IGNITION POINTS TIMING TOOL for Magneto or Coil
IGNITION POINTS TIMING TOOL for Magneto or Coil
Ignition Points Timing Tool For Magneto or Coil Systems
To set ignition timing with POINTS BASED systems you need some method to indicate exactly when the points open. If you have a magneto system, or certain types of ignition configuration, electrically the difference in resistance between points open and points closed is tiny. The resistance of the magneto or coil primary winding can be around 0.5 ohms or maybe a couple ohms or so with standard coil ignition - differences almost impossible to indicate with a multimeter.
Traditionally, some people disconnect the points to isolate the electrics (which can be a hassle) or use a thin feeler gauge or piece of paper that hopefully drops out of the points as they open. Not ideal. Some scenarios allow the use of a lamp on a lead, but this absolutely will not work on magneto systems.
The Gammatronix Points Timing Tool uses a special technique that sends a calibrated AC signal to the points (and any coil connected to them or across them). If the points are closed, no signal is reflected back to the unit, and it indicates points closed by being silent and the LED being off.
If the points open, even if the coil presents what looks like a low resistance short across the points, the signal injected from the unit will "bounce back" from the coil, being sampled thousands of times a second. If the unit detects the signal reflected by the open points, it makes a loud tone and illuminates the LED. If the points are closed, the unit remains silent and dark.
In laymans terms, it can tell the difference between the shorted points, and the very low coil resistance which looks like a short to a standard meter. This is because this unit measures a special reflected signal not the resistance difference of open or closed points.
This technique is especially useful in small motorcycle or agricultural engines that operate without a battery and USE POINTS that have a magneto coil "shorting" directly across them. Some multi cylinder motorcycles with more than one coil can also "bleed back" across coils so that the opening of one set of points does not properly operate a standard multimeter. These scenarios are no problem for this neat gadget.
TO USE.
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Clean points or renew them.
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Switch ON the unit using the toggle switch.
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If the leads are not connected, the LED and Sounder will operate making a loud tone and bright indication of operation. Neat, as you cant leave the unit switched on without noticing. This preserves the 30+ hours life of ONE SINGLE AA battery which operates the unit.
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Connect the tester crocodile clips across the points. Black to chassis, red to points wire.
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If the points are closed, the unit will be dark and silent. If the points open even a small amount, it detects the reflected signal and the unit sounds loudly and shines brightly from the LED.
To make operation even easier, simple instructions are also printed on the device itself. You can keep this in your tool box without worry of losing instruction sheets. Its only 75x60x20mm approx in size. It uses just one single 1.5v AA battery for over 30 hours of operation. Weight is only 75 grams approx. (3 ounces).
With battery powered coil (non magneto) systems the ignition must be turned off or the unit will not measure correctly.
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