With the Lycoming O-360 in my Grumman Tiger freshly overhauled, I decided it was time to replace one of the mags with an Electroair electronic ignition.
At the time (I started shopping for it and a Garmin avionics package at AirVenture 2017), the investment in the Electroair EIS 41000 seemed risky. Generally skeptical of manufacturer claims of improved performance, I also thought about dispatch reliability (we fly a lot) and maintainability as the system aged.
Six years and over 1000 flight hours later, the ownership experience has been satisfying, and just as important, so was the outcome after I put Electroair and a support shop to the test to fix a system failure. First, some words on performance.
EASIER STARTS, EFFICIENCY
The Electroair immediately proved impressive performance gains on the flight back to my home base in Pennsylvania from the Electroair’s suggested installer in Ohio. More on shop support in a minute.
Some of my performance observations are subjective, but most are objectively verifiable after 17 years of flying the same airplane. First, the Electroair makes for more efficient starts. With three strokes of primer in 40-degree temps, my Lycoming will light off in a half of a blade—think automotive performance.
I notice stronger climbs to the engine’s sweet spot at around 9500 feet, and improvements in cruise, where the 180-HP O-360 pushes 2700 RPM. Previously accustomed to a full-power setting at that altitude, I routinely reduce the power now. Leaning is different, too. I tried leaning by engine roughness to see just how lean I could get it. Under the prevailing conditions, the POH value is 9.8 GPH. The O-360 was still running smoothly when I pulled the mixture back to 5.5 GPH.
On the long flight to Ohio with traditional mags, I could only manage 12,400 feet to get over cloud tops and avoid icing. The operating ceiling on the Tiger is listed at 13,800, but on the way home with one electronic mag, I managed 15,000 MSL and was still climbing at 400 FPM. For the performance gains alone, I quickly had no regrets with the initial investment.
FIRST FAILURE
I went into this major upgrade acknowledging that while the Electroair ignition packs a healthy punch of modern tech into an otherwise old engine design, one price to pay may be in the troubleshooting effort when it breaks. For the inexperienced mechanic, buyers are vulnerable. It’s simple: Magnetos are old school and all competent mechanics understand them. Electronic ignition, on the other hand, not so much. Nothing drove this point home better than a recent long flight home from the Bahamas.
While en route, we experienced ever increasing CHTs, which by the last leg, had become problematic. Using the JPI engine monitor, at 9500 feet we had to run a full rich mixture and 62 percent HP to keep CHTs under control. Directly to the maintenance shop we went.
After a few days of troubleshooting, the mechanics found nothing wrong—no induction leaks and no leaks in the baffling. As Sherlock Holmes said, “Once you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth (or the problem).”
The only remaining engine wild card was the Electroair electronic ignition. A 20-minute phone call to Electroair suggested that the manifold pressure sensor may have failed, causing timing advance issues. Simply disconnecting the sensor’s three-pin Molex (bypassing it from the rest of the system) and a test flight indicated the sensor was indeed the point of failure. Problem found but not solved—yet.
The next step was to determine the level of Electroair’s customer service and support. My EIS 41000, a generation-one system, was installed in late 2017 and had accumulated about 1400 hours. While it was clearly out of warranty, claims were made by Electroair that the system will go to TBO and beyond—which is a huge selling point over magnetos and their 500-hour inspection interval. Since it failed before TBO, I felt some sort of assistance from the company might be appropriate.
MAKING IT RIGHT
I contacted Mike Kobylik, Electroair’s CEO, whom I’d met at AirVenture in 2017. I explained my position and asked how he would handle situations like this. Of the 1500 certified gen-one ignition systems sold since 2011, there have been less than 20 MAP failures, making my failure a rarity at a miniscule 1 percent.
Kobylik told me he handles outliers like mine on a case-by-case basis. In this case he offered either a new gen-one MAP sensor or a new gen-two unit with wiring harness at a reasonably discounted price.
The second-gen system, introduced in March 2021, has an improved MAP sensor. Rather than separate MAP and control modules, the latest version is a single-box design, integrating both the MAP and integral electronics into a single unit. To date, 650 gen-two Electroair systems have been sold, and both systems are blanketed under the same STC.
In my installation, the upgrade to the gen-two system meant replacing the 22-pin original harness with the new 14-pin wiring harness, plus the control module. This isn’t difficult for a skilled tech, but it still requires some downtime and teardown.
So, rather than replace the original MAP sensor (originally certified in 1992 for the experimental market), I opted to upgrade to the new gen-two system—again, not a drop-in replacement. Still, considering the out-of-warranty timeline, I happily paid for the installation. There are at least some perceived benefits for moving up to the gen-two system in this situation.
A LOOK AT FIELD SUPPORT
There are 60 authorized Electroair installation centers internationally. I was disturbed when, in 2018 during my full panel avionics upgrade, the avionics shop sent me pictures of the Electroair ignition install. The original installing shop had not correctly installed the MAP and control module. Rather than fastening them to the firewall per the STC, the control module was laid on top of other wires and simply tie-wrapped to those wires. That was clearly shoddy workmanship on the installer’s part.
I asked about how Electroair keeps its authorized installer/support network trained; presumably because of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual Zoom training sessions have remained the norm. Worth mentioning is that when I also asked Kobylik if owners of the first-gen Electroair system should consider an upgrade path, he said that there is really no reason to do that.
When asked about where to take my airplane for the upgrade, as the closest authorized installer is a four-hour round-trip flight, Kobylik suggested, and I concurred, that the mechanic you select should be a tradecraft mechanic. As noted, the upgrade is not complicated, so attention to detail is the most important consideration.
I chose nearby Lancaster Avionics in Pennsylvania, the avionics shop that did my major panel retrofit in 2018, and also properly installed the MAP and control module—redoing the work from the 2017 shoddy install. Lancaster Avionics completed the Electroair upgrade in seven shop hours, and I couldn’t be happier with the work.
Interesting and impressive is that Electroair also has a tech named Adam on its staff, a traveling mechanic whose job is to troubleshoot and fix—on-site—problems with Electroair interfaces. In that scenario, if the problem is found to be related to an Electroair ignition system component, then Electroair foots the bill. If the issue is either an installation problem or something unrelated, then the owner is responsible.
Kobylik said that a good percentage of issues that are found have nothing to do with the Electroair, but instead other problems that may have existed before the new ignition was installed. Starting with a well-maintained and squawk-free engine is key.
NO REGRETS
Despite the earlier than anticipated failure of the Electroair MAP sensor, I remain quite satisfied with the support I received from the folks at Electroair. From a certain perspective, that original trip home from the installing shop in Ohio back in 2017 was the most thrilling flight I ever made in my Grumman.
I was amazed that replacing one of the mags to an electronic ignition could have such a dramatic effect on overall engine and aircraft performance. I enjoy quicker starts, plus I can fly higher and longer while burning less fuel.
Finally, Electroair standing behind its product makes the ownership experience even better.
Aviation Consumer contributor Bob Reed is a longtime Grumman Tiger owner and flight instructor based in Pennsylvania
