What is dwell?
PeteA216
11-18-2006, 12:59 AM
Okay, another question I saw in someone else post... What is dwell? I know I own a dwell meter (actually my fathers), but have no idea what dwell is. I used to think it was something with the timing, but I saw dwell adjustment on a carb thread.
silicon212
11-18-2006, 02:27 AM
A dwell meter's primary purpose is proper adjustment of contact points on an old breaker-point type distributor.
Dwell is duty cycle, on-time. When you set up a carburetor such as an E4ME, it is used to check the duty cycle of the M/C solenoid. When you set the dwell meter on the 6-cylinder scale for a carb adjustment, a dwell of about 30 degrees is equal to about a 50% duty cycle, in other words, the solenoid is engaged 50% of the time.
On the old small block Chevy with breaker-point ignition, you also would want to set the dwell angle to 30 degrees, meaning the points were making contact for 30 degrees of crankshaft rotation.
Dwell is duty cycle, on-time. When you set up a carburetor such as an E4ME, it is used to check the duty cycle of the M/C solenoid. When you set the dwell meter on the 6-cylinder scale for a carb adjustment, a dwell of about 30 degrees is equal to about a 50% duty cycle, in other words, the solenoid is engaged 50% of the time.
On the old small block Chevy with breaker-point ignition, you also would want to set the dwell angle to 30 degrees, meaning the points were making contact for 30 degrees of crankshaft rotation.
Automotive Network, Inc., Copyright ©2026