Dwell calculations

This forum is for discussing ignition setup, tuning, and troubleshooting for MicroSquirt (TM)
Forum rules
Read the manual to see if your question is answered there before posting. If you have questions about MS1/Extra or MS2/Extra or other non-B&G code configuration or tuning, please post them at http://www.msextra.com The full forum rules are here: Forum Rules, be sure to read them all regularly.
Flatline_Racing
MegaSquirt Newbie
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue May 04, 2004 9:16 pm

Post by Flatline_Racing »

Would the resistance and inductance be measured off the Primary Winding or the secondary winding?
Feel the Pulse!

Flatline Racing
Blue
Helpful Squirter
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:01 pm

Post by Blue »

I'm trying to use Bruce's formula to compute the dwell setting for my ignition coil. Here are the values for my coil.

L=9.5 mH
R=1.55 Ohm

I have input several values of I. Here are the corresponding values for T.


I_______T
(amps) (ms)

1______.85
2______1.83
3______3.00
4______4.46
5______6.36
6______9.14
7_____14.37
7.7____32

How do I decide which pair of I and T is the best to use?

I graphed it in Excel, but there is no obvious point of inflection on the curve.

And for future reference, what is the right way to put a simple chart (like the one above) into a post?

Thanks for your help and advice.
Bruce Bowling
Site Admin
Posts: 285
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2004 4:25 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

Post by Bruce Bowling »

Blue wrote:I'm trying to use Bruce's formula to compute the dwell setting for my ignition coil. Here are the values for my coil.

L=9.5 mH
R=1.55 Ohm

I have input several values of I. Here are the corresponding values for T.


I_______T
(amps) (ms)

1______.85
2______1.83
3______3.00
4______4.46
5______6.36
6______9.14
7_____14.37
7.7____32

How do I decide which pair of I and T is the best to use?

I graphed it in Excel, but there is no obvious point of inflection on the curve.

And for future reference, what is the right way to put a simple chart (like the one above) into a post?

Thanks for your help and advice.
For this coil it appears to have a slow charge time. You want a primary current around 5 - 6 amps before spark, but this leads to a dwell time of close to 9ms which will limit your upper RPM. You may want to see if 4 amps (4.5ms) works for your setup..

BTW, your chart was fine :)

- Bruce
Blue
Helpful Squirter
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:01 pm

Post by Blue »

Thanks Bruce. I'll try that and post my results back to the forum.
ajay magge
MegaSquirt Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2016 8:55 pm

Re: Dwell calculations

Post by ajay magge »

Hi, i tried using this formula but the actual dwell time vary a lot with theoritical values do u have any correction factors for this?
Post Reply