Ignition systems Explained. How ignition systems work

[@UOttawaScotty]

This is the best video I have seen so far on ignition systems. I am working on a lawnmower with a magneto ignition system and I couldnt understand how the "pickup coil" worked, but now I understand that it is essentially just an electronic switch for grounding out the primary coil so that the field collapses on the secondary. This has been bugging me for days.

[@alexromashko9785]

Probably the best video on ignition systems that I’ve seen as a novice. I finally have a feel for what is happening with these systems. Nice work

[@bensiemers5094]

Thank you for your kind words. I am so glad you enjoyed the video.

[@antonsparks5147]

Really enjoyed this video. For me the explanation of how the igniter module worked was priceless.

[@edwardgonfindini7295]

Perfect production, no cheesy garage band guitars. Great cadence and visibility.

[@Bucksbeaters902]

I have 78 accord, spark through the coil to the distributer but not to the spark plugs. This video gave me more confidence and understand what happens in the distributer. Thank you! 👍

[@bdixon9887]

A big thanks from a student from London who is currently studying marine engineering! Great video. Explained perfectly.

[@mickgrochowski7736]

Am restoring a 1961 MGA and at the point of reassembling the engine. I was always unsure of the exact role of the points vs coil. This vid explains exactly how it works. The only difference is the MGA is positive ground so i believe it's gonna be + from coil to the distributor. Thank you much.

[@bensiemers5094]

I am so glad it was helpful.

[@chacholiades]

Thank you for such a great video!!! I am trying to understand how does it work my BMW with 6 cylinders and carburetor, using those ignition modules. You are by far the best person here explaining it. I am young and I bought this small car as a project last year so I can finally work in a simple and cheap car I can put my novice hands on. After days reading and watching videos, you were the only guy with a clear and straight explanation. Thanks a lot for that.

[@bensiemers5094]

Thanks my friend. I am glad I could help with that. Have a great day and best wishes on you BMW.

[@21gioni]

Very clearly explained taking me back to my first car how when it broke down it was simple to fix.

[@bensiemers5094]

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@willydejesus8419]

Wao..Siemers..you are a monster,explaining the ignition system with such impressive ilustration I've never had seen .all my doubts and missing links I had were cleared by your wonderful presentation.. Wm V...from P. R.

[@bensiemers5094]

Thank you so much!

[@forunfinishedbusiness]

great explanation, thank you!!!

[@mostefaikhemissi7491]

Thanks a lot . I understood how it functions by your circuit drawing.

[@jamesark9926]

Thank You Sir,,,Good and complet info,,,thump Up! This is what I am looking for,,,a deep details explanation theory,,,

Pertronix Ignitor. I converted 1964 1965 GTO’s to these. Work great.

[@halalmeatshophk]

Thank you sir but i have an important question. What is breaker point's main function? I understand that electric current can be induced into the secondary coil without breaking the current flow in primary coil. The high voltage will come out of secondary coil and the only thing needed to distribute it into separate spark plugs is by timely rotating it. So why is a breaker point needed for the primary coil? I just couldn't understand it.

[@bensiemers5094]

Great question! You are 100 percent correct in regards to the secondary windings amplifying the voltage of the primary winding. However, with the voltage in the primary winding being fairly low, the amplification in the secondary windings is not high enough, until we can create a spike in the voltage of the primary winding. This is what the breaker points do. When the breaker points open, the electrons can't continue flowing in the direction they have been any longer. This forces the electrons to pile up (in a sense) at the end of the circuit and then rebound back in the opposite direction, and this causes a rapid surge or spike in the voltage of the primary winding. This then is amplified by induction into the secondary winding, causing a spark. The breaker points, every time they turn on charge the coil, but when they break open the circuit, a spike is created in the primary winding. This triggers the spark that is precisely timed.

[@mareh_70]

how does the engine speed transition to the rpm gauge in both the breaker point and pick up coil distributor cars?

