how do you people test ignition coils??

[jbgorecom]

how do members test ignition coils??

How do members bench test ignition coils out of the saw.??? (non point system).
I have a bunch of coils out of saws that were scrapped. Just want to test them to make sure they still work. Without having to put them back into a saw and try it with a spark plug. One friend said to wave a strong magnet back and forth near the flywheel side of the coil (with the spark plug attached to the coil wire and grounded to the metal on the coil) , and it should spark. Have not got that to work yet. Must be doing something wrong.
any help????

As Always, Thanks for any help

jbgorecom

 

[TraditionalTool]

I'd like to know that also...I've seen devices that will show spark, I think you could hook one of those up if you had one. I know I'm not getting spark on mine, or at least getting intermittent spark. I use the tip of the plug pulled out...

I don't know if one can use a multimeter and test them...maybe someone will pipe up who knows a way...I'm pretty sure mine was bad, but I would like to test it and have asked in a couple messages over the past few days and nothing has surfaced...basically they are supposed to provide spark.

 

[Rookie1]

This is how I check the coils on the points style 031s. http://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/automotive/beatbook.pdf Page 18. Im not sure if it will work on coils with the trigger internal.

 

[jbgorecom]

If you have the service manual for the saw the coil came from, you can use a meter and ohm the leads out. The manual will give you a range of what the ohm's should be. One of my manuals states that if the ohm's are out of the range the coil is no good. But what if you don't know any of the above. I should be able to set up the coil on some type of test, and make it spark.
I have about 6 coils out of poulan saws, but have no idea what the ohm's should be. I would like to bench test them without putting them back into the saw. As a last resort that's what I might have to do.

jbgorecom

 

[Evan]

when i worked at the bike shop we had some kinda gizzmo to test coils. but if i want to test them ill just throw them on my 044 and crank em over real quick this saw doesnt haven anything on it so its real easy to toss a coil on it.

but yeah you could spend some money or wave some kinda magic over it

 

[sloch24]

You People?!?!?!?!?

Am I the only one that's slightly offended?!?!?!

What exactly do you mean by "You People"????


I'm quite certain that you're one of "you people" now, cuz yer askin' 'bout chainsaw stuff on a forum that you joined!

 

[jbgorecom]

I went ahead and changed my wording before I offended anyone else.
The phrase (you people) To me means anyone. At least that's what I meant. Let's not bring race into a chainsaw forum. If I have offended anyone , I apologize. If I would have said you guys, the girls would have been offended. I just meant anyone who tests coils. Bad choice of words I guess.

So how about this. If anyone out there knows how to bench test a coil, would you please explain.
I've got to learn how to phrase my questions a little better. one of those stick foot in mouth questions.
I'm going to take a beating for this one.

jbgorecom

 

[lawnmowertech37]

back in 1987 foley belsaw was selling a coil condenser tester which back then costed around 70.00 i dont know if they still sell the item or not though at one time i had one but it got blowed up the diode in it got old and decided to quit working


foley does have small engine shop work order forms specially made for small engine shops

 

[spacemule]

Am I the only one that's slightly offended?!?!?!

What exactly do you mean by "You People"????


I'm quite certain that you're one of "you people" now, cuz yer askin' 'bout chainsaw stuff on a forum that you joined!

Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of two beers clanging like we're all alcoholics? That's just rude!

opcorn:

 

[Former Saw Builder]

Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of eating popcorn like we're all a bunch of couch potatoes? That's just rude! :monkey:

 

[TraditionalTool]

Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of eating popcorn like we're all a bunch of couch potatoes? That's just rude! :monkey:

Had 'ta rep 'ya on that!

Note to self: "self, ice tea on keyboard no good!".

 

[Saw Dr.]

How do members bench test ignition coils out of the saw.??? (non point system).
I have a bunch of coils out of saws that were scrapped. Just want to test them to make sure they still work. Without having to put them back into a saw and try it with a spark plug. One friend said to wave a strong magnet back and forth near the flywheel side of the coil (with the spark plug attached to the coil wire and grounded to the metal on the coil) , and it should spark. Have not got that to work yet. Must be doing something wrong.
any help????

