Pressworks - CT-1 - Fun Projects, Inc.

1 Instructions- "Strobo-Spark"CoilTester- ModelCT-1 BackgroundThisTesteris designedtofunctionallytestFordModelT "handcrankedmagnetocoiltester"(HCCT). LiketheHCCTtheCT-1featuresa strobewheeltoallowtheviewingofthecoilope rationanddetectionofmisfiringoftenreferr edtoas"doublesparking".WheretheCT-1diffe rsis thatitteststhecoilata muchhigherequivalentRPMandalsoenlargesth e"window"ofthesparktimertestingtoshow3 successive"firstsparks" thatit firesthecoilrepeatedlywithouta timerandthepointsneverreallycompletelyre laxbetweeneachfiringastheywouldinfactrel axif theywereoperatedbythetypicaltimerontheMo delT enginewhenthetimeris magnetoandtimerona FordModelT,thecoilsequenceofeventsisasfo llows:1)TheTimerrunningonthefrontoftheca mshaftmakesconnectiontoa coilandprovidesa groundtoit )Thenextoccurrenceofa magnetocurrentpulsethatoccurswhilethetim eris "ramptofire"time(RTF) isideallyequalin allcoilstoresultin )Thecoileventuallyreachesthefiringpointa ndthe"firstspark"occursatthecoilwhichign itesthemixturein )

2 Thetimercontinuesitsdwelltimewhilethemag netosubsequentlyprovides2 orsometimes3additionalcurrentpulsesandth esecanfirethecoilagainbutthe"firstspark" istheonlyonethatreallymatterssofarasigni tionis "firstspark" "firstspark" trainofsubsequentsparkstotestthecoilwhil etheCT-1usesONLY"firstsparks" timeandthenreconnectingit thusshowing3 separate"firstspark" timer,theCT-1operatesthecoilwitha sparksvisiblein thesparkwindoware3 separate"firstspark" thatwhatisvisibleisthefirstsparkthatoccu rsateachof3 cylinderfiringsina moretruerepresentationofhowthecoilis workingwhenactuallyrunningin thecarandalsoa moreaccuratemeasureofitsoperatingcurrent bymeasuringtheaveragecurrentduringthesem ostcrucial"firstspark" coil' (inuFarads) ,Medium, :Warning!Topreventmeterdamagedonotallowt hemetertoreadoffscale!1)PlugtheCT-1power moduleintoa :ThisCT-1willonlyoperateon120V60Hz. A50Hz version is available on special ) )Insertthecoilintothecoilcompartmentandm akecertainit )PlacetheMeterswitchin the"CapValue" )Placea pieceofpaperbetweenthepointcontactsorhol dthepointsopenbysomeothermeansandmomenta rilypressthe"PresstoTest" ) +/-20%is normalandwillshowinthemeter"captest" )SwitchtheMeterswitchtothe"CapLeak" )Withpointsstillbeingheldopen,momentaril ypressthe"PresstoTest" ) )PlacetheMeterswitchin the"CoilAmps" )PlacetheMagnetoswitchin "Med" )Momentarilypressthe"PresstoTest" andonly3 :It is irrelevantwherethe3 sparksoccursolongastherearejust3 unpluggedandmaychangeduringcoiltestingif a theappearanceof3 andonly3 ) shouldessentiallyremainunchangedwhilethe coiloperatecurrentmaychangeslightlyshowi nga highercurrentin the"Low"positionanda reducedcurrentin the"High" )Anymisfiringor"doublesparking"willgener allyshowinthesparkwindowasanerraticpatte rnasin.