Ignition Coil

Hi,

I have a not-car-related project, which is probably going to use a Ignition Coil and Spark Plug.
Since this is a automotive forums, I thought I could ask some simple questions about that.

I know what the result of a Spark-Plug is: a spark :rolleyes:
But: how can I manually spark the spark plug (with the correct Ignition Coil)

I just need to create a spark from that spark plug, where I need the Ignition Coil for (probably).

I hope nobody will be irritated about this slightly "off topic" question, but I thought it would fit here best. If it is unwanted: just close (or remove) the topic, and I won't ask these things again. (although I will be posting car related topics in the future, since I am going to buy a new car :))

Thanks!

Hook up a 12v battery to the + and - terminals of the primary side of the coil (doing this for too long may burn out the windings). Using a plug wire, connect the secondary side to the spark plug. Attach a length of wire to the threads of the spark plug and run it to the - terminal of the battery. To make a spark, remove the ground from the primary side. Depending on application, you can run a larger plug gap in open air than you would under the heat and pressure inside an engine.

Is this for a potato cannon by chance? I've been planning to do this when our neon sign transformer burns out. Let me know how it goes.

A coil runs on 12V. Hook a power wire to the + side of the coil. Ground the threads of the plug back to the battery. Hook up a switch that will alternate between grounding and ungrounding the coil. You have to energize the coil (12V) then ground it to get it to spark. Keeping it grounded will not result in a continuous spark. You get one spark each time you ground it. The faster you can ground and unground the coil the faster you will get sparks. Manually sparking it would probably work best with some sort of switch that is like a distributor or more easily, something like the spinner from the game of life.

Hi!

Thanks for the answers!
So basically (with the information you gave me I could find a little bit more), it's this:
http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/ignitioncoil/index.html (The JAVA applet).

And I guess it will work when I replace the switch with a normal button. Since when I press it there will be connection, when I release it it is gone so it fires.

And: A spark plug is nothing more as a fancy casing around 2 wires, providing the spark..? In that case I will just use 2 wires instead of an expensive spark plug?

It is for something like a potato gun, but just a bit more complicated chemical situation.

It is for something like a potato gun, but just a bit more complicated chemical situation.

I suppose we'll get to read about the application in the national news over the coming weeks....:headshake

-Rod

Two nails, wires, screws, etc should work just fine. But a plug is only 2 bucks.

Two nails, wires, screws, etc should work just fine. But a plug is only 2 bucks.
In that case I just use a plug indeed.
So on my shopping list is currently:
- Switches
- Ignition Coil
- Spark Plug

I was planning to use my lab power supply as battery (with a fuse for safety maybe)

A coil is simply an inverter of sorts. It takes 12v and 10A and converts it to 12,000v and .01A.

Inverters change from DC to AC current. I think you mean a transformer to change the voltage of a DC current.

Yes, a step up transformer. And it changes it to a bit higher than 12000V, more like 50000+