what do the pulser and lighning coils do on the stator?

[WaveDemon]

what do the pulser and lighning coils do on the stator?

Just as a guess does one help the the timeing of the cdi/ignition, and also a gues, maybe the other sends power to the coil?

please make fun of/correct me.

 

[Matt_E]

Pulser should be the timing signal, lightning should be for charging the battery.

WAG.

 

[WaveDemon]

Pulser should be the timing signal, lightning should be for charging the battery.

WAG.

hmm what does the charging coil do then.

there's 3 right? pulser, charging and lightning. am I wrong?


what kind of signal does the pulser coil send? I'm guessing some voltage every 360 degrees?

 

[Matt_E]

Ha! I knew it'd be wrong. Yeah, I think you are right then:

Pulser to trigger the discharge of the CDI into the coil, light(n)ing to charge the CDI, and charger to charge the battery.

Pulser signal should be fairly small level. Also, voltage should be every 180 degrees.

 

[WaveDemon]

180 makes more sense. it's simpler that way.

If the CDI sends voltage to the coil when the pulser tells it to (minus/plus retarding/advancing the timing) does the coil have a dwell time then? it must but there are only 2 wires going to the coil and one is ground.

I've got a lot to learn.

 

[Matt_E]

There is no dwell on a CDI. The CDI electronics take care of that.

 

[WaveDemon]

ok, does the CDI send constant power to the coil so it can charge up before it sends spark? I thought thats how a coil worked.

 

[WaveDemon]

is the pulsar coil the same thing as a Variable Reluctor Pick-up?

 

[Matt_E]

Eh....don't think so. The lightning coil charges up a few capacitors inside the CDI. The pulser coil signal triggers a SCR in the CDI, which releases the capacitors' (multiples) charge (anywhere between 200-400 VDC here).
This gets discharged into the primary windings of the ignition coil as one transient DC pulse.
This makes the plugs fire. DUH.
Hence it's known as a Capacitive Discharge Ignition.

Sorry if I sound condescending AT ALL.....I've had to explain all this to WAD a few too many times.

 

[WaveDemon]

I don't know a whole lot about it. thanks.

back to the VR pick up. it sounds a lot like the pulser coil.

Variable Reluctor Pick-up

The Variable Reluctor (VR) sensor is an induction type sensor, it is "passive", i.e. it does not require a power source, and has a small magnet built in.

The sensor uses a magnetic pickup to produce a signal. A core of steel is wrapped with hundreds of turns of fine wire at one end. A small magnet is attached to the other end, and this assembly is mounted in the distributor facing the distributor shaft. When a notch, pin, teeth or hole in a timing wheel (the reluctor) moves past the sensor, it causes a change in the magnetic flux field around the sensor. As the teeth of the reluctor approach the coil assembly, the flux from the magnet is pulled in close to the bar. The sudden field change induces an electrical current in the coil, which is then converted to a voltage signal by electronic circuitry in MegaSquirt-II. As the teeth move away, the flux springs back outward, inducing a voltage in the pickup coil. This induced current has reversed direction as the magnetic field returns to normal.

 

[Matt_E]

Well - the pickup in stock watercraft ignitions is similar, but not that. Think a lot bigger. Basically, a bigger magnet (on the flywheel) moves past the pulser coil and induces a small signal.

MSD Total loss triggers are probably closer to what you described. A small passive sensor which a small magnet on the flywheel moves past.

It really doesn't matter what is used, as long as there is consistency. I.E., the stock CDI must have the signal from the stock stator, the MSD system needs its signal from a sensor similar to what they sell, and the MegaSquirt uses its own sensor.
If you wanted to adapt the Megasquirt to say, a Superjet, it would be immensely helpful if you could use the TL triggers and the MSD flywheel - no need to reinvent anything mechanically, as long as the signal triggers the MegaSquirt unit.

 

[sflsurfrider]

ok, does the CDI send constant power to the coil so it can charge up before it sends spark? I thought thats how a coil worked.

thats how a capacitor works, not a coil.

 

[WaveDemon]

thats how a capacitor works, not a coil.

I think I was getting confused with a condeser from a points system. ignition isn't something I put much thought into before.

 

[WaveDemon]

Well - the pickup in stock watercraft ignitions is similar, but not that. Think a lot bigger. Basically, a bigger magnet (on the flywheel) moves past the pulser coil and induces a small signal.

MSD Total loss triggers are probably closer to what you described. A small passive sensor which a small magnet on the flywheel moves past.

It really doesn't matter what is used, as long as there is consistency. I.E., the stock CDI must have the signal from the stock stator, the MSD system needs its signal from a sensor similar to what they sell, and the MegaSquirt uses its own sensor.
If you wanted to adapt the Megasquirt to say, a Superjet, it would be immensely helpful if you could use the TL triggers and the MSD flywheel - no need to reinvent anything mechanically, as long as the signal triggers the MegaSquirt unit.

MS doesn't have there own sensor, it's set up to accept a few factory style ones. if the pulser coil sends a similar signal as a VR pickup then I want to go that route. I don't understand why the pulser coil couldn't be used as an ignition trigger for MS. why add more parts and more money?

 

[WaveDemon]

theres a surprise

hey now, easy. I, just like everyone else, just plugged a msd enhancer in and went with that. I'm looking for a little more now.

 

[WAB]

Pulser to trigger the discharge of the CDI into the coil, light(n)ing to charge the CDI, and charger to charge the battery.

Huh, I thought the charging coil charges the CDi to discharge at the plugs sparking. and the lightening coil charges the battery (bare copper wire one)

 

[WaveDemon]

Huh, I thought the charging coil charges the CDi to discharge at the plugs sparking. and the lightening coil charges the battery (bare copper wire one)

it would be good to get that straight.

anyone know what voltage the pulser coil sends out as a signal? 5v seems pretty standard in other systems for a full signal.

 

[Ollie Rastabean]

thats how a capacitor works, not a coil.

Coil operation shares some similarities with how capacitors work.

 

[Ollie Rastabean]

it would be good to get that straight.

anyone know what voltage the pulser coil sends out as a signal? 5v seems pretty standard in other systems for a full signal.

I am pretty sure that it is not a straight DC signal.

Probably AC or at least a sinusoidal type wave.

-o

 

[WAB]

i'm just repeating what John at JSS told me. I called him when I thought my battery was not charging. I don't really know anything. :biggrin: