MTFCA Forum

Hello Luke, My idea is to get a quantity of boards made by JLCPCB without components these work out at around 3 GBP each, they will also supply the boards with SMD components fitted of course these would be considerably more expensive. Electronics and of course Model T's are hobbies of mine so my pe...

I have had success with my bread board 494 version. As I have experience hand soldering SMD parts I thought producing a board sing these components would allows for a smaller board, in this case 35mm X 35mm which fits on the bottom of the original cut out can. D2 and Q1 will fit on reverse side of t...

Like the case Tony very nice design. John

Luke, your cutting of print would be a good solution however rather than having 2 extra resistors on the board doing nothing I personally would prefer selecting a single value for either 6v, 8v or 12v and just fitting that. Regards John

Luke, Board your layout looks promising as you say the MOSFET and D2 could be mounted on the original can base. I have an assortment of different scrap cutouts one being an original Ford the other 3 I think are reproductions but the lower area inside lip of all (see photo) is around 47.3mm so that w...

Luke, the TL494 looks interesting with a reduced component count thanks for posting your experimental concept here. I will breadboard one up and have a play. John

Hello folks, I have just been told about this thread by a friend but have constructed similar John H design using the LM393 as a proto type and been playing with it on the bench using an SLA battery and power supply current limited it works very well but the MOSFET gets quite hot I think good heat s...

To follow up on my post above regarding the issue I had with the capacitor test function, this may be of assistance to anyone else attempting this project. I traced the problem to the incorrect 5 volt regulator detailed in the parts list and circuit diagram type CJ7805, this regulator needs 20 volts...

Hi Matt, Thanks for the latest software. I have my FACT cased now using your PCB design. I ordered blank boards and fitted components myself. I will do a report and pictures of my experience here once I have sorted the final issue which is the capacitor test. With a new good spec capacitor I get a P...

Hi Matt, I have the new PCB up and running but with issues with capacitor test. I have investigated the software and think I have an old version V0.96. I note in your photos you are using V0.99. Is it possible for you to make the latest software version available? Thanks John (UK)

I have successfully recharged the magneto in a number of Model T's according to the procedure detailed in MTFCA Electrical System Book. Looking at a tourer for a friend, with the compass located on the correct position of the hogs head it constantly points north even turning the flywheel there is ne...

Matt many thanks for your time and effort with this, I have downloaded all your files and will take a closer look with the view to order some boards. Thanks again. John

Hello Mat, I have not been following this for a while and was surprised you have now got a PCB, thats great, well done. I still have my FACT coil tester running and is working fine after all this time. Would be nice to tidy it up so I wonder if you are going to make the Gerber files available for th...

Well I boxed mine up and decided to use a larger 4 line screen, its been working great! I agree with Luke it needs a larger OLED style screen also I would like to see a way of measuring double sparking so a combination of Luke's and Matts software would be ideal on a larger screen.

I now have the latest FACT version running with the capacitor tester. I have 13 coils to restore here so did FACT / StroboSpark capacitor comparison check. The results are below which are pleasingly comparable except coil 13. The Strobospark has an analogue meter which is not as easy to read as FACT...

Luke,

I have been running old version FACT without capacitor tester very successfully. Just looking to upgrade it to your latest version but I am having some difficulty understanding the switch wiring arrangement in your diagram. Is the switch a 2 way 3 pole switch you are using? Thanks John.

Thanks for that Matt I will have a play with that later and let you know how I get on. I agree on the Lukes suggestion of the Nextion screen that looks really good indeed and may be worth considering once the software is finalised.

Matt, nice job indeed. That oled screen form factor looks more like 128x64 rather than 128x32? If so I have one in my junk box so would be interesting to have a play if you are prepared to share your code? I have Lukes 1602 screen and his code here running at the moment, works well. Thanks John

Having successfully restored 100's of Model T coils I can defiantly confirm Scott's findings where a coil has good secondary and primary resistance, perfectly set up new points and cushion spring, correct new capacitor, and cosmetically a good, and even sounds right (yes after restoring so many you ...

Good job Matt with the capacitance code I will give that a try later. Like jab35 says a leakage test of the capacitor would definitely be desirable but I am not sure how possible that would be to include in your code? A big failing of old coils is capacitor leakage. Regeards John

Hi Luke, You asked... "To that end if you had a 'scope (or used the earlier code with the python plotter) and could could confirm that your 3.x msec is the main ramp and decay, or something else, I'd be keen to know?" ...Hope this helps. VERY keen to see latest block diagram with the addition of the...

Hi Luke, many thanks for the response, I did change that but could find only one instance of "amps = ((mVolts - 2500.0)/66.0);" in one single line of code, think you indicated there are two, maybe I have misunderstood you. Anyway that line is changed now to "amps = ((mVolts - 2500.0)/100.0);" Have a...

Hi Luke, thanks for your latest latest software version which I have running. I have also used ACS712 but the 20 amp version rather than the CT. Regards John

Luke / Matt, Thanks for replies, I am now up and running! Changed the burden resistor from 100 Ohms as per Lukes circuit diagram to 330 Ohms and now I getting data on the serial screen. I am using an unknown coil here which I will now restore fully and set up on the StroboSpark then see its results ...

Hi Luke,

Have had some success, in the serial screen max current displayed but start of decay, total to fire and decay time all read zero. I am sure its something silly and have spent some time trying to work out what! Any ideas?

Hi Matt, the current transformer I used is on Ebay item number 191931608115 description HMCT103C 5A/5MA Precision Micro Current Transformer Sensor Module, if you search that description I'm sure you will find a seller locally (this one is a UK seller). Regards John

Luke, I have now managed to compile and load your original code. I was using Ubuntu Linux and I think there is an issue with the IDE install that I need to sort. Now using a Windozzzzz PC and the original code loads OK but your new code will not compile, it has errors unfortunately. I have most comp...

Hello Luke, Im sure you dont want to get in to software questions but would you kindly confirm the code will compile OK as I am getting errors. If it does then I will investigate the code to see whats wrong my end. As I have limited knowledge of C this would be a good starting point before I investi...

Thank you Luke for sharing your code. I will load this to an Aurdino over the holiday period and have a play with it. Regards John

Hello Luke, this sounds interesting, I have developed my own coil tester using an oscilloscope to display time to fire etc. I have been considering using Arduino or Raspberry Pi based system and indeed I have Arduino board here so I would be very interesting to see your code and hardware wiring deta...