<VV> Ignition weirdness a lesson in voltage drop

[corvairduval at cox.net]

Wait!

One can NOT remove the coil and points from the circuit and measure voltage
at the end of the yellow wire to see if the resistance is correct. Ohms law
is still law. If there is no complete circuit, current cannot flow, so
there is no I to use the formula E=IR. R times 0 is 0 and therefore no
voltage drop across the resistor, even if it is in the circuit. The voltage
you read on the + wire to the coil with a typical high impedance voltmeter
will be battery voltage with an open circuit. He already reads battery
voltage at the + coil. The points do not mess up the reading, they MAKE the
reading meaningful. 

With the coil in the circuit and the points CLOSED, current will flow, so
E=IR is the law and the E at the coil should read ~ 6 volts, not battery
voltage with the resistance wire in the circuit.

You could read the resistance wire with the ohms scale, if you disconnect
the negative lead of the battery. Measure from the + battery terminal to
the + coil wire (disconnected from the coil) with the ignition switch in
the on position.

Frank DuVal

Original email:
-----------------
From: MarK Durham via VirtualVairs virtualvairs at corvair.org
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 07:30:33 -0700
To: kaczmarek at charter.net, virtualvairs at corvair.org, jwilson at unctv.org
Subject: Re: <VV> Ignition weirdness


Guys, Guys, we are straying from the problm stated here by Jeff. He needsto
manage the high voltage before moving on to other supposed issues.

Jeff, get your voltage under control. The best bet is to get that voltage
down so that 6 volt coil can do its job. If that yellow wire has 11-12
volts on it rather than the 8-9 then there is no resistance wire in the
circuit, so you need to step down that voltage. Disconnect the wire from
the coil to test it, better than having the points in the circuit messing
up your readings. The easiest is to simply add the resistor like I did in
the picture.  I found one at NAPA for a 64 and they are cheap, and
installed per the picture. Once your votage settles down, the coil can
operate as designed and you won't be burning points up either.

While you can get a 12 volt coil, frankly my system runs better on the 6
volt one. Its lasted three years, the high capacity 12 volt coils rarely
lasted a season and have left me stranded.

Then if a problem still exists, you can head down other rabbit trails unil
you find that.

Keep us posted!  :):)
 Mark Durham

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