Lycoming Electronic Ignition system

[jhealan]

Has anyone converted to Electronic Ignition and if so which one and are you satisfied.

[Jetpilot86]

Yup. Dual system on my Bravo. 
 

I start in 2 blades when cold & run cooler vs Slicks. 

[McMooney]

I have a surefly on my m20e, awesome.   

lycoming eis is a surefly with fixed timing

[Fritz1]

installed electroair and removed it, use slick start mag booster on the left mag, solved hot start problems

[donkaye, MCFI]

I put a Surefly on the left Mag of my Bravo.  Works great.  No need for 500 hours inspections on it.  No hot start issues.  I would still feel uncomfortable with dual Sureflys.

[Jetpilot86]

On 10/21/2025 at 2:14 PM, donkaye, MCFI said:

I put a Surefly on the left Mag of my Bravo.  Works great.  No need for 500 hours inspections on it.  No hot start issues.  I would still feel uncomfortable with dual Sureflys.

After mine tried to kill Brian Kendrick when a Slick with 10 hours on it and one with just under 200 hours on it, left him with only 3 cylinders running, total, on 1 mag, he managed to get Lycoming to spring for the SureFly’s since the OH was still in warranty. To set it up, you have to run one mag off each battery and the batteries have to be independent of each other entirely. Took about 20 hours of labor to set it up. The backup for one mag battery is the other mag hooked to the other battery. 

It’s definitely a pricey switch for a pair, and honestly, if Lycoming wasn’t buying them, I’d probably gone with your setup. But after 3 Slicks cratered in 200 hours on a Factory OH, I don’t miss them at all. 

They are most noticeable on cold starts and climb performance. My CHT’s in climb are 20-30° cooler. Heavy, I can climb at 120k/700 fpm into the mid teens at 1/2 Cowl Flaps under 380°, used to be 390+, full open. Running a little cooler in cruise as well. 

[Rotorhead]

On 10/21/2025 at 10:26 AM, Fritz1 said:

installed electroair and removed it, use slick start mag booster on the left mag, solved hot start problems

@Fritz1 why did you remove the electroair?

-KC

[Fritz1]

Long story, PM me if interested

[philiplane]

On 12/20/2025 at 4:23 PM, Rotorhead said:

@Fritz1 why did you remove the electroair?

-KC

The Electroair system has a number of issues. Starting is worse than with a conventional magneto..there are problems with their accessory drive timing assembly losing teeth on six cylinder Lycomings,, and, the plug wires can fall off the coils. More than a few people have given up and removed them. But when it works, it works fairly well. Still, a SureFly is a much better electronic ignition system overall.