Would you say that this HEI coil is the same as the Accel HEI Super coil?

 

Good question.

My coil (1988 TPI L98) is looking a bit old and tired and I've been looking for a replacement too.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...il-vs-msd.html

Post above suggests the Accel coil doesn't do much and is unreliable.

 

Supposably the dizzy produces 65,000 volts. The dizzy, cap and coil are only $50!!!!! Skepticle.
http://www.skipwhiteperformance.com/...x?Item=6500-GY

 

Skip White seems to know what he's talking about. Guess they probably come from the same Chinese factory as the Accel ones.

Pity the distributor doesn't work with a TPI engine.

 

Maby with a dremel, you can grind down a notch on the dizzy cap base and just replace the guts with the proper wiring and module. I think it could work.

 

Sorry to sidetrack this thread a little, but what is the advantage of running a high voltage coil? Is it just a bigger / more reliable spark?

 

From my understanding, it creates a hotter spark in which it makes a more complete combustion.

 

With larger displacement engines, having a good spark is even more important for good and complete combustion.

I have a plane with a 4 cylinder 360 ci engine. It has two magnetos and two spark plugs per cylinder.

Having dual ignition systems is for redundancy and safety, but the individual cylinders are as large (almost 1.5 litres each) that the engine needs two sparks for complete combustion.

I suspect his might also be a factor for larger engines running at high RPM. The ignition upgrades are cheap and can't hurt.

 

Paying attention to rated ignition coil "voltage" is like looking where the magician wants you to look when he pulls a rabbit out of his hat.

Ignition is a science. Unfortunately, almost every number that is used to sell ignition parts is worthless for telling you anything meaningful about it's performance in a given aplication. A low RPM, high cylinder pressure application is TOTALLY different in it's spark needs than a low-torque high-RPM screamer of an engine.

First things first, rated coil voltage is MEANINGLESS. Totally worthless spec. It only takes about 5,000-15,000 Volts to jump the plug gap in even the wildest N/A application. Once the spark is formed it's about how long it lasts (total spark energy- MilliJoules of spark energy)

The MODULE is ultimately the limiting factor in any HEI application. An old large cap HEI has current-limiting circuitry built into it that clamps the flow at about 5A maximum. Later small cap HEIs it's about 6A max. HOW THAT AMPERAGE IS UTILIZED IS THE JOB OF THE COIL.

Some coils (like stock ones) can produce a WHOPPER of a spark at modest RPMs but in the upper RPMs they fall off quickly because they can not recharge (reach full coil saturation) quickly enough. Rated voltage- about 45,000. Or maybe 30,000. Or maybe a million volts. Irrelevant since it only needs to make about 15K to jump the gap at WOT. After that it's all about how long it can keep the spark lit- how much total energy is stored in the coil. As the RPMs climb the stock coil can't fully recharge between firings and that stored energy starts to drop. It still jumps the gap but for shorter and shorter periods of time. Little pops and misfires happen due to partial ignition, robbing more and more power as the RPMs climb higher and higher.

FYI- stock coils can not reach saturation (full charge) much above 4500 RPMs.

Other coils (MSD performance replacement, for instance) can recharge almost twice as quiclly but don't produce as strong a spark. Something that's going to turn some serious RPMs would work much better with the MSD coil due to is much faster recovery rate. They build their coils KNOWING that they can step the total stored spark energy down a little vs. stock without causing a problem in the lower RPMs. But when the tach swings way into the red the faster recharge rate lets them hold that energy level, undiminished, to almost twice as high an RPM before it starts to fall off.

FYI- an MSD HEI performance replacement coil can reach saturation (full charge) up to about 8000 RPMs.

So...... deep breath...... what specs do you REALLY know about the coil on top of that distributor? If you're honest you'll probably have to agree you don't really know any. It's a crapshoot. Maybe it works will in your application, maybe it doesn't. The ugly truth about selling performance ignition parts.

 

O....

 

I've been using Accel HEI for 12 years. Only changed twice for tune ups.
1st was in my '75 Camaro Bigblock for 8 years, now in the '87 small block.
Good weather drivers only.
No complaints from me with Accel.

That does look like the Accel.

 

12 years!!!! wow. My main purpose to this coil is for quicker start ups, as well as a more reliable spark. So did you get crispy quick start ups? ANy differences over stock coils?