# how do you people test ignition coils??



## jbgorecom (Oct 11, 2009)

*how do members test ignition coils??*

How do members bench test ignition coils out of the saw.??? (non point system).
I have a bunch of coils out of saws that were scrapped. Just want to test them to make sure they still work. Without having to put them back into a saw and try it with a spark plug. One friend said to wave a strong magnet back and forth near the flywheel side of the coil (with the spark plug attached to the coil wire and grounded to the metal on the coil) , and it should spark. Have not got that to work yet. Must be doing something wrong.
any help????

As Always, Thanks for any help

jbgorecom


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## TraditionalTool (Oct 11, 2009)

I'd like to know that also...I've seen devices that will show spark, I think you could hook one of those up if you had one. I know I'm not getting spark on mine, or at least getting intermittent spark. I use the tip of the plug pulled out...

I don't know if one can use a multimeter and test them...maybe someone will pipe up who knows a way...I'm pretty sure mine was bad, but I would like to test it and have asked in a couple messages over the past few days and nothing has surfaced...basically they are supposed to provide spark.


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## Rookie1 (Oct 11, 2009)

This is how I check the coils on the points style 031s. http://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/automotive/beatbook.pdf Page 18. Im not sure if it will work on coils with the trigger internal.


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## jbgorecom (Oct 11, 2009)

If you have the service manual for the saw the coil came from, you can use a meter and ohm the leads out. The manual will give you a range of what the ohm's should be. One of my manuals states that if the ohm's are out of the range the coil is no good. But what if you don't know any of the above. I should be able to set up the coil on some type of test, and make it spark. 
I have about 6 coils out of poulan saws, but have no idea what the ohm's should be. I would like to bench test them without putting them back into the saw. As a last resort that's what I might have to do.

jbgorecom


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## Evan (Oct 11, 2009)

when i worked at the bike shop we had some kinda gizzmo to test coils. but if i want to test them ill just throw them on my 044 and crank em over real quick this saw doesnt haven anything on it so its real easy to toss a coil on it.

but yeah you could spend some money or wave some kinda magic over it


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## sloch24 (Oct 11, 2009)

*You People?!?!?!?!?*

Am I the only one that's slightly offended?!?!?! 

What exactly do you mean by "You People"????  


I'm quite certain that you're one of "you people" now, cuz yer askin' 'bout chainsaw stuff on a forum that you joined!


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## jbgorecom (Oct 11, 2009)

I went ahead and changed my wording before I offended anyone else.
The phrase (you people) To me means anyone. At least that's what I meant. Let's not bring race into a chainsaw forum. If I have offended anyone , I apologize. If I would have said you guys, the girls would have been offended. I just meant anyone who tests coils. Bad choice of words I guess.

So how about this. If anyone out there knows how to bench test a coil, would you please explain.
I've got to learn how to phrase my questions a little better. one of those stick foot in mouth questions.
I'm going to take a beating for this one.

jbgorecom


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## lawnmowertech37 (Oct 11, 2009)

back in 1987 foley belsaw was selling a coil condenser tester which back then costed around 70.00 i dont know if they still sell the item or not though at one time i had one but it got blowed up the diode in it got old and decided to quit working


foley does have small engine shop work order forms specially made for small engine shops


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## spacemule (Oct 11, 2009)

sloch24 said:


> Am I the only one that's slightly offended?!?!?!
> 
> What exactly do you mean by "You People"????
> 
> ...


Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of two beers clanging like we're all alcoholics? That's just rude! 

opcorn:


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## Former Saw Builder (Oct 11, 2009)

Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of eating popcorn like we're all a bunch of couch potatoes? That's just rude! :monkey:


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## TraditionalTool (Oct 11, 2009)

EdRitchey said:


> Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of eating popcorn like we're all a bunch of couch potatoes? That's just rude! :monkey:


Had 'ta rep 'ya on that! 

Note to self: "self, ice tea on keyboard no good!".


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## Saw Dr. (Oct 11, 2009)

jbgorecom said:


> How do members bench test ignition coils out of the saw.??? (non point system).
> I have a bunch of coils out of saws that were scrapped. Just want to test them to make sure they still work. Without having to put them back into a saw and try it with a spark plug. One friend said to wave a strong magnet back and forth near the flywheel side of the coil (with the spark plug attached to the coil wire and grounded to the metal on the coil) , and it should spark. Have not got that to work yet. Must be doing something wrong.
> any help????
> 
> ...



There is a reason for the coil to flywheel air gap. I _seriously_ doubt that waving a magnet in front of the coil will work, unless the magnet is the one on the correct flywheel at the correct gap. I test coils by replacing with a known good one. That is always fun when the "known good" coil turns out to be bad..... Post some pics of the coils up here. The Poulan crowd can probably help you ID the coils, and maybe even find them new homes.


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## J.W Younger (Oct 11, 2009)

spacemule said:


> Am I the only one who's slightly offended by this post? I mean, he shows a smiley of two beers clanging like we're all alcoholics? That's just rude!
> 
> opcorn:


it dont take much to get yer panties in a bunch


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## Nethercutt (Oct 12, 2009)

I took the flywheel-half of a crankcase, left the bearing in, installed the crankshaft, and use that to test ignitions with. 
Install the ignition, flywheel, and ground the spark plug to the crankcase with an "alligator clip."
I just spin the crank with a powerdrill. 

Just make sure you use a powerdrill that spins slowly. I've got one ignition module so far that sparked just fine at high RPM, but won't start a saw because it doesn't spark below 800RPM. Pretty hard to pull-start a saw up to 1000RPM!


