What's the Best Way to Maintain Your Ignition System and Prevent CDI & Hall Sensor Failures? | Stirlingkit

by Simon Lee November 08, 2024

Dear Stirlingkit users
I believe many people's engines have encountered problems with CDI burnout and Hall sensor failure. Then you must read this article.

This article focuses on the maintenance and care of the ignition system, especially how to prevent CDI and Hall sensor failures. Through simple steps and practical tips, the article deeply analyzes key factors such as battery selection, grounding problems and spark plug maintenance to help everyone ensure efficient operation and stable performance of the engine. If you want to extend the life of the engine and avoid common failures, this article provides valuable advice.

This article is By Engine Man

Tips on maintaining your ignition system and preventing CDI and hall sensor failure

Lets have a good overview of what are the key components and how each contribute towards potential failure

Power on! (Battery)

With all the variety of power supply ranges for different CDIs coming out of China, sometimes it's hard to know what's is the correct battery and voltage to use. Some of CDI systems , such as those in Microcosm/OKMO v twins and likes of that, already come with the battery case for 3 AA batteries .
Others such as Cison, leave you to choose the battery while guiding you through acceptable voltage. Do you always need to opt-in for a Lipo ? Do you need high mAh battery ? The answer is both yes and no, depending on your application and if one power going to supply power to the CDI and other components.
Choosing the "right voltage" battery provides the adequate voltage consistency to ensure the charging and discharging high voltage capacitors happen more consistently, and the output to the spark plug has enough power for "hot" enough arc. This equals to better combustion and preventing spark plug fouling.

Ground that baby! ( Ground connection )

By far the major failure of the most Chinese CDIs are due to poor and solid grounding. How does it cause the damage ? During the release of the high voltage to the spark plug, based on few factors such as the exposed area of gnition wire, the close contact with top of spark plug the insulator cap and the quality of spark plug itself, the discharge doesn't always happen where it should. And if you dont have an establish and solid ground, it has no choice than return to CDI or have a fatal encounter with the hall sesnor.
when you get a new engine even if it is assembled inspect the ground point for the CDI. If the engine is mounted on a base you want to ensure the base and the surface you put it on has the correct grounding path as well.
I see a new Cison CDI doesn't have a ground wire, not sure what technology they implemented inside to avoid short circuiting, however I recommend to manually add a ground connection from the engine block to the mounting base of the ground directly.

Zap it hard ! ( spark plugs )

When it comes to model engines , having a complete combustion can make a significant difference on how they run and sound. Nothing is more disappointing of a poorly performing engine . One of the strong factor to ensure the combustion is complete is the strong and hot spark arc .
This is achieved by the correct voltage and the high quality build material and structure of the spark plugs. If they foul or not made properly , you either will have a rouge arc ( aka dead CDI or hall sesnor ) or a weak and inconsistent ignition .
inspect the spark plugs regularly to ensure they are not fouled or gummed up because of either added oil to the fuel or leaking piston rings. If you use gasoline as the fuel the carbon build up will be higher than likes of Fuel Camp/Fuelite . Take the spark out and clean with a decrease spray using a soft paint brush to get it clean properly. Don't Forget to clean the part that screws to the engine block!
To test the quality and power of the plug, connect it to the ignition lead, attach the side to the engine block, turn the ignition on and rotate the flywheel until you see the spark . A strong and healthy arc is light blue and very pronounced . If you see a fainted white or yellow arc or hear arcing but not seeing it on the tip of the plug, it means there is a problem somewhere. Try a different plug and observe how that performs.
Check for electrical leak , easiest way is with the plug inside the engine, turn on the ignition and rotate the flywheel by hand. As you pass the ignition cycle, you shouldn't hear the spark anywhere outside of the chamber which is mostly unaudiable. In multi cylinder engines with wasted spark . You will hear it through exhaust stroke through the exhaust pipe.
Hope these little tips help with your engines running well and happy

If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave your comments.

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