WRIGHT ENGINE

Thanks Ian for more confirmation on the Wright Bros. engine using ignitors instead of spark plugs. I suppose that around 1903, the spark plug had not been perfected. The ignitor was a step up from its prdecessor, hot-tube ignition. Hot-tube was a step up from the very early "open flame" ignition system. It seems that development of the IC engine had to wait on advances in the electrical arts.

Hmmm. Maybe it wasn't the spark plug that wasn't perfected around

1903 so much as it was the coil and battery systems.

Here are some links that suggest this idea:

I own a one-cylinder, 6 HP, marine engine built by Gray Marine circa

1908 that uses "jump spark" (spark plug) ignition. Usual practice is to use dry cell batteries and a coil from a Model T. I believe that other engine manufacturers were selling jump spark engines as early as 1903 if not earlier.

Jon Etheredge

How do they time those things anyway? The adjustment instructions on mine give a nice constant buzz from 6VDC...

Tim

-- In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!" Website @

Tim,

The model T coil is an electro-mechanical multivibrator producing high voltage AC. Timing is done through a distributor that connects to each cylinder at the appropriate time.

Not sure, but I suspect the coil runs constantly, and the distributor rotor handles the timing functions. A lot of early engines wanted multiple sparks. With lousy gas, low compression and whatnot, you needed a few chances to ignite...

Pete Brooks

The high voltage distributor was a novelty invented by one A. Atwater Kent (of the radio fame!), *after* the advent of the ford model T.

When originally manufactured, the T had four individual coils in a box on the dashboard, one coil per spark plug.

The timing was accomplished by a low voltage timing switch driven by the crank, which buzzed each coil box in succession.

Jim

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My history is rusty. I remember the points and single coil ignition being called the Kettering system after Charles Kettering of Dayton Electric (Delco) and GM fame. Can anyone straighten me out on this? Engineman1

Kind of. Kettering in a sense perfected and standardized the system. There were others before and after, but his is the one that was used by so long by most of world's manufacturers. The secret is in the details :-)

BTW, same thing about starter. He did not make the FIRST electrical starter. His was just first one that worked properly.

BTW, electric igniti>

But *not* the distributor. Atwater Kent rightfully gets credit for that.

ajim

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