ignition coil tester

Can anyone recommend a good ignition tester for Stihl chainsaws. I have the inline spark tester, but looking for a reliable way to test coils. Like the Stihl JST-5000. Wondering if there are other brands out there that will do the same things, like check maximum levels and working levels to arc.

Any help or info on what and where to purchase these products would be appreciated.

Tom

Personally, I wouldn't waste any money on one.

I use resistance meter.

I approve Fish on this.Dont spend money on tester.If you dont have spark,go instead by deduction to test,disconnect switch,check wires,etc..

Coil test:

I use a good multimeter or a good digital Ohn meter. Usually tells me what's going on after disconnecting and isolating a few things. Take care. Lewis Brander.

What setting do you use with a Multi-Meter? How do you set up and what exactly would I be looking for? I mean I can set it and test whether anything is going through it, but what number would mean it's good at which setting? Sorry, I'm not real knowledgeable about the multi-meters. I have a digital one but don't really know how to use it.

Tom

Meter

Tom , does your ohm meter have a RX1 scale and a RX1K scale ?

Not sure, don't see it listed that way, but here is a photo of my multi-meter

Meter

Tom , good picture of the meter . The 200 range in the ohms (omega symbol) would be a good scale for checking the coil primary winding . I've measured 0.5 ohms up to 5 ohms on different coils . The 20K scale (20,000 ohms) would be the scale to use on the coil secondary winding . I've measured 3,500 ohms up to 5,000 ohms on different coils .The 2000K scale (2000000 ohms) would be a good scale to measure isolation of the primary winding to laminations and to the secondary windings and the secondary windings to the laminations .

Ground a new plug, pull the rope. No sparky, bad coil. 3 part ignitions like echo or shindaiwa, send them to a dealer, let them worry about it. Sorry, but I have wasted
enough money on tools that do not earn their keep. Of course if the coil has a bad
ground, it may be a problem, but no tester is needed there either.
Sorry, but I just call it like I see it....

I have never cared for those digital readout type multi testors, darn things never give a constant reading, they are always up and down. I much prefer the scaled ones with the needle, seems I learn more from watching the action of testing equipment more than what the numbers are saying.

Taking a stab in the dark here, if you have a coil that is giving intermittent spark, is it possible to test the coil by imitating what the flywheel does by using a magnet????

Larry

I'm not totally technology friendly, so I wont go out and buy more complicated tools I cant use. they'll just sit there in my toolbox gathering dust, while I use the simple techinique Fish mentioned.
I cant see buying tools I wont understand or use at all. waste of money better spent on saw files.

tom I built a coil tester out of a Stihl 044 crank case bolt the coil on and turn the crank with a drill. I usually runit for 2 minutes or so to make sure it does not quit when it warms up a little. You need to trim the castings down and attatch a plate with slots on it to adjust for differant coils. I also have a good quality spark tester attatched for ease of use.

"For what it's worth, that the better digital multi-meters will have an analog-emulating bar graph segment to better read fluctuating values which often render the digits useless.

Glens."


A message from a banned or what ever it is called this week.....

Trying to test a coil

I am rehabbing an old 026, and the original plug lead has a longitudinal gouge out of the rubber casing. I taped it up and it ran great for a while, but then only had a weak yellow spark, and the saw wouldnt hardly run at all. So I bought a used coil, and I still don't get a spark with that coil at all. I tried a different flywheel, no dice. What else could there be in the circuit? Plug, flywheel, coil. How can I check the coils to see whether they are OK? I heard they rarely go bad, so this is confusing...........:monkey:

I gather from previous posts that it is not a simple matter of hooking up a multimeter and checking for go/no go.

Dead simple.... Take a plug, cut off the ground electrode, solder a 8 inch wire (with a clip on the other end) to the plug body.

Insert pulg into igntion lead, clip wire to the cylinder and pull over fast... if the spark jumps the large gap, it will fire the plug with a normal gap at 10 atmospheres (or more).


Check your flywheel to coil gap.
Pull off the shorting wire.

And... tape doesn't work. Replace the ignition lead - it just unscrews. Buy some lead from your Stihl dealer - not the thick stuff at the autopart stores...

And.... Stihl COILS rarely go bad, but Ignition Modules do.... The 0000 400 1300 you have is pretty reliable, but I replace my share of the old units... from the early '90s. Many are covered by Stihl's "original owner" lifetime warranty.