How to Use the Ignition Coils

       Ignition coils (also called spark coils) are induction coils in the automobile's ignition systems, transforming the battery's 12 volts (6 volts in some older vehicles) to the thousands of volts (20 to 30 thousand volts or more) needed to create an electric spark in the spark plugs to ignite the fuel. Some coils have an internal resistor to reduce the voltage and some rely on a resistor wire or an external resistor to reduce the voltage from the car's 12 volt wiring flowing into the coil. They are essentially autotransformers with a high ratio of secondary to primary windings. By "autotransformer," it means that the primary and secondary windings are not actually separated. That is to say, they share a few of the windings.
       Using ignition coils are fairly straightforward. Firstly, connecting 8 AA batteries in series provides more than enough current and voltage. The AA batteries should last for a lot of firings, so you might as well connect the batteries together by soldering wires onto them. Secondly, connect the high voltage terminal of your ignition coils to the tip of the spark plugs. The high voltage terminal is at the top center of the coil, with the deep socket. Use wire with good insulation. It’s better to keep the wires a few centimeters apart, and away from any moisture. Then use another wire to connect the body of the spark plug to one of the terminals of the ignition coils. Finally, run two wires from the positive and negative terminals of the ignition coil. A long, but fairly thick wire is a good choice; accordingly, you can trigger your cannon from a safe distance.
       Even though ignition coil produces about 10,000 volts, it actually is less dangerous than the 110 volt that comes out of a wall socket. This is because ignition coil does not produce enough current to cause damage. Furthermore, the high output voltages only produce in transients on the input current.

The Structure of Ignition Coil

       The ignition coil is a simple device which is basically a high-voltage transformer made up of two coils of wire. One coil of wire is called the primary coil. Wrapped around it is the secondary coil. The secondary coil normally has hundreds of times more turns of wire than the primary coil. The ignition coil looks like an electromagnet, but it is an inductor as well. The key to the coil's operation is what happens when the circuit is suddenly broken by the points. The magnetic field of the primary coil collapses rapidly. The secondary coil is engulfed by a powerful and changing magnetic field. This field induces a current in the coils -- a very high-voltage current (up to 100,000 volts) because of the number of coils in the secondary winding. The secondary coil feeds this voltage to the distributor via a very well insulated, high-voltage wire.

       In the ignition system, a distributor cap is used in an automobile's engine to cover the distributor and its internal rotor. It has one post for each cylinder, and in points ignition systems there is a central post for the current from the ignition coil coming into the distributor. In high energy ignition (HEI) systems there is no central post and the ignition coil sits on top of the distributor. On the inside of the cap there is a terminal that corresponds to each post, and the plug terminals are arranged around the circumference of the cap according to the firing order in order to send the secondary voltage to the proper spark plug at the right time.

       Car engines that use a mechanical ignition distributor may fail if they run into deep puddles because any water that leaks into the distributor can short out the electric current that should go through the spark plug, rerouting it directly to the body of the vehicle. This in turn causes the engine to stop as the fuel is not ignited in the cylinders. The distributor cap is a prime example of a component that eventually succumbs to heat and vibration. It is a relatively easy and inexpensive part to replace if its bakelite housing does not break or crack first. Carbon deposit accumulation or erosion of its metal terminals may also cause distributor-cap failure.

The Structure of Ignition Coil

       The ignition coil is a simple device which is basically a high-voltage transformer made up of two coils of wire. One coil of wire is called the primary coil. Wrapped around it is the secondary coil. The secondary coil normally has hundreds of times more turns of wire than the primary coil. The ignition coil looks like an electromagnet, but it is an inductor as well. The key to the coil's operation is what happens when the circuit is suddenly broken by the points. The magnetic field of the primary coil collapses rapidly. The secondary coil is engulfed by a powerful and changing magnetic field. This field induces a current in the coils -- a very high-voltage current (up to 100,000 volts) because of the number of coils in the secondary winding. The secondary coil feeds this voltage to the distributor via a very well insulated, high-voltage wire.

       In the ignition system, a distributor cap is used in an automobile's engine to cover the distributor and its internal rotor. It has one post for each cylinder, and in points ignition systems there is a central post for the current from the ignition coil coming into the distributor. In high energy ignition (HEI) systems there is no central post and the ignition coil sits on top of the distributor. On the inside of the cap there is a terminal that corresponds to each post, and the plug terminals are arranged around the circumference of the cap according to the firing order in order to send the secondary voltage to the proper spark plug at the right time.

       Car engines that use a mechanical ignition distributor may fail if they run into deep puddles because any water that leaks into the distributor can short out the electric current that should go through the spark plug, rerouting it directly to the body of the vehicle. This in turn causes the engine to stop as the fuel is not ignited in the cylinders. The distributor cap is a prime example of a component that eventually succumbs to heat and vibration. It is a relatively easy and inexpensive part to replace if its bakelite housing does not break or crack first. Carbon deposit accumulation or erosion of its metal terminals may also cause distributor-cap failure.

 

What is Ignition Distributor System?

       The ignition distributor handles several jobs. Its first job is to distribute the high voltage from the coil to the correct cylinder. And the coil is connected to the rotor, which spins inside the cap. The rotor spins past a series of contacts, one contact per cylinder. As the tip of the rotor passes each contact, a high-voltage pulse comes from the coil. The pulse arcs across the small gap between the rotor and the contact (they don't actually touch) and then continues down the spark-plug wire to the spark plug on the appropriate cylinder.

       The engine is like a big pump. It pumps air and gas in, then pumps exhaust out. The byproduct is a lot of energy that is sent to the wheels and exhaust out the tailpipe. That's the basic of all basic descriptions. Engine mixes air and fuel, then adds a spark to make the explosion. This spark ignites the air-fuel mixture, and is referred to as the ignition. This ignition takes place thanks to a group of components working together, otherwise known as the ignition system. The ignition distributor system consists of an ignition coil, distributor, distributor cap, rotor, plug wires and spark plugs. Older systems used a points-and-condenser system in the distributor, newer ones use an ECU, a little brain in a box, to control the spark and make slight changes in ignition timing.