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## sloch24 (Oct 12, 2009)

jbgorecom said:


> I went ahead and changed my wording before I offended anyone else.
> The phrase (you people) To me means anyone. At least that's what I meant. Let's not bring race into a chainsaw forum. If I have offended anyone , I apologize. If I would have said you guys, the girls would have been offended. I just meant anyone who tests coils. Bad choice of words I guess.
> 
> So how about this. If anyone out there knows how to bench test a coil, would you please explain.
> ...



You know I's jus' kiddin', right!?!?  

I just thought it was funny to see "You People"... hehe

I haven't heard anyone say that in quite a while.

You know, I didn't bring race into it... Unless Chainsaw Addicts are now a race... Hmm.. That's a thought..

Oh well, at least Space is getting some fun outta it.


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## cjcocn (Oct 12, 2009)

Okay, show's over.

Let's get back to the coil question, shall well? 

I seem to recall a post in a thread ... here it is:



petesoldsaw said:


> Hello Fellas
> Some of you guys that have seen my posts know that my Pioneer chainsaw collecting is going all right but tearing them down is another thing.I have quite a few tools as mentioned before but could use some more as well.Today while in a local automotive supply and tool shop I noticed 2 little gizmo's that might prove usefull to me.They are made by Thexton.One is a coil-on plug tester and the other is a adjustable ignition tester.They basically look the same but one has a long wire for the alligator clip.They were on sale and made in the USA.Package say's good for small engines as well as automobiles. Now I need to ask how you fellas use them,the directions could be a bit better on the package.
> Thanks
> Lawrence



Some reading to keep you fellas occupied.


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## flyingtim01 (Nov 23, 2009)

*Jred 90 Coil*

Bump.

Any new info on this? I'm trying to get consistent spark out of my Jred 90, and I'm pretty sure the coil is NG. Unfortunately, the coil is significantly different from the automotive style shown in the Fluke info that Rookie1 supplied. The coil in the 90 only has the primary lead for the plug, and a connector to hook up the wire from the points. (Theres also one that connects to the kill switch to ground out the whole operation)

The story goes that the saw first had no spark, then it had spark, kicked over once or twice, and now it has no spark whatsoever. If I hook one lead from the meter up to the plug wire, and one lead up to the spade terminal that connects to the points wire, I'm getting 8.24 ohms. That sounds like a lot of resistance to me, shouldn't it be in the 0-2 ohms range or so?

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but the top cover is cracked right over where the coil bolts to the inside of the cover. If something fell on the saw...can a coil be physically damaged like that? What do you guys think?


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## AKDriveSprocket (Nov 23, 2009)

One must under stand the law of OHM to make any sense of it. Some people or those people say it is easy to learn but I`m still scratching my head at it.


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## BloodOnTheIce (Nov 23, 2009)

I do it like I do with 9 volt batteries, I stick the spark plug against my tongue and pull it over. If I get shocked, it's working, no shock time to replace the coil.


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## AKDriveSprocket (Nov 23, 2009)

It would be nice to be able to test the coil and to test the wire separately. I wounder how many coil are canned just because of a bad wire. Does the wire go bad often?


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## J.W Younger (Nov 23, 2009)

BloodOnTheIce said:


> I do it like I do with 9 volt batteries, I stick the spark plug against my tongue and pull it over. If I get shocked, it's working, no shock time to replace the coil.


better still get the neighbor from hell to put his tongue on it while you pull and watch.
I realize not all of you have a neighbor from hell so I'll be glad to loan you mine.


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## WildnCrazyGuy (Nov 28, 2009)

Bump...

Curious about an issue I'm having and a coil SEEMS to fix it. I got a well used BR600 and it finally seems to run right, but after some time, out of nowhere, it acts up. Tried a new plug, adjusting the valves, etc. It just cuts out like it's losing power at full trottle, but will usually idle fine when doing so. Full throttle, acts like it has no power. So...

I bought me a used BR600 coil off ebay, put it on and so far, knocking on wood, it has not even sputtered. Full power all day long. I think I've run it about 4-5 hours so far, no problems. Just for the kick of it, I put the old coil back on today and ran it. It ran fine for about the first tank of gas, then the second, it started sputtering, and even shut off on me at WOT. So, I swapped the coil back to the new (used) one and it ran about 3 more tanks without issue today.

My question is what might make a coil going bad do like that, or have I just not run it enough yet? My limited experience has been either the coil works, or not. When it gets hot, why would it stop working, or in my case, intermittently and only seems to be WOT, idle seems ok? Just after it cut off on me today and before I swapped back, I pulled the crank and it started right back up maybe 30 seconds after it cut off and was full power, sputtered again, then full power, then I said heck with this, I put the other coil back on and like I said, it ran fine the rest of the day.

Other question is like OP asked, with my situation, I'm getting spark, but it acts up while it's hot, how to test a coil in that situation, test meter tell me anything when cold? So many questions to ask, but I don't know the right questions to ask.


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## heimannm (Nov 28, 2009)

Steve, when things get hot, they expand. If there is a fault in a wire some where, it may open when the whole body of the coil heats up. Same thing with coils with built in electronics, may be O.K. cold and fail when they heat up the electronics may quit working properly.

I haven't checked it precisely but the book says the coil on my 066 Stihl won't fire if turning less than 600 RPM to avoid issues when starting the saw. I can tell you that pulling it over slowly (with the plug out) produces no spark, pull it quickly and you have a nice, fat, blue, snapping spark.

Mark


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## WildnCrazyGuy (Nov 29, 2009)

Thanks Mark. I'll keep the ebay coil on it and run it assuming the original is just bad. Hopefully that fixed my problem. Time will tell if it's another issue. But for now at least, it seems to purrrrrrr.


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