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My previous research on this subject revealed that a coil will run either way, but if you do not hook up the polarities the right way, the resulting spark will be weaker.
Agreed.
The question is back to approximately JWs original-- on a universal coil supposedly not polarity dependent, how does one know the proper connection. Using the schematic above for example, on a neg ground car with neg terminal being ground -- as far as the spark is concerned only the secondary (blue winding) is in play and the primary winding is in effect by itself.
However, if the conventional wisdom is followed and the pos terminal is now ground in a pos ground car, then both coils are now in series as far as the spark is concerned. This could either add to the overall voltage or subtract, depending on the direction of the primary coil winding. That connection also determines whether the spark jumps from the electrode to ground (good) or the reverse (bad).
Another question is on a universal coil, are they actually manufactured & connected this way or is that one of the few cases mentioned where the secondary is separate and only between the tower and case. I know they still have the + & - labels but without a meter to check, how would you know universal if you had several on a shelf. Anyone have one to check? I think most of us have seen illustrations of the method using the pencil lead to ensure the spark originates at the wire, but aside from that, is there any other way to tell using something in the way of test equip most would have. JW mentioned a milliamp meter but I'm not quite following that method.
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