hey there sparky-- playing with a buzz coil ( high tension ignition coil )

[JRD77VET]

On the final day of the show at Rough & Tumble, my buzz coil decided not to work. The Olds ran fine after borrowing another buzz coil.

As I was describing what happened to my friend Dave ( '55 Crown Vic guy ). he mentioned he had a buzz coil sitting under his workbench for the past three decades. He gave it to me. :seasix:

Turned out it's a Ford Model T buzz ( tremble ) coil. I found a guy on Youtube who rebuilds them and he had a video showing what the readings where supposed to be if they were good. The one I had was good so I soldered on brass #8-32 screws so I could use it.

Here it is throwing a spark across a 5/16" gap :cool1:

Model T buzz coil - YouTube

I hooked up the AIM LONG HENRY spark plug I just got off ebay to make sure it worked. It works well :hurray:

Model T buzz coil - YouTube


Oh, if you decide to play with a buzz coil like did, make sure the wires are in place before you energize it. It will decide the ground path and it may not agree with the one you picked out :rofl:

:leaving:

[SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84]

YES! Water and electricity definitely find the easiest path!!!

Do you have a picture of the T buzz coil?

[Stevedore]

I remember those from when I was a kid in the mid-50's A few of us "boy scientists" had them; you could order them from the Sears catalog then, which I did. Didn't do much with them other than make sparks, & shock ourselves accidentally.

[mrvette]

Me born in '44, so by mid 50's all the WW2 surplus electronic crap was on the open market, and us geek kids went WILD in the local surplus outlet.....

Army field transmitters ran on dynamotors......mil standard battery/vehicle operating voltage was a nominal 24 volts, 28 at the generator output....just like today....at 1/2 the voltage....so to note we got an old stage lighting power supply with an output of some 48? volts....at any rate it was higher than the 24 rated for the dynamotors.....the use of them was to generate some 800 volts output for the electron tubes (anyone remember THEM?) in the transmitters...

so to run the gensets /dynamotors at no load on the input....wind that puppy up but good, and stand back with rubber gloves and a long insulated wire with the tip exposed, and whip it against the frame of the DC power supply....when that happened the motor would go from a flat out SCREAM, to a rapid wind down as the arc load was applied, and the arc we could draw was many times longer than 6" and BRIGHT!!!! blue/white other colors only if other materials were being burnt......

I was blasting SIXTY amp main line fuses outta the 12 ga feed wire for the 110 to the supply.....

Told you all I was a geek.....:dance::rofl::lol:

OH, I was told to stay hell outta the basement when the TV sets were on in the evenings.....because the RF from the mighty arcs would knock all the TV's off the air while it was arcing, so I was bugging the neighbors.....

:issues:

[JRD77VET]

YES! Water and electricity definitely find the easiest path!!!

Do you have a picture of the T buzz coil?

I grabbed a picture off ebay. Power goes to the right top, spark plug to the top left and far left is ground/timer.

I soldered brass screws onto the copper washers so I did not have to attach wires directly to the box ( as ford did )

[JRD77VET]

I just won a K&W buzz coil on ebay :dance: These have a LOT more juice than the stock Model T coils :D

I started a thread on the Smok Stak forum ( old engine forum ) and a couple guys had "run ins" with these coils :rofl:

In a pinch last year I got a NEW KW coil that Branson Enterprises makes, at the Mt Pleasant Ia show, WOW, you don't even want to get bit by these, when I got the 3 hp Challenge I happened to give him a call and he had a couple that where 2nds, this thing will jump at least a 1-1/8th gap!! And sound like your arc welding!! Got tired of messing with the old wood t coils, they are expensive, but NO Trouble with them, and first roll over starting to! Dave Raines can vouch for the spark, I warned him not to get anywhere near the business end and hold it against the block about a 1/2" on my 6 hp Challenge while I rolled it over and watch the fireworks, he goes Rich this is scary turn this off NOW, I can feel the wire vibrate with the current going through it , with 12 volt emergency back up batteries ...LOL

The typical T coil put out about 15000 volts, which will give about a 3/8 to 1/2 inch spark on a good dry day. A T coil will bite you like the average mag - an unpleasant jolt. As noted earlier, you don't want to mess with a K&W! They put out in the area of 40 to 50 thousand volts - enough to jump a 1 inch gap at a minimum. Almost as bad a bite as the GM HEI. They will put you on your azz and it will hurt a while, especially if you get bit where you were not expecting it A friend decided to show me how strong his K&W was, and hooked it up to a battery. As he reached across the table, his stomach came near the K&Ws output terminal. I heard ZZZAAAAPPP, and he jumped back and fell on his butt. The coil had burned a 1/4" hole in his shirt and left a small track of 3rd degree burns on his stomach Needless to say, I didn't get any more demos on the K&W!

Yeah, I'm game. Video after it arrives :hurray:

[JRD77VET]

I took out my K&W buzz coil to Rough and Tumble today and put it on the Olds.

WOW, what a difference. I was able to easily start it myself. :dance:

5-7 hp Olds type A with K&W buzzcoil - YouTube

[WOEII]

I took out my K&W buzz coil to Rough and Tumble today and put it on the Olds.

WOW, what a difference. I was able to easily start it myself. :dance:

5-7 hp Olds type A with K&W buzzcoil - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaNvIaDIQps)
Very nice! :seasix:

[OddBall]

:cool1:

[boracayjohnny]

I just won a K&W buzz coil on ebay :dance: These have a LOT more juice than the stock Model T coils :D

I started a thread on the Smok Stak forum ( old engine forum ) and a couple guys had "run ins" with these coils :rofl:





Yeah, I'm game. Video after it arrives :hurray:

:rofl::lol:

"Sounded like arc welding..........I didn't get anymore demos."

[JRD77VET]

:rofl::lol:

"Sounded like arc welding..........I didn't get anymore demos."

Another thing crossed off the list of "Fun Things To Do" :wow: