ION-related IGN Comments & Coil Quest

[Clare Snyder]

garfield at pilgrimhouse.com wrote:
> 
> Hey Maties.
> 
> I had a brain-flash (or fart, we'll see shortly) whilst looking over the
> DSE schematics for their CDI plans/article.
> 
> [SIDEBAR: the circuit and assembly is DIRT simple, and looks well thot
> out and done (true, the pc board is a disappointment cuz of it's size,
> but they wanted one you could do at home, I guess. Me I'd cram it in
> niceNtight on a piece of two-plane thru-hole 0.1" perf board), and the
> only "custom" part is really doable with anyone with two hands and half
> a brain-stem; it's the main inverter transformer, and the plans call out
> all the particulars and part nos. for the bobbin/core and other pieces
> from Philips you need to buy to assemble this "custom" transformer. The
> parts list is quite detailed in that respect; major kudos for that.
> Sooo, nuthin esoteric or hard about this one "custom" transformer.
> Sounds daunting but it's really a pieceOcake no-brainer.]
> 
> The guy's design (John Clarke...anyone on the list from Oz know him,
> BTW?) is for use with stock IGN coils. So while tryna think-out an ION
> circuit that doesn't need HV diodes, and still can use the stock coils,
> and having troubles seeing how that's EVER gonna be possible, the thot
> struck me... HEY, I'll ask all them bloaks on diy_efi if ANYONE has ever
> seen a so-called 4-terminal stock auto IGN coil? What I mean by that is,
> consider the normal IGN coils we're all used to. They're basically a
> 3-terminal device; one terminal is the HV output (the "top" of the
> secondary, if you will), and then there's a "shared/common" connection
> for both primary and the other side of the secondary, and then the third
> terminal, which is for the primary feed. So you essentially have what we
> used to call an auto-transformer, or a transformer with a common
> connection for both primary and secondary.
> 
> Now, what would be REALLY ideal for ION is a stock automotive IGN coil,
> but one that has it's primary and secondary completely independent (no
> common'd terminal), so you have a 4-terminal device, with three pins on
> the low voltage connector, and one for the HV secondary output.
> 
> So, there's the bottom line question, maties; anyone every seen such a
> beastie? I and my Napa pal went through our books and his inventory this
> afternoon, even called Echlin, but couldn't come up with anythin. Of
> course, we don't give a rip what shape or form it's in for eXperimental
> purposes, but I'd sure be grand if a real "in-situ" coil existed we
> could also use with the real ION. Ask around, see what you can come up
> with; I'm certain that IF such a beastie exists, sooner or later someone
> on the list will exhume it!
> 
> Meanwhile, I'm still slowly working on my "patent commentary" and
> example circuits, so it's comin.
> 
> Hey, BTW, I had another somewhat bizarre thot, incase we CAN'T find such
> a coil to play with, that even with box stock IGN systems, and NO mods,
> one could actually build some lil adapter blocks that went between the
> HV lead and the plug top, and using some few HV diodes (there's nuthin
> wrong with them, BTW, they're robust and failsoft, it's just that I'm
> stuck on being able to do the "elegance" thang like Saab did, where THEY
> don't need any atoll), you could ADD the ionization detection into an
> existing IGN system, on a per-plug basis. I see absolutely nuthin that
> would prevent this, EXCEPT we still don't know if the longer spark
> duration of inductive IGN is gonna "blank" critical portions of the IGN
> phase. But, yeah, even the idea that MikeMorrin suggested might be
> possible, in that these "inserted measurement blocks" could actually
> quench the "tail" of the inductive spark early and MAKE a window for ION
> to do it's measurement magic. That too might be possible.
> 
> I only mention this possibility because IF we could make this work, if
> only for eXperimental purposes, it would allow dyno tuners and others to
> LEAVE their acoustic knock detectors on the engine, and COMPARE the
> "indicator and measurement" functionality of one vrs the other, and
> REALLY determine if ION is giving you anything back. The reason I
> mention dyno tuners in particular is they have the easiest time in
> dialing in a forced "knock" on command. The rest of us have to tweak
> timing manually, and be careful we don't overdo it with load and
> throttle. I know there are several guys on the list that could do this
> comparison, so this too is another avenue of eXperimentation. Here, I
> don't think the "ionization circuit" per se is the
> difficult/questionable part, but rather what to do with the stock
> inductive IGN system's spark duration.
> 
> Thas all fer now. Scan yer personal archives and see if you've ever seen
> a "4-terminal" IGN coil. Any feedback appreciated.
> 
> Gar
Any lost-spark system will supply such a coil - just use one end of the
secondary (one "plug" lead)as the 4th terminal. Pick your coil polarity
while you are at it.
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