Bill,
I feel it is a fair assumption that the LS1 coil was never intended to run at 12,000 rpm, as would be the equivalent of what we?re doing with the rotary at 6,000 rpm. So, we?re clearly operating it outside the design range. Does this shorten their life? Don?t know, but Tracy?s experience seems to indicate this could be the case. Couple this with other extremes, such as temperature and frequency and they might not be up to the task.
The coils on my 126,000 mile LS1 truck are all factory stock. No failures (knock on wood).
Mark S.
From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of wrjjrs@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:27 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: LS1 Coil Failures
There may well be a duty cycle problem, but I doubt it. Older ignitions used a single coil of similar type firing all 8 cylinders. I would be more likely to suggest it was a "bathtub failure curve" failure of the solid state "trigger" circuit.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark R Steitle <mark.steitle@austin.utexas.edu>
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 10:51:47 -0600
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: LS1 Coil Failures
Sorry, that's what I get for doing "head math". Anyway, my point is still valid. It fires 8 times more often in the rotary than in the truck/auto. Could the duty-cycle be the culprit? It would be interesting to see the specs on these coils.