[@bensiemers5094]

Thanks for your question. In both cases, the RPM gauge is connected to the primary side of the ignition coil, which is the switching side of the coil, so it has a pulse signal reference that is converted to RPM

[@mareh_70]

@@bensiemers5094 thank you. both your video and reply has been a great help

[@carneconcarne]

Many thanks for the video. It helped me so much, since the ignition on my 74 duster isn't working. What is the ballast resistor for, why doesn't it work with 12V?

[@bensiemers5094]

The ballast resistor was used mostly on older engines, but was also present on some electronic ignition cars. The ballast simply lowers the voltage to the primary windings of the coil to around 9.5 volts to reduce coil heat, which preserves coil life. As technology changed, ballast resistors were often worked out of the system and voltage output increased significantly, as a result, to improve ignition in the cylinder.

[@CoreySchmidt-s6q]

Id really like to know about a 1993 F250 460 EFI

[@buzzedo1]

Brilliant. Thankyou!

[@bensiemers5094]

[@TheSpade83]

Amazing video🤟

[@luishetzler9429]

Question, does the points on my 1967 firebird act as a starting point on 1st key turn. Hot day engine crank over a few times. Instead on 1st turn. Is this correct, installing a prentronix removing point/ condenser

[@bensiemers5094]

You will have to look at the specific model of Pertronix ignition you have used for your specific car. Commonly, if your car has a ballast resistor, or a primary resistor wire going to the positive side of the ignition coil, your cranking voltage will be too low for the ignition coil's needs on your Pertronix system. Check to see if your voltage at the coil's positive side matches your battery voltage while it is cranking. Stock ignition systems used a 9 volt supply to the ignition coil positive side to prevent overheating the coil. Generally, with many electronic ignition systems, on the Chevrolets, the ignition coil replacement has a higher built-in resistance, and the ballast resistor (or primary resistor wire) is removed and replaced with a stock wire to up the supply voltage to the ignition coil. I am suspecting that this may possibly be your problem. You shouldn't have ignition points remaining if you have a Pertronix point eliminator system. If you do have adequate cranking voltage presently and a good spark while cranking, then you will have to look at the tuning of your fuel system as a possible problem. Hope this helps. If your vehicle is still factory carbureted, your choke settings and the accelerator pump action are vital to a quick start up. Best wishes.

[@luishetzler9429]

@@bensiemers5094 Thank you so much. I will replace coil 6000 voltage and install the pertronnix.

[@luishetzler9429]

I have an edelbrock 600 cfm carb with a manual choke

[@HosaamEmad-r3u]

thanks for your great effort

[@bensiemers5094]

Thank you for your comment. :)

[@honzahanes484]

Hi buddy, thanx for the nice video. You probably noticed that your blue sign of the primary coil is wrongly written as the secondary coil, but that's OK for me. For others, it could be a bit confusing. Anyway, I still have a question. I can't see on your drawing where the other end of the secondary coil is connected.

[@bensiemers5094]

:) You know, you are absolutely right. Actually, good eye. I can't believe I did that and didn't catch that earlier. I drew that pretty quickly and accidentally wrote secondary in place of primary, yet I see the secondary coil is marked at the centre in red. Pretty hard to change it, unfortunately, without removing the video. But I do appreciate the heads up. Thank you for your notice.

[@honzahanes484]

​@@bensiemers5094 Ok, I answer on the second part of my comment myself. The other end of the secondary coil must be connected to permanent ground instead to switched +. As the source of power for the spark plug is the secondary coil itself. The circuit for 20 000V is following: secondary coil -> to center electrode of spark plug -> then spark jumps to threaded electrode of spark plug -> to engine block which is connected to chasis frame, so the other end of the secondary coil must be grounded (chasis frame) to complete the circuit. Anyway, nobody noticed it in the comments, so everybody are happy. In conclusion, I appreciate your effort to create this video, as it is, anyway one of the best on this topic ;-)

[@bensiemers5094]

Sorry, I missed responding to that. One end of the secondary winding is attached to the positive terminal of the coil shared with the primary winding, while the other end connects to the laminated iron core where it can discharge its energy to the distributor cap and plugs.

