Home Forum Ask A Member Horsecollar coil trouble

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  • #153307
    dbkski
    Participant

      I had a friend check my coils. One measured 3750 on the meter. The other zero. We did the tests again with the same results. I figured this
      was my performance issue on my 1947 Sea Kings. However as we were disconnecting the meter I grabbed the spark plug wire and the meter
      jumped to 3680. We performed the tests again and sure enough, zero at first, then 3680 when I rotated the plug wire. Now both of the 1947
      Sea Kings run great in the bucket and show big, bright blue sparks when I test in the basement but seem down on power when run against
      my 1953 Sea King. I re-soldered the suspect attachment point but it still rotates. It is not solid. Am I soldering incorrectly? If the coil craps out
      when the throttle lever is moved, which is what I believe is happening, what can I do? See the pics.

      Sea Kings Baby!!!

      #153368
      Tom
      Participant

        US Member

        Is the ohmmeter reading really zero? or is it infinite resistance? If it’s really zero, it’s shorting out somewhere.

        T

        #153385
        frankr
        Participant

          US Member

          I would say that coil is not making a good electrical connection internally. It probably is toast and will have to be replaced.

          #154078
          dbkski
          Participant

            The readings we got are not fully understood by myself. A friend did the tests and I’m not sure what the numbers mean. I will be
            getting my own meter soon and will do the tests again. What troubles me is that when the plug wire is rotated the nub of solder
            is NOT solid. That is where the meter found a change. Is that nub of solder supposed to rotate. If not what do I do about it.
            I re-soldered one and it still rotates.

            Sea Kings Baby!!!

            #154088
            frankr
            Participant

              US Member

              In a perfect world, that solder tab should not move. Problem is, people overheat it when soldering to it, which melts the plastic surrounding it, making it loose. The solder tab is connected to the end of the secondary winding of the coil, consisting of many turns of hair-thin wire. If it is a good connection, electricity can flow with no resistance. But if it is a poor connection, electricity can still flow, but will jump (arc) across the poor connection gap. That is why it can still produce a spark. However, each time it arcs, it burns away at that fine wire, eventually making such a wide gap that the electricity can no longer jump the gap.

              The resistance (Ohms) across the poor connection is what shows up as an abnormally high meter reading.

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