Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

On Mon, 19 Oct 2015 06:51:59 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

It could be automotive timing light.
--
Boris

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:03:35 AM UTC-4, Boris Mohar wrote:
On Mon, 19 Oct 2015 06:51:59 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

It could be automotive timing light.
--
Boris

Ahh OK, That's a good guess.

Thanks,
George H.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other parts associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction trigger device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and the inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

wrote:


As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.
Really, really, cheap timing lights, like from the J. C. Whitney of old,
were just two pieces of spark plug wire with a coiled neon tube in the
middle. The spark plug and the coil were the current limiter. They were
very dim, and you could get chopped up by the fan trying to get them close
enough to the timing marks to see anything.

Jon

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:56:59 PM UTC-4, Jon Elson wrote:

Really, really, cheap timing lights, like from the J. C. Whitney of old,
were just two pieces of spark plug wire with a coiled neon tube in the
middle. The spark plug and the coil were the current limiter. They were
very dim, and you could get chopped up by the fan trying to get them close
enough to the timing marks to see anything.


That too. But a trigger electrode could also be down in the base somewhere.

Back when I drove carbureted VWs, I used a christmas tree light for a static timer. Seemed to work fine. I also had a neon timer such as you describe - and it had that big fat lens as in the pictures. The inductive lights did not. Might be as simple as a neon strobe head...

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.

wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?

What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug events.
Then the coil arcs internally.

Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.

wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to the tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think about how
the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what color is
produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon, other will
be who knows.

On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:41:16 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to the tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think about how
the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what color is
produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon, other will
be who knows.

Thanks Tom, I got nothing with my big transformer.
(I don't have enough current to get any significant voltage across the low voltage windings. It could also be that the tube is dead.
I'll try with my tractor at home tonight.

George H.

wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:41:16 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,

wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery,
and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit
it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what
the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll
need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to the
tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think about
how
the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what color is
produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon, other
will
be who knows.

Thanks Tom, I got nothing with my big transformer.
(I don't have enough current to get any significant voltage across the low
voltage windings. It could also be that the tube is dead.
I'll try with my tractor at home tonight.

George H.

Just be careful. Getting hit with the HV can really hurt.

On Tue, 20 Oct 2015 08:17:35 -0700, ggherold wrote:

On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:41:16 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller
wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qbdyali4/
AAA6O9NqKQPvbX4QLzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was
a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely
a stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were
other parts associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have
an induction trigger device, usually, as one example. + &
-attached to the battery, and the inductor clamped to #1
cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you
hit it with some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark
plug? See what the discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself it
was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark after all. I wanted
to see how much voltage I was getting so I hooked up my DMM
(though a series resistor), Pulled the cord to turn over the
engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any of my
working motors. (The last thing I want is to blow out the spark
drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying. Is it ok to put a
dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this past
summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to put in a new
one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark
with say a 9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll
need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to the
tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think about
how the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what color
is produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon,
other will be who knows.

Thanks Tom, I got nothing with my big transformer.
(I don't have enough current to get any significant voltage across the
low voltage windings. It could also be that the tube is dead.
I'll try with my tractor at home tonight.

George H.

Be a lot simpler to just to use one half of the tranny and use the back
EMF from interrupting the circuit instead. Breaking the current through
the longest winding should give enough of a spike to see if the lamp
flashes.

On Mon, 19 Oct 2015 14:00:36 -0700, wrote:

Might be as simple as a neon strobe head...

Yes, but if it's a neon type you might as well bin it; they're so weak as
to be virtually useless. I don't think this one is though, from what I
can make out in the pictures.

wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery, and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

When you touch the battery across the low voltage winding, it builds up
lines of magnetic flux around the core - when you break the current, the
lines of flux collapse onto the core and induce a high voltage spike in the
big winding.

Most 9V batteries are very low energy density and won't keep up the current
through a low voltage winding - and doing that wouldn't serve any useful
purpose anyway.

Hook one wire of the low voltage winding to one battery terminal, then hook
a loose length of wire to to the other end of the winding and just flick it
on the other battery terminal.

You might get a small back emf spark as you break the primary current, but
you should be able to rig a gap for a half-decent spark from the big
winding.

wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:41:16 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,

wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery,
and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit
it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what
the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll
need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to the
tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think about
how
the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what color is
produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon, other
will
be who knows.

Thanks Tom, I got nothing with my big transformer.
(I don't have enough current to get any significant voltage across the low
voltage windings. It could also be that the tube is dead.
I'll try with my tractor at home tonight.

