The Ford Barn - 1936 coil testing

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1936 coil testing

Is there any way to bench test a dome shape coil.
I’m not sure if mine is good. No spark to plugs.
It could be other things but I wanted to first test the coil.
What would the test in ohms be and how to test it out of the car.

Re: 1936 coil testing

You can ohm test the windings , however its not a good test . The primary side of the coil should show approx .6 ohms and the secondary side is approx 6-8,000 . Just remember one side is low the other high. All this really shows is continuty thru the windings..Accurate testing requires special test equip....

Re: 1936 coil testing

Thanks bubbas. I have the ohm meter but I’m confused with test.
Where do you touch the ohm meter to and find out the primary and secondary.

Re: 1936 coil testing

A little off the subject, but wondering if coils can deteriorate just sitting on the shelf, like condensers, or do they get weak through repeated use?

Re: 1936 coil testing

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4dFord/SC (Post 1792342)

A little off the subject, but wondering if coils can deteriorate just sitting on the shelf, like condensers, or do they get weak through repeated use?

No they won't deteriorate on the shelf. The material used to
make coils years ago was not good to start with. They had coil
problems when the cars were new. Were OK in cold temps but
failed in hot weather when the engine got hot. After cooling
they would work until hot again. The only way to test is heated
up on a coil test machine. 99.9 percent of a ALL 32 to 48 coils
fail when hot. The coils Skip rebuilds are the only coils ever
produced that don't fail. There has been attempts over the years
by others that never worked. One was removing the potting
material, drying the coil and filling with G.E. silicon and broken
up pieces of styrafoam. The other dried them out and filled with
epoxy. Neither worked plus the epoxied ones could not be taken
apart. The few coils of SKIPS that have failed were repaired at NO
charge even after 20 years. G.M.

Re: 1936 coil testing

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blastfromthepast (Post 1792324)

Thanks bubbas. I have the ohm meter but I’m confused with test.
Where do you touch the ohm meter to and find out the primary and secondary.

Quick test with an Ohm meter,touch one to the terminal (where wire from ign switch goes to) and the other at the condenser terminal.If it buzzes its(windings) are closed so car should start (if condenser is good).Doesn't mean that the coil is totally good.I have had them when they get hot - fail then start back up when cooled down.I have had NOS OEM Ford coils in the box that tested open-no good.