Re: KZ700 power delivery is intermittant


Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> CK wrote:
>
> > I recommend that you check all the electrical connectors in your
> > ignition system, looking for loose or dirty connections. Remove the
> > spark plug wires and stick a metal object into the plug caps one at a
> > time so you can see how far the spark jumps when the engine is running.
> > You should see a bright blue white spark about 1/4 of an inch long. If
> > the spark is purplish, red, orange or white, that indicates a weak
> > spark.
>
> I understood that to be a very bad idea for electronic ignitions,
> at least per my Haynes and Clymers manuals.
>
> Might be better to ground them out instead of leavng them
> ungrounded and potentially having the spark find its own path
> to ground, possibly damaging electronic components.

It would be better to have an engine 'scope to check the voltage and
look for misfires, but my general assumption is that newbies have
almost nothing to work with, so I offer
simple tests.

Be$ide$, if the newbie take$ hi$ machine down to the $tealer$hip where
the mechanic doe$ ju$t happen to have a '$cope, he'$ ju$t going to tell
the newbie that replacing the coil *might* be the $olution. The money
for the replacement coil i$n't coming out of the $hop mechanic'$
pocket, he may even be getting a comi$$ion on part$.

It is true that the high voltage can puncture the insulation inside the
coil if one tries to check for ultimate voltage like Boris Karlov in
Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory with all of the Jacob's ladders and Tesla
coils.

When it comes to abusive testing of an ignition coil, I would say that
it is fairly safe to
check for voltages around 12,000 volts by looking for a 1/4 inch long
spark. When testing for ultimate voltages of 50,000 volts from a high
energy ignition system, trying to jump the spark an inch or more just
might "high pot" the insulation inside the coil, puncturing it.

That reminds me of a training instructor at work who had been a bit of
a boy genius and had made his own Tesla coil for a high school science
fair. He brought some of his toys to works and demonstrated them. Like
he had a laser before the public could buy laser pointers and laser
levels. It said "Hughes Aircraft Company" on the side, so it was the
Real McCoy.

When he demonstrated his Tesla coil he managed to set off the fire
detectors (from ionation and smoke, or from electromagnetic pulse, I
dunno). That annoyed the official
plant safety representative who told Tom Swift Boy Genius to cease his
experimentation in the refinery where hazardous flammable gasses might
be present anywhere.

I have made some sparks three feet long with 230,000 volts in the
Department of Water and Power switching yards while cranking
disconnects open. The disconnects weren't carrying any current, the
contacts of the giant oil-filled circuit breakers that most people
think are transformers were open.

But a 230,000 volt spark that's three feet long makes quite a crackling
sound as the circuit breaker is de-energized...

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: 1971 Engine Wont Start
    ... Check that the spark plug wires are connected in the correct order on the distributor cap. ... Remove distributor cap, and verify that the wire for the Cylinder under test is connected to the cap at the location the rotor points. ... Do not short-circuit the High Voltage terminal, leave a small gap about 3mm between the terminal and the grounded metal. ... It might be wired on the points' side of the coil, greatly reducing the strength of the spark. ...
    (rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled)
  • Re: Why no fire?
    ... through the wire - suggesting no High Voltage. ... switch allows 12v to the coil and points, both in Start and Run position. ... The coil causes a spark when the points OPEN, ... In the ignition key Start position, full voltage is ...
    (rec.autos.tech)
  • Re: What would cause a new spark plug to die so quickly?
    ... coils because they produce a spark quickly at higher RPM. ... How could they get a coil ... accept the disadvantage of lower voltage output. ... spark plug, so they went after high voltage coils that put out as much ...
    (rec.motorcycles.tech)
  • Re: Charging a capacitor to 6kV
    ... high voltage: 6kV (enough to get a reasonable spark). ... easiest way to do this is using a Flyback Transformer, ... i tried to make HV using a car ignition coil with a ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: 1971 Engine Wont Start
    ... I tried also a new coil. ... I have 1 wire on post 1, ... no spark appears at the HD lead. ... the distributor cap. ...
    (rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled)
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