'tuning' the 'buzz' .....

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: 'tuning' the 'buzz' .....
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Hoshield on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 08:19 pm:

I'm sure everyone has heard their coils a buz'n... so, what's actually buzzing? It's the contacts on top, yes? I notice each of my coils buzz a different pitch, and with a bit of practice, I should easily be able to find out which one is for the 1st cylinder. I've found the 'sweet spot' for starting, like I think I have seen in Royce's dad's video (correct me if I'm wrong). I slowly crank in 1/4 turns until I get to the right spot, then can just give the crank an almost gentle but quicker crank, and she turns right over.

My question is ... might the pitches be relatively the same on everyone's vehicle? Maybe ends up being tied to the length of the plug wires, or are they all over the place, and just depend on the shape of the coil windings, etc. It would be interesting to see if the coils pitch is relative to the quality of the coil .. or how properly it is adjusted?

Or am I just musically deranged? :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bud Holzschuh - Panama City, FL on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 08:35 pm:

Definitely musically deranged - too many years playing that tenorhorn !!! ;o)

Seriously Dennis i would suspect that each coil might sound a little different to a musically trained ear like yours. Just like a tuning fork, the arm that the points are attached to may have more or less tension or be made out of slightly different material or thickness & hence the different pitches. (I can think of at least several other reasons too)

Now why its easier to start on one coil than another is anyone's guess. Perhaps that coil has a stronger spark or the cylinder it fires has a better gas/air mixture ?

I'm sure others will chime in with their guesses!

Cheers
schuh


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Hoshield on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 09:25 pm:

hehehe ... you're probably right ! :-)

I should probably check my compression. I wonder if that cylinder has a bit more than the others. I think it is somewhat random where the engine stops (luckily, I'm not a betting man) .. but I can get the crank to 'catch, around 6 o'clock, pull it up, and do it again, then maybe again, and can pretty much feel which pull I can give a that steady, a little quicker pull ... and vroom ... off it goes.

Next .. I'll take my tuner out there, and see which is which. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Matthew David Maiers on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 09:29 pm:

i think somone should get together 20 or 30 coils that represent musical cords, and then set them up with a key board and do buzzicals.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bud Holzschuh - Panama City, FL on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 10:01 pm:

Brilliant - we could call it a T board!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Hoshield on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 10:26 pm:

that would be pretty funny!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Matthew David Maiers on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 10:28 pm:

do it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 09:45 am:

Dennis:

If your coils are properly setup on HCCT or Strobo-Spark, don't mess around trying to make them "sound" the same since you will get them all out of adjustment rather quickly. The main issues are coil operate current and spark timing and those do not relate to the sound of the coil buzzing. In truth if you do own an HCCT and set up a lot of coils you can actually "hear" the double spark sound of a coil that is out of whack. My bet is that Ron Patterson and a few others could listen to a coil in an HCCT and tell you by the sound of the "snap" whether the coil was in fact double sparking or not.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 10:50 am:

It sounds plausable actually. Though I believe it's an "old wives tale" I can imagine some old timers thinking they could tell what the coil was doing by the buzzing it made. May even have some basis in truth. Did they set them right? probably not but it's an interesting idea.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Garnet on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 03:39 pm:

I wish to hell someone would offer up a set of their buzzbox coils to be used in a comparison run with a set of correctly adjusted coils. The laughs would be priceless and maybe it would put this buzzbox horse-pucky to rest permanently.

Garnet


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chris Barker, Somerset, England on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 05:12 pm:

In my experience of about 100 coils, even when set up to be perfect on an HCCT or Strobospark they all sound different in pitch and loudness. The only useful information to be had is that if a coil is silent, it isn't working!
Note that your are listening with a DC supply. On magneto, they don't buzz - just 'tick'


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