datorres88
Daniel Torres
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2015
- Messages
- 1,296
- Reaction score
- 695
I have had the Electroair EIS 41000 installed in my PA28-180 for a little over 4 years now (as many of you may know based of the multiple threads regarding Electroair on this forum) and I experience my first significant issue with it this past weekend. Shortly after leveling off at altitude I noticed that my engine was running a little rough. I went through all the diagnostics procedures and determines that cylinders 2 and 4 were not firing on the Electroair side (mag was working fine). I returned to my home field and began troubleshooting to discover that the problem appeared to be in the coil pack itself. This was a bit disconcerting seeing as a coil pack costs about $500 and I expected that it should last more than 4 years.
So I emailed Mike Kobylik of Electroair to tell him of the issues I was having and to ask if this was a common failure mode. He responded immediately with the following:
"Thank you for your email. That is a strange failure. Especially after the first flight went fine. I agree with you, coils should last longer than five years. Typically, if we have a coil failure, with either one tower or a pair of towers failing, that is picked up right away. I don't recall seeing a failure where one whole side of the coil pack fails (as in your case, where cylinders 2 & 4 fail). Obviously, I would like to see this coil back for our own inspection. We can send you a loaner coil in the meantime while we determine if this failure would be covered under warranty. Please send me a good shipping address and we will get a coil pack off to you."
Now, of course this does not yet ensure that I will not need to pay for a new coil since they have to determine if the issue is a warranty issue, but I was extremely pleased with Mike's immediate response and by the fact that he quickly shipped me a loaner coil without asking for any credit card information. I read a lot on this forum about people getting muted or cynical responses from manufacturers about issues with products, but I am comforted by the way Electroair is handling this issue.
I know that there is now another player in the electronic ignition space for certified aircraft and each system is a major improvement over the 120 year old magneto technology. I have generally been very pleased with the performance of my EIS system, but now I am also pleased with the way the company is standing behind their product.
So I emailed Mike Kobylik of Electroair to tell him of the issues I was having and to ask if this was a common failure mode. He responded immediately with the following:
"Thank you for your email. That is a strange failure. Especially after the first flight went fine. I agree with you, coils should last longer than five years. Typically, if we have a coil failure, with either one tower or a pair of towers failing, that is picked up right away. I don't recall seeing a failure where one whole side of the coil pack fails (as in your case, where cylinders 2 & 4 fail). Obviously, I would like to see this coil back for our own inspection. We can send you a loaner coil in the meantime while we determine if this failure would be covered under warranty. Please send me a good shipping address and we will get a coil pack off to you."
Now, of course this does not yet ensure that I will not need to pay for a new coil since they have to determine if the issue is a warranty issue, but I was extremely pleased with Mike's immediate response and by the fact that he quickly shipped me a loaner coil without asking for any credit card information. I read a lot on this forum about people getting muted or cynical responses from manufacturers about issues with products, but I am comforted by the way Electroair is handling this issue.
I know that there is now another player in the electronic ignition space for certified aircraft and each system is a major improvement over the 120 year old magneto technology. I have generally been very pleased with the performance of my EIS system, but now I am also pleased with the way the company is standing behind their product.
