Magneto 500 Hour - Who To Use?

[ProtoFly]

Leaving aside for the moment the debate about Magneto vs Electronic ignition:  560 hours on the mags, but 18 years, so would like to have them IRAN'd.  I'm located Eastern Pennsylvania.  Pretty sure no matter what, shipping the mags out is going to be the fact, so the bigger question is, who does the community recommend for mag inspections?

[A64Pilot]

I’m pretty much there myself, my dilemma is that I have the single drive mag, and I think it’s gotten so that people seem to specialize in them, many or maybe most won’t even do them, so I think the answer to your question may depend on which Mags you have.

Personally I don’t think any perceived advantage of electronic is worth the expense myself

Edited December 23, 2024 by A64Pilot

[toto]

I used Kelly for my D3000 IRAN, and I’ve had zero problems. Cost was a bit less than $3k for the IRAN, which seemed very high to me, but I’ve been happy with the result. 

That being said, I’m probably going to use flyguydon next time around. He’s highly recommended on the Piper Forum and seems to have a lot of experience with the Bendix dual mag.

 

 

[Marc_B]

My shop does mine and I have a Surefly on the right side.  But if I was sending out, I'd use Aircraft Magneto Service in Montana.  https://www.aircraftmagnetoservice.net

[bigmo]

Second @Marc_B - AMS in Montana. Maybe I'm mentally blocking it out, but I recall it was only $1200 even with shipping. That wasn't too long ago either. I know it wasn't anywhere near $3K.

[PT20J]

+1 for Aircraft Magneto Service. But I don’t think Cliff will do the dual mags any longer. They did a great job on my Slicks.

[redbaron1982]

I have a dual mag that was IRAN around 70 hours ago by Kelly, I have had no problem so far, but my understanding is that Kelly is one of the shops to avoid. I had some ignition issues around 20 hours ago and Savvy recommended sending the mags over to http://aeroacc-vny.com/ and they were amazing, they test bench the mags, and everything checked out so they returned them without charging anything but the shipping. Just for the service and transparency, I will send them over to Aero Accessories at Van Nuys if I ever have to do any work on the mags.

[MikeOH]

I had my mags done at Aero Accessories, and felt price and turnaround were great.  No issues; a couple hundred hours and three years ago.

[gevertex]

I had my dual mag overhauled by Quality Aircraft Accessories in 2023. It seems to be working well. Including a new harness and R&R total was in the $3600 range.

[Will.iam]

On 12/23/2024 at 8:56 AM, A64Pilot said:

I’m pretty much there myself, my dilemma is that I have the single drive mag, and I think it’s gotten so that people seem to specialize in them, many or maybe most won’t even do them, so I think the answer to your question may depend on which Mags you have.

Personally I don’t think any perceived advantage of electronic is worth the expense myself

When the IRAN is about the same price as the surefly and i will not have to pay for another 2000 hours for that side, it’s a killer deal. That and i have the pressurized mag that surefly doesn’t require so if I’m at altitude and the pressure fails or the mag i have the surefly to fall back on. 

[Marc_B]

8 hours ago, Will.iam said:

That and i have the pressurized mag that surefly doesn’t require

FYI FWIW.  Surefly now recommends pressurizing the ignition cap (I suspect out of abundance of caution) for turbo charge applications flying in teens/FL's.  Still waiting to have that done come annual.  Basically a threaded barb in the center of the cap with a small drain hole at the side/bottom of the cap and connect to upper deck line that you removed from the old mag.

But you're right...when it's time for an IRAN, overhaul, or mag replacement, the financial investment makes sense to consider EIS mag at that time if you're considering it!

[ProtoFly]

On 12/29/2024 at 10:13 AM, Marc_B said:

FYI FWIW.  Surefly now recommends pressurizing the ignition cap (I suspect out of abundance of caution) for turbo charge applications flying in teens/FL's.  Still waiting to have that done come annual.  Basically a threaded barb in the center of the cap with a small drain hole at the side/bottom of the cap and connect to upper deck line that you removed from the old mag.

But you're right...when it's time for an IRAN, overhaul, or mag replacement, the financial investment makes sense to consider EIS mag at that time if you're considering it!

Good to know, since I am turbo-normalized.  I've decided to go with the SureFly, and replace the left mag that has the Shower of Sparks.  Meanwhile, the right mag is being sent out for its 500 hour.  Going with Shrike-Aero, since the turnaround time is about a week, and other places are running a month or more, and they have a 6 month warranty.

I will admit that there'a a part of me that would like to replace the right mag instead of the left, simply because the right mag is difficult to get to, but once every couple or few years...meh...whats't difference.

Meanwhile, the annual goes on.....