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I just noticed the coil on my Super8 was wired backwards. The car ran OK but I assume that when I wire it the correct way, it will have a stronger spark and run smoother.

Any thoughts?

Yes it will run a bit better wired properly! As an aside...I had a girl friend wired like that well over 50 years ago. Wonder what happened to her!? Ernie in Arizona

Quote:

The difference when you wire the coil the correct way is the spark will jump from the center electrode to the wire connected to the outer shell. With the wrong polarity the spark has to jump from the wire to the center.

The coil is much more efficient when wired correctly and the reason is the center electrode is insulated and designed to get and stay hot. Electrons are more concentrated and active on a heated confined surface and will jump easily. The wire is connected to the shell which is threaded into the massive heat sink of the head so electrons jumping from the cooler and larger wire and shell surface to the center will be less concentrated and need to work harder. That extra work can mean the difference between a decent spark or one that is marginal.

In a 12v system you might not see the difference because if a bit of voltage is lost it won't be too noticeable but on a 6v system every little bit of efficiency counts in case something is amiss and voltage is being lost elsewhere.

Folks:

Thanks for the input. I will add that to my to-do list for this weekend!

Gar