Dual mag failure, off-field landing

[Skyland]

2 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Putting the cap on is a huge PITA. Getting the bottom P lead on the points is almost impossible with my big hands. Luckily, Dave has a stable of little kids with amazing mechanical skills. “hay, kid, get over here. Put that wire on that little thingy” easy peasy.

Connecting those two wires is exceedingly difficult.  I watched the guy who did mine complain profusely about how hard is to get your fingers in there to plug them in.  He used hemostat pliers, I think, and ended up twisting one of the leads which ended up rubbing on a rotating part which lead to my in-flight dual mag failure.

That arcing wire didn't just ground out one mag, it produced a high resistance short against the rotating magneto cam.  That produced heat, enough to heat up the cam to melt the point rubbing blocks thus closing the gaps on both points.

That cap should be designed with a plug and socket to make it impossible to misroute those wires, and make it a lot easier to install the cap.  Barring that, use caution plugging in those wires correctly.

[N201MKTurbo]

I’ve tried removing the capacitors, connecting them to the points and then screwing them into the cap. It wasn't any easier just a different PITA.

[BlueSky247]

Just a reminder to folks using a variety of extenders and adapters off of a torque wrench - you’ll need to compensate on your tool’s torque setting for those pieces. 

[EricJ]

I had to remove my mag and reinstall it (and remove it again) today, so I took a pic of it out with the cap on.   There's plenty of room to maneuver it around.  It's probably easier on my airplane since the vacuum pump has been deleted, and it helps a lot if the crank vent hose is moved out of the way, the oil cooler hose is disconnected, and the tach cable is disconnected.    Those are all easy to do, but it makes a big difference in having room to maneuver.

I think the other key point is that the harness needs to be loose, too, which is a bit larger in the PITA scale.