[@honzahanes484]

​@@bensiemers5094 Really? I'm pretty sure that the other end of secondary coil (the end that is not going to the centre electrode of the spark plug) must be connected to the negative pole. Maybe I'm not right, or there could be more than one method of connection.

[@markpatterson7070]

Thank you !!!!!

[@dreonappliancecenter8795]

Thank you sir

[@yaboysamshep1470]

Great video

[@dudoydwex]

thank you much sir its very informative

[@bensiemers5094]

Thank Edwin. I am glad it was helpful.

[@steelcitycaprice.899]

Great post👍😎

[@faridbakhshian221]

Why the ignition coil needs to be grounded and disconnected all the time?

[@bensiemers5094]

When you create an electromagnetic field in the primary winding by applying electricity and then switch off the flow of electricity it causes a voltage surge in the circuit, as the electrons rebound back in that winding. This voltage spike is amplified in the secondary winding because of mutual induction and this causes a spark. :)

[@faridbakhshian221]

@@bensiemers5094 so are you saying that the exact spark time happens actually at the ungrounded time of the coil? Thank you

[@bensiemers5094]

That is correct. Similar to experiencing a spark at a wall plug-in if you disconnect a power cord under heavy load. The electrons bounce back in the circuit momentarily creating a voltage spike that triggers the spark to occur. The coil must first be charged to load the coil and then the unloading dumps the energy as the electrons reverse direction. Since the primary coil has less windings than the secondary, it is used as the controlling winding, the secondary winding amplifies what occurs in the primary winding.

[@faridbakhshian221]

@@bensiemers5094 thanks a lot .

[@faridbakhshian221]

@@bensiemers5094 excuse me, one more question. After we build up to 25000V in your example , is that starting again from 9.5V for the next grounding? Thank you

[@kenfoster5230]

Can you show me a picture of a starter solenoid

[@bensiemers5094]

If you go to my channel, you will see that I have a video up which explains the starter and it has a good visual of a solenoid for you. :)

[@cycosmile3983]

12:42

[@Annex-et3pr]

I want an exam for the cars

[@Annex-et3pr]

Or give me a summary of cars parts

[@fredgarvin4482]

Why did the voltage go from 9.5 to 250v on the primary side?

[@bensiemers5094]

Good question to understand. The voltage spike is the driving force that causes the spark. Whenever you allow a current to travel in a circuit, then suddenly stop it, the electrons, because they travel so fast, carry a momentum and they try to keep going that direction. If they can't cross the switch, they continue to exert force and build up pressure and in pile up at the end of the circuit, then bounce back in the opposite direction. This is similar to watching a water hose spraying water; when you suddenly open and close the squirt handle, you will see the hose jump as inside the pressure surges well beyond line pressure. This is a similar principle to what causes voltage surges in circuits. The longer the windings or circuit path, the greater the voltage surge in the circuit, when it is switched off. When the primary winding voltage surges, it momentarily also causes a rapid reversing of magnetic field polarity and the primary voltage spike along with the effects of magnetic induction ramps up the voltage as well in the secondary windings, based on the ratio of windings between the primary and secondary circuit. Therefore the secondary windings can produce voltages anywhere from 20 000 to 100 000 volts using this principle.

[@fredgarvin4482]

@@bensiemers5094 thank you a lot for the reply. Makes sense. That was the last piece of the puzzle for now. I understand the field from the primary side collapsing causing a current in the secondary. I guess this also makes sense why it is easier to make a CDI generate higher voltages on the primary side since the switch is quicker than the mechanical points. I remember reading long time ago that CDI made higher voltage on primary, but it didnt explain it.

[@bensiemers5094]

Thanks Fred. Have a great day.

[@hrsniperguy]

looks like a L20 nissan distributor to me, been a while, could be wrong.

[@bensiemers5094]

Not a L20 distributor. :) Actually a few different ones in the video. From Chev to Ford.

[@dantheman3022]

You lost me after "hi everybody" !!!!!!!

[@bensiemers5094]

Sorry, I couldn't help more.

[@bqlongbeach]

Thank you sir

[@thisoldbelair]

Great video