HEI COIL

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Thanks, Do the standard type HEI coils require a resistor or can you buy them either way, also with 50,000 volts what type plug would you use where you could set the gap to say .060 if that's what's called for?

Don
 
Re: HEI COIL - Plug gap; resistors

The 50,000 volts the coil is rated at is its maximum. The voltage that is produced is what it takes to jump the gap at the plug. If the gap is wide, the voltage increases until the voltage is enough to bridge the gap. If the plug is gapped at a smaller distance then the voltage only rises to what it will take to fire the plug, which may be a lot less than 50,000 volts. Crab caps are known for cross firing when used with hot coils and large plug gaps. I don't believe the HEI coils require a resistor but if you were to use one with points, the points would probably burn up rapidly without a resistor to limit the current.
 
Re: HEI COIL - Plug gap; resistors

Bill is absolutely right. I run an HEI coil, thru the original resistor, with no problems. The car is 12 volts, and the distributor (37-41)is electronic. Point gap is .035
 
Re: HEI COIL - Plug gap; resistors

acually an hei coil is straight 12 volts, chevy never had a resistor for the coil
 
Re: HEI COIL - Plug gap; resistors

Remember HEI means high energy -- not high voltage. It means fat high-current spark. Whenever you do testing to see sparks jumping, limit your test gap to about 1/2 inch, otherwise you might exceed the voltage rating of the coil or some other part of your setup. When I was a kid it was cool to see who could get the longest spark from their Model T coil. Several of my coils were good for around an inch. We undoubdedly did some internal damage to our coils.

George
 
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