My father has told me stories when he was a youth, hooking up a flame thrower from his '40 Ford using a T coil as ignition. What are some other uses that are not inside a coilbox of some kind
Igniting the plug with intermittent sparks to start up a Red Head model airplane jet engine!
Many hit-and miss engines used them,along with fence chargers.
Cattle prod.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/179646.jpg
Wheel chock.
Removing rattle snake venom. From NPR Science Friday last week:
"ABRAHAMS: The winner of the 1994 (Ig Nobel) Medicine Prize, two doctors shared that prize with a man known as Patient X. Patient X was the victim of a venomous bite from his pet rattlesnake. Upon being bitten by that snake, Patient X instructed a friend to apply electroshock therapy. At Patient X's own insistence, automobile sparkplug wires were attached to his lip, and the car engine was revved to 3,000 RPM for five minutes. Please welcome one of the doctors who subsequently saved Patient X's life, co-author of the medical report "Failure of Electric Shock Treatment for Rattlesnake Envenomation," Dr. Richard Gustafson."
More at http://www.npr.org/2012/11/23/165774984/ig-nobel-prizes-celebrate-somewhat-suspe ct-science
Neil
My brother used to wire up the door knob somehow. Probably wasn't real smart but back then we thought it was pretty funny when someone got zapped.
Stop someone from messing with your car. Les
In shop class, when I was in High School, we wired a metal bench. Would you believe the first person to touch it was the teacher.
My father in law used an old telephone mag and 2 leads, when fishing, to bring the fish to the top. A T coil would probably do the same. More hardware needed.
Back in the 50's we would wire them up to the car body and when someone would lean against the car we would turn the coil on and watch they jump. One night we had a off duty cop lean against the car . That ended our fun.
A recommendation for those who want to run Ford coils into an open circuit; e.g. electric fence, shocking device, etc, is to provide a 1/4" spark gap across the high voltage terminals. Otherwise, the insulation between the windings will eventually puncture, carbonise, and ruin the high voltage winding.
Back in the 30's, dad and his best friend vended Cokes from a cooler, by the tennis courts at the park. After having Cokes being stolen by two college kids who threatened them being beat up. They hooked up a T coil with three drycells. Ran a wire into the iced water and had a wet plate on the ground. The bully's never bothered them again.
Shocking someone may seem like fun but is very dangerous since electric shock can and often does interrupt the normal heartbeat and can cause a person to go into cardiac arrest. It is something to be avoided and never rigged up to make happen as a fun prank or trap for petty vandals since young folks do lots of foolish things - didn't we?. I don't mean to be such a wet blanket on the fun here but I just feel forced to make this statement.
I remember seeing a T coil used to light an oxy/acetylene torch.
My 7th grade science teacher told us about hooking a T coil up to a chicken which instantly laid two eggs. The second one didn't have a shell on it.
^^^^^^ That is amazing!
RD, you have to be faster with your camera... it seems that a raccoon grabbed and ate your model T coil wheel chock just as you parked your car against it. I hope it didn't get squashed!
TH
A couple of years ago, I rebuilt a Model T coil that was reportedly part of a corn dryer. I also rebuilt a pair that had been cut up and epoxied together to fit inside a Maxwell AB coil box. That was fun.
Here is a photo of a Model T coil used as a fence charger. The marble in the tube was to reduce the duty cycle and thereby preserve battery life.
Ron the Coilman
There is one inside my old Champion Spark plug tester.
I've seen two different homebrew "spark gap" transmitters from the early 20s. I would love to run across a radio magazine article describing construction of one.
Put one on the air today and the FCC will pay you a visit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark-gap_transmitter
Spark gap transmitters were used to control early radio control (RC) airplanes. When the transmitter was triggered, an escapement system in the plane, powered by a rubber band, would move the rudder in sequence from right, neutral, left, neutral and back to right. Spark gap transmitters are wide band and only one plane could be flown at a time. Probably outlawed today. The plane would land when the gas ran out. Too many signals and the rubber band would be unwound, ending any control. You had to remember if the last turn was right or left.
Neil
Alarm clock. Usually only need it once. Thereafter you wake up before it goes off.
Tell us about Sandy, John Cassara. This is the first post from you that I've noticed. Checking the archive, I see you first posted post-Sandy on the 14th.
If there's much to tell, please start a new thread. Did you not read the prior thread where we were looking for you?
rdr