igniter style ignition coils

Want to confirm... my Clymers says igniter style ignition coils should measure 1.5 ohms impedence for primary windings. Is that correct? The ballast resistor is supposed to be 1.7 ohms. Reason I ask is that I have several sets of igniter style coils (79/80 KZ1000) and none measure 1.5 ohms. All measure more... anywhere from 2.5 to 8 ohms impedence. Oddly, I don't seem to measure anything on the secondarys... I doubt all six of the coils I have (none verified) are fried. Anyone have any ideas?

George:
My book shows Primary Resistance at 1.8 to 2.8 ohms and secondary resistance at 10,400 to 15,600 ohms.
Harry

Can't say about the secondary, but the coils I've seen for stock Kaw transistorized ignitors are all around 2.4 to about 2.6 ohms on the primary.

I don't think I recall coming across the 79/80 1000 ignitions. The 79/80 1000 may have been sort of a test. They seem to have differences from all of the other first generation transistorized KZ ignitions. The ballast resistor alone would indicate a major difference.

I often see the value listed as less than 2 ohms, but have yet to see one in person on an actual, original bike. I also see the ignitions listed as CDI, but we all know that isn't true. Among other things, a CDI would never use a ballast resistor normally.

I think a lot of the confusion is due to the KH family of bikes. Those were, in various forms, actual CDI ignitions (although some still used points instead). Being CDI, the KH coils would be expected to be in the 2-ohm and lower range. (Incidently, magneto-ignition coils will also have very low primary resistance.) I think Clymer and other publishers (magazines, repair manuals, even advertising) just assumed the KZ's were the same as the KH's. (I find the exact same mistakes on Honda stuff... calling transistorized-Kettering ignitions CDI when they are not.) I guess, back then, the technology was new enough to confuse even technical people.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/03/22 20:16

Clymers did the manuals back before cut and paste tech but most of their manuals are cut and paste from other manuals. They do tend to carry mistakes that way. I will definitely check my BONA FIDE KZ1000 Factory manual today.