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Posted

Gents,

 

Can you tell me what this part is? I am doing a 12v conversion and tidying up thiings which mean splicing and re-routing so things look nice.
However, I dont know what this is let alone where I get another one. It was mounted on the firewall.

 

Wires in order go to:

 

1. Positive side of starter selenoid.

 

2. Ties into the wires that go forward to the front lighting.

 

3. Negative side of the coil.

 

4. Believe it or not, the wire goes down to the steering box and goes inside it. Wierdest thing....

 

Anyway, any help on this would be apprecaited. I looked over the forum and tech areas and even looked a shop manual and elec diagram and could not figure this out.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

post-7417-0-35131200-1421607391_thumb.jpg

Posted

Yep. I just figured this out after scratching far enough to find the numberts on it. Thanks guy and thank you for the diagram as well.

 

Best Regards

Posted

Thank you.  The new relay included has only three terminals: Horn, Switch and Battery.  As I understand it, the old relay had a junction point to power several items that required power only with the ignition in the on position.

So when wiring the new ignition coil in now, what was on the negative side of the coil coming from the top of the firewall through that conduit type apparatus, will now be on the positive side of the coil correct?

Posted

My statement below in blue is incorrect. Sorry for the bad information. The statement below in black is from an International Harvester service manual and has the correct information. 

 

In a DC (Direct Current) circuit current flows from negative to positive. And in a DC circuit the heavy arcing occurs on the negative side when the circuit is interrupted. So the only difference in the coil/point power supply is the side (top or bottom) contactor of the points will receive the heavy arcing. The system will work the same when changing from positive ground to negative ground with the exception of the contact point arcing. So it is not necessary to change the polarity on the coil wiring as the system efficiency is exactly the same.

 

COIL POLARITY One of the major causes for hard starting or spark plug misfiring under load results when the ignition coil lead wire to the distributor is installed on the wrong side of the coil.  This condition causes reversed coil polarity. Voltage  at  the  spark  plug  terminals  should  always  be negative.    Whether  it  is  or  not  depends  on  how  the  primary leads are attached to the coil.  Remember, primary lead hook- up   directly   affects   coil   polarity,   which   in   turn   determines whether  voltage  at  the  spark  plug  terminals  is  negative  or positive.    On  IH  trucks  the  distributor  wire  to  the  coil  should always   be   placed   on   the   negative   side   of   the   coil   if   the electrical system is negative grounded, or on the positive side if the electrical system is positive grounded. If  the  primary  leads  are  incorrectly  attached,  the  direction  of current  flow  through  the  coil  is  reversed.    Consequently,  coil polarity    is    reversed,    resulting    in    positive    voltage    being supplied to the spark plug terminals. What   difference   does   it   make   whether   positive   or negative  voltage  is  supplied  to  the  spark  plug  terminals?.    It directly affects the amount of voltage required to fire the spark plugs.  When polarity at the spark plug terminals is positive, it's  harder  for  the  voltage  to  jump  across  the  air  gap  than when polarity at the plug terminal is negative.  Just why this is so is related to a pair of electrical theories--the electron theory and the theory of thermionic emission. According to the electron theory, all current flows from negative to positive.  The theory of thermionic emission states essentially it's easier for electrons to leave a hot surface than a cold surface. Combining  the  two  theories,  one  finds  that  electrons will  always  leave  a  negative  charged  surface  for  a  positive charged  surface,  and  they  will  leave  the  negatively  charged surface with more ease when the surface is heated. Spark   plug   design   is   such   that   the   center   electrode almost   always   operates   at   a   higher   temperature   than   the ground electrode.  Since it's easier for electrons to leave a hot surface,  it  is  preferred  to  have  the  electrons  "jump"  from  the hotter center electrode to the cooler ground electrode. When    the    center    electrode    is    negatively    charged (negative  voltage  at  the  spark  plug  terminals),  this  is  what happens.  Stated another way, putting the negative charge on the  hotter  center  electrode  causes  the  gap  to  be  ionized  at lower  voltage.    (Ionization  is  necessary  to  permit  passage  of the   spark   through   the   high   resistance   of   the   gases   in   the cylinder.) When positive voltage is supplied to the plug terminals, which happens when coil polarity is accidentally reversed, the hotter center electrode becomes positive charged. Consequently,   electrons   must   leave   the   negative   charged ground  electrode  and  move  to  the  positive  charged  center electrode.  But, since the ground electrode is cooler than the center electrode (and remember, it's easier for the electrons to leave  a  hotter  surface),  it  takes  more  voltage  to  make  the current jump the gap-in fact, up to 45 percent more.  See Fig.

 

Link to the complete article.

 

http://firetrucksandequipment.tpub.com/TM-5-4210-230-14P-1/css/TM-5-4210-230-14P-1_545.htm

 

  • Like 1
Posted

As I always understood it, wiring the coil leads backwards will result in a weak spark??

 

The difference will be in the spark at the plugs.  With the coil wired backwards the ground electrode will deteriorate sooner.

  • Like 1
Posted

As I always understood it, wiring the coil leads backwards will result in a weak spark??

 

 

The difference will be in the spark at the plugs.  With the coil wired backwards the ground electrode will deteriorate sooner.

You are correct. See my amended statement above.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

OK wait a second here. This talk of center electrode being the hotter surface is debatable. The center is partially enveloped in a ceramic insulator which is bonded to a portion of the plug that is in contact with portion of the head that is surrounded by circulating coolant. How can that be hotter than the lesser mass of the grounding electrode hanging out in the combustion chamber,that only gets cooled by the rush if intake air fuel mix, which almost immediatly heats up again under compression of that same charge? Sounds like voodoo engineer speak to me.

Edited by greg g

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