I've just fitted a new Accuspark distributor I've connected the black wire to coil - and the red wire to the coil +. With my light bulb connected earth to an engine earth and the positive to the coil positive the light is very bright and on all the time. If I connect the light bulb positive to the coil negative the light is on but not as bright and as I turn either the distributor or the engine the light will flick off and and straight on again. This only happens if I turn relatively quickly, if I turn the engine or distributor slowly the light just stays on. Confused!!!
Ask the manufacturer, some say yes others say no. Don't leave power going to it for more than a couple of minutes though or you'll fry it.
You should be able to statically time an Accuspark (or Pertronix) exactly the same as for points - they're doing the same thing. Connect the bulb between the coil -ve and earth. It should go on and off exactly as for points. PS You won't cook it if you leave the ignition on, unless it's for ages. The peril is that it'll slowly overheat, but it'll take a while.
Have you got a timing light bob, put it as close to where it was previously, it wont be far out and it'll start then time it up
That's what I thought but I can't get a sensible reading because the light only flicks off momentarily and that's only if I'm turning quite quickly.
I did consider that as well but the instruction manual goes on about having the right orientation on the coil and then stresses different wiring if you have a ballasted coil (whatever that is) and although I've checked I'm only fairly sure I've wired up correctly
No you can't Get engine at tdc make sure it's true tdc Make note of where rotor arm is and line plug lead 1 with it
As Matty and Woody say, get it about right by eye. Then attach your timing gun and get Jan to turn it over while you look where the mark is with the strobe - it doesn't have to start. If it's miles out watch the mark and adjust it while it's turning over. When it gets near it'll start and you can fine tune it.
What they said ^ above is confirmed by the Accuspark instructions that came with my set, saying that static timing is OK for approx set up only but not reliable and they recommend that dynamic timing is always used for final set up.
I couldent static time mine Also i couldent get the tacho i have to work with it The tacho was an ebay purchase however so maybe us when i got it I set mine by eye and then used the strobe to get it right apparently its the hall effect that stops static timing working because points open and close where as the hall effect slowly builds up then switches over in less than a second Id love to hear if anyone is running a tacho with an accuspark as i quite fancy one of those tachos that fits in the spare pod on the dash There pricey though and i dont want to buy one and it not work with electronic ignition
I have used the tachometer function on my automotive multimeter with my accuspark and that works as expected. Connected to the coil negative and battery earth. Test it like that before installation to check.?