As Always, Thanks for any help

jbgorecom

There is a reason for the coil to flywheel air gap. I seriously doubt that waving a magnet in front of the coil will work, unless the magnet is the one on the correct flywheel at the correct gap. I test coils by replacing with a known good one. That is always fun when the "known good" coil turns out to be bad..... Post some pics of the coils up here. The Poulan crowd can probably help you ID the coils, and maybe even find them new homes.

 

[J.W Younger]

Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of two beers clanging like we're all alcoholics? That's just rude!

opcorn:

it dont take much to get yer panties in a bunch

 

[Nethercutt]

I took the flywheel-half of a crankcase, left the bearing in, installed the crankshaft, and use that to test ignitions with.
Install the ignition, flywheel, and ground the spark plug to the crankcase with an "alligator clip."
I just spin the crank with a powerdrill.

Just make sure you use a powerdrill that spins slowly. I've got one ignition module so far that sparked just fine at high RPM, but won't start a saw because it doesn't spark below 800RPM. Pretty hard to pull-start a saw up to 1000RPM!

 

[sloch24]

I went ahead and changed my wording before I offended anyone else.
The phrase (you people) To me means anyone. At least that's what I meant. Let's not bring race into a chainsaw forum. If I have offended anyone , I apologize. If I would have said you guys, the girls would have been offended. I just meant anyone who tests coils. Bad choice of words I guess.

So how about this. If anyone out there knows how to bench test a coil, would you please explain.
I've got to learn how to phrase my questions a little better. one of those stick foot in mouth questions.
I'm going to take a beating for this one.

jbgorecom

You know I's jus' kiddin', right!?!?

I just thought it was funny to see "You People"... hehe

I haven't heard anyone say that in quite a while.

You know, I didn't bring race into it... Unless Chainsaw Addicts are now a race... Hmm.. That's a thought..

Oh well, at least Space is getting some fun outta it.

 

[cjcocn]

Okay, show's over.

Let's get back to the coil question, shall well?

I seem to recall a post in a thread ... here it is:

Hello Fellas
Some of you guys that have seen my posts know that my Pioneer chainsaw collecting is going all right but tearing them down is another thing.I have quite a few tools as mentioned before but could use some more as well.Today while in a local automotive supply and tool shop I noticed 2 little gizmo's that might prove usefull to me.They are made by Thexton.One is a coil-on plug tester and the other is a adjustable ignition tester.They basically look the same but one has a long wire for the alligator clip.They were on sale and made in the USA.Package say's good for small engines as well as automobiles. Now I need to ask how you fellas use them,the directions could be a bit better on the package.
Thanks
Lawrence

Some reading to keep you fellas occupied.

 

[flyingtim01]

Jred 90 Coil

Bump.

Any new info on this? I'm trying to get consistent spark out of my Jred 90, and I'm pretty sure the coil is NG. Unfortunately, the coil is significantly different from the automotive style shown in the Fluke info that Rookie1 supplied. The coil in the 90 only has the primary lead for the plug, and a connector to hook up the wire from the points. (Theres also one that connects to the kill switch to ground out the whole operation)

The story goes that the saw first had no spark, then it had spark, kicked over once or twice, and now it has no spark whatsoever. If I hook one lead from the meter up to the plug wire, and one lead up to the spade terminal that connects to the points wire, I'm getting 8.24 ohms. That sounds like a lot of resistance to me, shouldn't it be in the 0-2 ohms range or so?

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but the top cover is cracked right over where the coil bolts to the inside of the cover. If something fell on the saw...can a coil be physically damaged like that? What do you guys think?

 

[AKDriveSprocket]

One must under stand the law of OHM to make any sense of it. Some people or those people say it is easy to learn but I`m still scratching my head at it.

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

I do it like I do with 9 volt batteries, I stick the spark plug against my tongue and pull it over. If I get shocked, it's working, no shock time to replace the coil.

 

[AKDriveSprocket]

It would be nice to be able to test the coil and to test the wire separately. I wounder how many coil are canned just because of a bad wire. Does the wire go bad often?