If you're trying it with a 9V radio battery - they can't shift much current.

One of those 6V 996 lantern batteries with the springs on top would stand
more chance.

On Tue, 20 Oct 2015 20:01:39 +0100, Ian Field wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qbdyali4/
AAA6O9NqKQPvbX4QLzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an
induction trigger device, usually, as one example. + & -attached
to the battery, and the inductor clamped to #1 cylinder
spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit
it with some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug?
See what the discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself it
was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark after all. I wanted to
see how much voltage I was getting so I hooked up my DMM (though a
series resistor), Pulled the cord to turn over the engine, and
promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any of my
working motors. (The last thing I want is to blow out the spark
drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying. Is it ok to put a
dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this past
summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a 9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

When you touch the battery across the low voltage winding, it builds up
lines of magnetic flux around the core - when you break the current, the
lines of flux collapse onto the core and induce a high voltage spike in
the big winding.

Most 9V batteries are very low energy density and won't keep up the
current through a low voltage winding - and doing that wouldn't serve
any useful purpose anyway.

Hook one wire of the low voltage winding to one battery terminal, then
hook a loose length of wire to to the other end of the winding and just
flick it on the other battery terminal.

You might get a small back emf spark as you break the primary current,
but you should be able to rig a gap for a half-decent spark from the big
winding.

The coil from a relay might be a better idea than a tranny. Some of those
have a great many windings of fine gauge wire which would put less of a
load on a 9v battery. I've got some here showing over 400 ohms resistance.

"Cursitor Doom" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Oct 2015 20:01:39 +0100, Ian Field wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qbdyali4/
AAA6O9NqKQPvbX4QLzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an
induction trigger device, usually, as one example. + & -attached
to the battery, and the inductor clamped to #1 cylinder
spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit
it with some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug?
See what the discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself it
was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark after all. I wanted to
see how much voltage I was getting so I hooked up my DMM (though a
series resistor), Pulled the cord to turn over the engine, and
promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any of my
working motors. (The last thing I want is to blow out the spark
drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying. Is it ok to put a
dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this past
summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a 9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

When you touch the battery across the low voltage winding, it builds up
lines of magnetic flux around the core - when you break the current, the
lines of flux collapse onto the core and induce a high voltage spike in
the big winding.

Most 9V batteries are very low energy density and won't keep up the
current through a low voltage winding - and doing that wouldn't serve
any useful purpose anyway.

Hook one wire of the low voltage winding to one battery terminal, then
hook a loose length of wire to to the other end of the winding and just
flick it on the other battery terminal.

You might get a small back emf spark as you break the primary current,
but you should be able to rig a gap for a half-decent spark from the big
winding.

The coil from a relay might be a better idea than a tranny. Some of those
have a great many windings of fine gauge wire which would put less of a
load on a 9v battery. I've got some here showing over 400 ohms resistance.

Back emf is good - but a step up ratio is *MUCH* better.

On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 11:56:17 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:41:16 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,

wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery,
and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit
it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what
the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll
need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to the
tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think about
how
the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what color is
produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon, other
will
be who knows.

Thanks Tom, I got nothing with my big transformer.
(I don't have enough current to get any significant voltage across the low
voltage windings. It could also be that the tube is dead.
I'll try with my tractor at home tonight.

George H.

Just be careful. Getting hit with the HV can really hurt.

I didn't have time to play with it this evening.
(my night to take my daughter to dance,
and raining when I got home.
Tomorrow, as long as the sun doesn't set too soon. :^)

HV, not to worry, I've been bitten several times,
and have a healthy respect.

George H.

As others have said, it's an old, primitive, cheap timing light:
http://amccars.net/cgi/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1313093243

On 10/19/2015 09:51 AM, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.


Looks like a fairly powerful flashlamp inside--it might be the business
end of one of those old photo flash units that ran off a 300V dry cell


Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

"Phil Hobbs" wrote in message
...
On 10/19/2015 09:51 AM, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.


Looks like a fairly powerful flashlamp inside--it might be the business
end of one of those old photo flash units that ran off a 300V dry cell


Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--

No, they just had a Neon tube. You had to enhance the timing mark on the
balancer with white chalk. It really would not work outside in sunlight.
They were the cheapest timing light one could buy then. Now they use Xenon
flash tubes and inverters/storage caps.

I would venture a guess that unit was made in the 60's or earlier.

