912 Electronic Module

The Ducati CDI are from another century, without timing adjustment (26° full time running) and they have a poor quality if it's allowed in your country I suggest you to use something else. I've developed fixing brackets and timing curves for Ignitech module that is mutch efficient in better quality and with a lower price.

https://www.hceaero.org/product-page/kit-cdi-complet-rotaxsérie-9 

Those are the Ignition modules for the iS engine ( the things that make the spark). As stated the old Ducati ignition modules were very old technology. I believe with the iS Engine these were updated. Normally in electronic speak SMD stand for "surface mount device" these are more modern devices and as implied mounted on the surface of the circuit board, they are more reliable.

I have heard good things about the Ignitech modules but have no experience myself. However I am not sure they are compatible with the iS engine

FYI the iS engine definitely DOES have variable ignition, the timing is determined by the ECU not the Ignition module...at least most of the time !

All...seems a lot of people don't understand the ignition system.  First, it is not made by Ducati.  That old idea comes from the fact that Rotax purchased the plastic box from them and left the Ducati name on it.  The circuit board is made in Austria and the design is a Rotax one.  Over the years many changes have been made on the circuit board and some 12 years ago they got Ducati to delete the name on the box....done.  The stator has been made by Ducati but the electrical circuit in the 9 seres never has been.  

Regarding the injected engines with a computer and fuse box.  There are no SMD modules in that system.  The firing is controlled by the computer and is not the same at all. Glenn is correct on that. 

Lastly if your engine is at the point where the modules are giving up, normally that is about 10 years from what I see, sure look at aftermarket.  it is extremely rare to find new parts fail within warranty and even then I know of goodwill warranty given to engines with low hours and well out of warranty.  The worst years were about 2006 when they had a huge ramp-up of production for the LSA aircraft that were flooding the market at that time.  The root cause was the circuit boards were not always placed in correctly and would not cool correctly as the small bits got bent on insertion to the box. (my view) Sometimes these would then have a bump form on the box (the term pregnant was used to describe the condition).  Sometimes people would continue to fly hundreds of hours by putting a bag of ice on the box to start the engine. It is fair to say people just refused to give up on a failed box until they could not start the engine. 

I am unaware of any major issues  since the big changes in 2010 with the change over to the "soft start" modules. The internal parts were improved and the circuit board seems more robust. 

Cheers

Gavin,

You posted your question in the 912iS forum, which is the forum for the fuel injected 912. However, the pages you posted are from the 912/914 IPC, which are carbureted engines. The items you are inquiring about are ignition modules, which Rotax calls SMD modules. These are used on the carbureted engines but not on the injected engines.  If you have a 912iS engine, you need to download the 912iS IPC.