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6 Volt coils

Started by cadillac60, May 16, 2013, 09:22:16 AM

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cadillac60

I have a couple of 6 Volt coils I use for back up. I would like to know how these can be tested to make sure they are in fact going to provide the spark needed.

Bruce Watson    (electrically challanged!)
Bruce Watson

Richardonly

If these belong on a car you are using, why not just put them in the car and try them?

If they work, they are good for an emergency or to use as a replacement part when the need arises.  As to how good they are, you have to ask yourself, how good is the one I am running?  Kind of an unknown, like so many parts in our cars.  We never know!

Richard
1948 Cadillac Fleetwood 60S
1995 Lincoln Towncar, Signature Series
1995 Jaguar XJ6
2001 Chrysler Sebring Convertible
1986 Yamaha 700 Maxim X motorcycle

Philippe M. Ruel

The most primitive test uses an Ohmmeter :
- Primary coil resistance is a few Ohms.
- Secondary coil resistance is a few thousand Ohms
- If any of these is infinite or zero, the coil is dead and should be discarded - this is the most simple case.


The main problem is, how will this coil behave in the real world, while providing hundreds of sparks per second ?

Some coils will pass the Ohmmeter test with flying colors, and fail when put into a real engine compartment at 120° F. Just because they are old : after 30 years in a car and 30 years on a shelf, oil (what cools the coil) may have gone, and clear coat (what insulates copper wire windings) may have chipped from place to place , thus creating shorts - not the real, huge short that will make a coil smoke instantly, but the tiny one that will let coil overheat and engine stall in the middle of nowhere.
1952 60 Special in France.

bcroe

Quote from: Philippe M. Ruel

The main problem is, how will this coil behave in the real world, while providing hundreds of sparks per second ?

Some coils will pass the Ohmmeter test with flying colors, and fail when put into a real engine compartment at 120° F. Just because they are old : after 30 years in a car and 30 years on a shelf, oil (what cools the coil) may have gone, and clear coat (what insulates copper wire windings) may have chipped from place to place , thus creating shorts - not the real, huge short that will make a coil smoke instantly, but the tiny one that will let coil overheat and engine stall in the middle of nowhere.   

On critical parts with this kind of concern, I rotate them into service about annually.  The one just removed
can be carried for a while just in case.  Bruce Roe