On 10/21/2015 01:24 AM, Tom Miller wrote:

"Phil Hobbs" wrote in message
...
On 10/19/2015 09:51 AM, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0

In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.


Looks like a fairly powerful flashlamp inside--it might be the
business end of one of those old photo flash units that ran off a 300V
dry cell


Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--

No, they just had a Neon tube. You had to enhance the timing mark on the
balancer with white chalk. It really would not work outside in sunlight.
They were the cheapest timing light one could buy then. Now they use
Xenon flash tubes and inverters/storage caps.

I would venture a guess that unit was made in the 60's or earlier.



Why go to the trouble of making that huge helical tube then?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

"Phil Hobbs" wrote in message
...
On 10/21/2015 01:24 AM, Tom Miller wrote:

"Phil Hobbs" wrote in message
...
On 10/19/2015 09:51 AM, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0

In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.


Looks like a fairly powerful flashlamp inside--it might be the
business end of one of those old photo flash units that ran off a 300V
dry cell


Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--

No, they just had a Neon tube. You had to enhance the timing mark on the
balancer with white chalk. It really would not work outside in sunlight.
They were the cheapest timing light one could buy then. Now they use
Xenon flash tubes and inverters/storage caps.

I would venture a guess that unit was made in the 60's or earlier.



Why go to the trouble of making that huge helical tube then?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--

To get as much light as possible from a hand held tool. And Neon tubes are
cheap. Remember, you had to hold the strobe close to the harmonic balancer
while turning the distributor housing to set the timing. It got much easier
when the consumer grade xenon units came out. Even then, they cost $100+ in
the 60-70's. The neon units were $30-40.

"Tom Miller" wrote in message
...

"Phil Hobbs" wrote in message
...
On 10/21/2015 01:24 AM, Tom Miller wrote:

"Phil Hobbs" wrote in message
...
On 10/19/2015 09:51 AM, wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0

In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.


Looks like a fairly powerful flashlamp inside--it might be the
business end of one of those old photo flash units that ran off a 300V
dry cell


Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--

No, they just had a Neon tube. You had to enhance the timing mark on the
balancer with white chalk. It really would not work outside in sunlight.
They were the cheapest timing light one could buy then. Now they use
Xenon flash tubes and inverters/storage caps.

I would venture a guess that unit was made in the 60's or earlier.



Why go to the trouble of making that huge helical tube then?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--

To get as much light as possible from a hand held tool. And Neon tubes are
cheap. Remember, you had to hold the strobe close to the harmonic balancer
while turning the distributor housing to set the timing. It got much
easier when the consumer grade xenon units came out. Even then, they cost
$100+ in the 60-70's. The neon units were $30-40.

Years ago I had a motorcycle with 6V electrics - I couldn't buy a 6V xenon
unit at any price.

The problem was solved by building my own in the housing of an old
flashlight.

Haven't seen it for a while, but its highly unlikely I would've thrown it
out - it must be under the clutter in the garage somewhere.

Whether building another would be less hassle than finding the old one is a
whole 'nother question!

AFAIK: the latest development in more efficient white LEDs, is ditching blue
LEDs with yellow phosphor in favour of UV LEDs with white phosphor.

These are already finding their way into phone-camera flash rings, and the
white phosphor may have short enough persistence to use in a strobe.

On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:01:23 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 11:56:17 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:41:16 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,

wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the battery,
and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you hit
it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See what
the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM. :^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess I'll
need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to the
tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think about
how
the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what color is
produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon, other
will
be who knows.

Thanks Tom, I got nothing with my big transformer.
(I don't have enough current to get any significant voltage across the low
voltage windings. It could also be that the tube is dead.
I'll try with my tractor at home tonight.

George H.

Just be careful. Getting hit with the HV can really hurt.

I didn't have time to play with it this evening.
(my night to take my daughter to dance,
and raining when I got home.
Tomorrow, as long as the sun doesn't set too soon. :^)

HV, not to worry, I've been bitten several times,
and have a healthy respect.

George H.

OK I hooked this up to the spark of my tractor last night.
The nice cherry glow of Neon was visible.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, comments and links.

So here's a question, My daughter likes the elements,
we have a small collection. Adding Neon would be nice,
but we'd have to make a little circuit to power the tube.

1.) How much voltage do I need to start it? (10kV?)
2.) could I run it CW or would a pulsed thing be better/ easier.
3.) How to make the HV? My first thought was a cockroft-walton chain.
Could I choose the caps and frequency such as to have a crude current control.

