was just a rebranded RCexl ignition. Some of those early ignitions preferred to run at the lower voltage so I would question whether the use of a A123 battery connected straight would be the best thing for the ignition. If it were mine, I'd use the A123 battery but would use a single voltage dropping diode in series with the + battery lead. This was common practice a few years back. Wrong Way RC still sells these diode / cable assemblies or you can make your own. Very low cost and any worries of over voltage damage go away.

Thanks for the advice, I'll contact Wrong Way RC.

Rich

It's a 1N004 diode that you use. Each diode drops the voltage by .7 volt. With a 6.6 volt pack I myself would use 2 of them in series because that pack is a good bit over 6.6 volts when charged, and even after being used for a while. (The ignition only draws 300 ma, (.3 amp). Your ignition will thank you for the kind treatment. These ignitions have been shown to give good spark with only a 1 cell Lipoly at 3.7 volts.

Look online for the diodes. Digikey, Mouser, etc. will have them. .25 cents each?? Don't know 'cause it's been a long time, but they're cheap.

AV8TOR

I know this is a dumb question, but where would the diodes go? Between the switch and the battery, on the ignition or on the battery lead. I am dumb as dirt when it come to electronics, I seem to have a mental block. This sounds like what I should do.

Thanks for the advice
Rich

They go inline between the battery and the switch in just one of the battery wires. It doesn't matter which wire; either the red or the black. (Positive or negative.)

Let's assume you have a battery pack with the red and black wires coming out, without a connector. You would solder the one lead of the diode to (for example), the red wire. Then you would then have the black battery lead, and the remaining diode lead. These would hook up to a standard battery connector. Remember though, the diode has polarity, it will only flow electrical current in one direction so you have to check to make sure you have it wired up correctly.

This all needs done with perfect solder joints, protection with heat shrink tubing, etc., as the results of a failure would be catastrophic. You might be much better off to buy a pre-wired setup from Wrongway RC.

AV8TOR