Low Tension Coil Question

[John B.]

When building a low tension coil for a hit and miss ignitor equipped engine. Is is better to use many layers of small gauge wire or fewer layers of larger gauge wire? I'm thinking the smaller gauge with more layers would give a bigger spark which I'm trying to achieve. Am I correct?
Thanks in advance.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 19:22:19 09/24/21) When building a low tension coil for a hit and miss ignitor equipped engine. Is is better to use many layers of small gauge wire or fewer layers of larger gauge wire? I'm thinking the smaller gauge with more layers would give a bigger spark which I'm trying to achieve. Am I correct?
Thanks in advance.

ou are thinking correctly.

 

[John B.]

Thank you JMOR. Have a great weekend.

 

[buickanddeere]

Voltage is about winding ratio .
Easier to pack more windings of fine wire onto the secondary . Current is so low
In the secondary that wire size
Is of
Minimal concern .

 

[Deere Mark]

A low tension coil does not have a turns ratio. It has a single winding over an iron core.
From Wikipedia :
A low tension coil consists of an iron core that has wire wrapped around it. The size of the iron core, the number of turns of wire, and the size of the wire determine the electrical properties of the coil. Terminals are provided to connect the coil into the ignition circuit. The wood ends are provided for mechanical stability, to provide for the terminal placement and to hold the wire on the coil over time. A cloth or tape covering is provided to protect the windings. The iron core should be a bundle of thinly insulated iron wires, or flat thin sheets like those in a transformer, to prevent losses and heating from current that would be induced in a solid rod.
A battery, and a low tension coil, and a closed contact. When the contact opens, the voltage rises until the voltage is high enough to arc across the contact.
And yes, the more turns, the higher the voltage.
If you used many turns of a larger gauge wire, you would have a higher current through the contact ( when the contact is closed). Using the resistance of the wire to limit the current.

 

[wore out]

You can save yourself a lot of effort and scavenge the solenoid body from a HD positive engagement starter solenoid. Connect the pull-in winding up as your low-tension coil, it will give you an awesome spark at your ignitor! Alternately, experiment with the ''hold'' winding.

If being ''cute'' is on the agenda you can hide your scavenged solenoid in a nice dovetail-jointed varnished oak box!

 

[buickanddeere]

Dont need high current . All that does is run down the ignition battery faster .

 

[teddy52food]

I used the rotor from an alternator.Worked just fine.