Watercraft Talk cdi test vs OCD cdi test

[Storbeck]

John Ziggler posted a very good video of testing a stock 62t cdi vs an msd enhancer on his watercraft talk youtube channel:

Good stuff

What's interesting to me is that for the folks that have been around a while might remember OCD did a very similiar test:

Msd enhancer vs protec modded cdi

That is amazing ! What's the deal with disconnect the battery vs disconnect the brain via a plug in switch ? I don't know. I have always disconnected the battery ground on every msd ignition ski I have ever owned and never had a failure. I ran one of the first advents for superjets on a...

www.x-h2o.com

And they have different results, particularly with the enhancer. OCD showed a curve (not much of a curve, but it did have a curve) where the advance peaked and came back down at higher rpms on the enhancer, but no curve on the oem cdi's.

John's test showed a curve on the oem cdi but not on the enhancer.



Both seem like pretty legit testing rigs soo.....I dunno. The world continues to make no sense. I wonder why the difference.

 

[waxhead]

Msd is not known for being consistant in its curve and its pretty much a waste of tome. I always use a direct inline timing light for checking ignition timing as the high hz the light can see can cause wander or cause the light to play up. Even my snap on light has wander in it at high rpm the cheap inline ones are firing off the spark energy and so you have light speed

 

[kevbo]

I highly doubt many Enhancers are sold because the customer knows what they do. I never met a rider who was interested enough to measure his ignition timing. Everyone is selling their products to kids.

 

[john zigler]

Thanks for watching!! I know my numbers are different than what MSD used to post in their ads as far as timing goes....... I remember OSD well, but don't remember what his test results were.... I have tested many MSD enhancers here lately, one new out of the box, and a bunch for Tom @ Hot Products that were returned and supposedly bad. The ones from Tom that were good, had the same timing as the new one.

My numbers on the stock CDI pretty much lines up with what Yamaha states in the manuals.

Maybe something has changed over the years? I will say we used to run MSD a lot back in the early 90's and I was a huge fan....... But now it seems like you are lucky if you get more than a season or two out of them before they start acting up. The company has changed hands, and their reliability has gone in the tank, like so much other stuff.....

 

[Alectravis]

Thanks for watching!! I know my numbers are different than what MSD used to post in their ads as far as timing goes....... I remember OSD well, but don't remember what his test results were.... I have tested many MSD enhancers here lately, one new out of the box, and a bunch for Tom @ Hot Products that were returned and supposedly bad. The ones from Tom that were good, had the same timing as the new one.

My numbers on the stock CDI pretty much lines up with what Yamaha states in the manuals.

Maybe something has changed over the years? I will say we used to run MSD a lot back in the early 90's and I was a huge fan....... But now it seems like you are lucky if you get more than a season or two out of them before they start acting up. The company has changed hands, and their reliability has gone in the tank, like so much other stuff.....

I think we need to find another old msd for you to test, the original ones had a metal backer plate or something different right?


Somebody has to have one for testing purposes to get closure to clear the mud.

 

[john zigler]

I think we need to find another old msd for you to test, the original ones had a metal backer plate or something different right?


Somebody has to have one for testing purposes to get closure to clear the mud.

I do remember the MSD for Kawi had a metal backing plate for sure yes. Not sure about Yamaha, maybe?

 

[Myself]

By the late 90's, electronic ANYTHING was going downhill. @john zigler I know you're old enough like me to remember the huge car stereo days. Even the name brand stuff was going to crap. I was also (still am) into street rods and fast anything. In the early 2000's I went through about 3 MSD ignition controls in my daily street rod before I swore them off. Same thing was happening with dirt bikes and quads, it ALL went to crap. If the product lives through the warranty period,.......that's all that matters these days.