Ignition coils for Grosset set up

[minivin]

Update!

I have found someone who is supplyinh coils that are within parameters:

http://tinyurl.com/ksam3r

I have also contacted two other people to ask about their systems to provide some extra options.

More as I find out.....

 

[Tom Gaynor]

Coils for Francois' dizzie

I convinced myself that my coils (a variety, mainly Kawasaki - i.e. generic Japanese - and one that Francois sent and swore by - being French this means he said "merde" and "sacre bleu" before mailing it) were failing because I'd left the ignition on, and they'd overheated. Someone told me that on modern Japanese bikes, no signal meant the coil switched itself off, and Francois's system didn't do this. This may indeed be true, but no less important, may be important, or may not be. I've never had a Sunbeam coil fail (despite it's being elclosed in a box), and have left the ignition on many, many times.
Whatever, I'd had enough faffing about with Vincent electrics, so went back to magneto, but then took all of the failed coils to my friendly local dealer to have them checked. All were perfect.
None of the above provides a "magic wand" solution to any problems you may have, but perhaps suggests that problems may not always reside in newly purchased hardware...and that enlisting me to design your wiring diagram may not be a smart move...

 

[minivin]

That's OK Tom, good advice as ever and thanks for the offer of a wiring diagram, but hopefully I'll be ok and that the MoD are still happy with the wiring diagrams I have made over the past five years for their jet bombers and anti-submarine warfare helicopters

I have these new coils now in my hands, I will be going into town shortly to get some new HT lead and will hopefully have them mechanically mounted this afternoon. Hopefully soon the waterproof connectors I have ordered will arrive as I don't like using Japanese bullet connectors in the elements.......

 

[minivin]

Ah, messure twice, cut twice, swear once!

Dyna coils are 100mm mounting centres, Jap' coils are 80mm, doh!

Just had to lobe the lugs off, make some new lugs and make a jig for my ex-Wasp sidecars welder to quickly weld together.

Hay hoe, maybe I'll have the bike running by next weekend for Calne bike day

 

[vince998]

I´ve just re-discovered this thread, and thought i would give an update.
The ignition failures i had (which probably caused Francois to blame the Dyna coils in the first place) were all down to my own stupidity.
My Battery is an 12V AGM type, stood on it´s end, in an old hollowed out 6V exide battery. At some point i changed to another type which needed a little more space vertically. Having no room to move up, i removed the base of the old exide casing so that the new battery was sat directly on the metal battery platform, with the exide cover over it. Because i was still running pos earth at this point (before the electronic ignition was fitted), i had the + terminal of the battery at the bottom. Francois only makes ignition systems poled for neg earth. No problem i thought, changed everything necessary over (and sourced a new neg earth electronic regulator for the dynamo).... But forgot to turn the battery around so that the neg terminal was at the bottom. I noticed the very faintest of charring on the washer behind the screw head on the pos terminal at some point, and thought, "Thats funny, it´s been shorting?". Bingo!!. Since then, no further problems. I have since changed the 3 Ohm double Dynas for generic Japanese 5 Ohm coils in an attempt to sink power consumption and give the dynamo an easier life. These coils are still working faultlesly as is the rest of the ignition system. The only problem i have had in the last 10 years is a sheared spring pin on the drive shaft (the one that holds the ATD in position). Francois has since changed the design of this item so it shouldn´t happen again.