(I like the Cockroft chain because it's not all that hard to understand.)

Any thoughts?

George H.

wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:01:23 PM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 11:56:17 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
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On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:41:16 AM UTC-4, Tom Miller wrote:
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On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 10:04:36 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller
wrote:
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On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 2:45:30 PM UTC-4,

wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 12:53:45 PM UTC-4, Tom Miller
wrote:
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On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:52:07 AM UTC-4,

wrote:
Hi all, I found this thing.. see pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sxd1cq8qb...LzNAK-Vaa?dl=0
In the back of a drawer at my house. The previous owner
was a
pack
rat,
who also worked for the phone company.
It looks like some high voltage flashlight.
What sort of voltage do I apply to the leads?

Thanks,
George H.

As per Boris - yes, it could be a timing light - but
definitely a
stop-action device of some sort. I expect that there were
other
parts
associated with it - strobe-type timing lights have an
induction
trigger
device, usually, as one example. + & -attached to the
battery,
and
the
inductor clamped to #1 cylinder spark-plug wire.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But there is no trigger electrode. It might be Neon. Can you
hit
it
with
some high voltage, maybe from a lawn mower spark plug? See
what
the
discharge spectrum looks like.

Hmm OK, I could try that.

I'm a little leery of mixing electronics with my lawn mower.
Way back when, a motor wouldn't start, and I convinced myself
it was a spark problem. I couldn't see a spark
after all. I wanted to see how much voltage I was getting so
I hooked up my DMM (though a series resistor), Pulled the
cord to turn over the engine, and promptly blew up my DMM.
:^(

George H.

Tom, Sorry I chickened out and didn't put it across any
of my working motors. (The last thing I want is to
blow out the spark drive... I'm not really sure, what I'm
saying.
Is it ok to put a dead short across my briggs and stratton?

George H.


Doesn't the spark plug do just that when it fires?
Yeah, I didn't say my fear was rational.
I had a bunch of old engines, I think most were "re-cycled" this
past summer.
Hmm, OK I'll hook it up to my old tractor.
(Ferguson to-20) If I blow out the coil it's easy to
put in a new one.


What damages magneto ignition systems is open circuit, wire off
plug
events.
Then the coil arcs internally.


Don't you have any kind of transformer that could make a HV spark
with
say a
9 volt battery? A filament transformer maybe?

9V battery and transformer? (how does that work?)

I've got a 120-24 (6A) tranny, how much voltage would you guess
I'll
need?
I could run that backwards from a Variac.

George H.



Just take clip leads to the highest voltage winding (primary?) to
the
tube.
Then use the battery to "flash" the lowest voltage winding. Think
about
how
the points work in an ignition circuit.

No, do not use a variac.

All you want is to get a discharge through the tube and see what
color is
produced. Red says it might be Neon, blueish white may be Xenon,
other
will
be who knows.

Thanks Tom, I got nothing with my big transformer.
(I don't have enough current to get any significant voltage across
the low
voltage windings. It could also be that the tube is dead.
I'll try with my tractor at home tonight.

George H.

Just be careful. Getting hit with the HV can really hurt.

I didn't have time to play with it this evening.
(my night to take my daughter to dance,
and raining when I got home.
Tomorrow, as long as the sun doesn't set too soon. :^)

HV, not to worry, I've been bitten several times,
and have a healthy respect.

George H.

OK I hooked this up to the spark of my tractor last night.
The nice cherry glow of Neon was visible.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, comments and links.

So here's a question, My daughter likes the elements,
we have a small collection. Adding Neon would be nice,
but we'd have to make a little circuit to power the tube.

1.) How much voltage do I need to start it? (10kV?)
2.) could I run it CW or would a pulsed thing be better/ easier.
3.) How to make the HV? My first thought was a cockroft-walton chain.
Could I choose the caps and frequency such as to have a crude current
control.

(I like the Cockroft chain because it's not all that hard to understand.)

Any thoughts?


You could probably get away with the chopper transformer out of the SMPSU in
a ser top box like a DVB-T type thing.

Using the transformer back to front, you can get pretty decent HT with a
simple blocking oscillator on what used to be the secondary.

Or you could go for a capacitor discharge unit. Of course you need another
chopper transformer to make the inverter. About 250 - 350V is good enough
for the intermediate voltage, you can make a simple relaxation oscillator
with 2 or more series neon bulbs and a capacitor to fire the SCR.

Years ago I made a pocket disco strobe along those lines, it used the xenon
tube from an old camera and run off 4x AA Ni-Cd cells.