Increasing the energy of a HV spark
Thomas F, Wed Sept 25 2019, 04:26PMHello HV Folks,
I have a question,which I am still trying to frame in my mind without much success. But I will still take a shot at it
Automotive igntion transformers,have spark energy as one of their specifications.I was wondering if it is possible to increase the energy of the spark,just by changing the transformer,keeping the rest of the system intact.
Perhaps the energy of the spark is also dependant on the size of the core,hence increasing the core size will increase the spark energy ?
Cheers !
Thomas
Re: Increasing the energy of a HV spark
Patrick, Thu Oct 10 2019, 04:18PM
need more info...
is this for a conventional car application ? or is this for "our" common use here on the forum ?
Keep in mind there are three types i know of.
-Coil/cylinder looking one from 50 years ago. (they work well)
-TFI from Ford
-HEI from GM
These will kick your ass if your finger gets to close :
These brand new ones purchased, not junk yard pulled, should be good if timed properly. Keep in mind these can and do run well or exclusively on cap discharge like a camera strobe.
The TFI and HEI are EE cores are solid with a air-gap, the "can" type are liquid filled with an I core.
Transistors can be used to drive them well when used carefully.
I did un-crimp the can type and unwind about 15% of the primary. It did become more "sparky", i then removed 30% and it turned to junk. So be careful.
Patrick, Thu Oct 10 2019, 04:18PM
need more info...
is this for a conventional car application ? or is this for "our" common use here on the forum ?
Keep in mind there are three types i know of.
-Coil/cylinder looking one from 50 years ago. (they work well)
-TFI from Ford
-HEI from GM
These will kick your ass if your finger gets to close :
These brand new ones purchased, not junk yard pulled, should be good if timed properly. Keep in mind these can and do run well or exclusively on cap discharge like a camera strobe.
The TFI and HEI are EE cores are solid with a air-gap, the "can" type are liquid filled with an I core.
Transistors can be used to drive them well when used carefully.
I did un-crimp the can type and unwind about 15% of the primary. It did become more "sparky", i then removed 30% and it turned to junk. So be careful.
Re: Increasing the energy of a HV spark
Thomas F, Sun Nov 08 2020, 12:42PM
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the reply.There were no replies in a long time, so I assumed the topic was dead.
Mostly the question was a general knowledge kind of thing.
As is how does one compute the energy of a spark. And what parameter of the transformer would one tweak to increase the spark energy.
Cheers
Thomas
Thomas F, Sun Nov 08 2020, 12:42PM
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the reply.There were no replies in a long time, so I assumed the topic was dead.
Mostly the question was a general knowledge kind of thing.
As is how does one compute the energy of a spark. And what parameter of the transformer would one tweak to increase the spark energy.
Cheers
Thomas
Re: Increasing the energy of a HV spark
Terry Fritz, Thu Nov 12 2020, 04:17AM
you might find this of interest.... :D
Terry Fritz, Thu Nov 12 2020, 04:17AM
you might find this of interest.... :D
Re: Increasing the energy of a HV spark
Thomas F, Sat Nov 14 2020, 11:21AM
Thanks Terry. Will check it !
Thomas F, Sat Nov 14 2020, 11:21AM
Thanks Terry. Will check it !
Print this page