Testing tthe Rover VV8 Ignitionn Amplifierr Module

The seccretive Ignittion Ampliffier with a tyypical life-ttime of 60-1100,000 milles is too freequently
responssible for sc aring averaage RV8 home enthussiasts into willy-nilly replacemennt when faults
ooccur for wwhich it is ssimply not responsiblee! How oftten is heardd I boughht a new amplifieer
but the enngine is stilll faulty! TThe answer llies in an inndependent ttest to deterrmine its
conditioon before rreplacing it.. To put th ings into c ontext, the amplifier iis merely aa switch,
similar in functionn to points oon earlier iggnition systeems and thee followingg elegant tesst uses a
few simmple items aand some bits of wire thhat any homme enthusiasst might cobbble togetheer:
Join a 1.5VV pen-cell inn series withh a (say) 27000 ohm resiistor and twwo flying leaads.
With coil/aamplifier connnected norrmally, remmove king le ad from thee distributorr cap.
Connect thee king lead to a spare sspark plug laaying on a mmetal part oof the enginee.
Disconnectt the two picck-up coil signal wires from the ammplifier.
Connect onne flying leaad to one ammplifier inpuut terminal.
Switch the ignition ONN but do nott crank.
Touch the ssecond flyinng lead briefly to the otther amplifiier input terrminal.
m
The amplifier should aactivate the coil and prooduce a goood spark at tthe spark
m
pllug.
u
Repeat andd observe thee sparks coiincide with the simulatted input siggnal.
s
Pen-cell poolarity is nonn-critical ass neither leaad is conneccting to earthh.
t
The pulsingg voltage froom the pen--cell triggerrs the ampli fier withoutt causing
daamage.
b
Instead, connnect a 12VV 21W bulb in place of the coil andd observe thhe flashing
e
bulb.
If sparks (oor bulb flashhes) occur inn sympathyy, the modulle is workinng
u
correctly..
s
A disadvanntage testingg the ampliffier using a spark plug iis the coil mmay be
e
faultty.
d
The more ddefinitive ammplifier testt is to use thhe mentioneed bulb as a substitute
lload.
o
n
Alternaatively, makke an offf
carampliifier test boxx with 2
t
swwitches, a holder for the 12V
h
211W bulb, 11.5V pen-ceell, 2700
o
oohm resistor , 2 connecttions for a
r
12V batteryy, 4 small fefemale
o
spadde flying leaads to connnect to
u
the amplifier teerminals annd a
u
crocoddile clipped lead to eartth
g
the moduule body. Hoook up the
h
bbattery andd amplifier, switch on
l
and toggle tthe test swiitch
y
repeateedly to emu late a pulsed
input froom the pickkup coil
c
whhilst observing the bulb flash in
l
symmpathy.
e
a
n
Prematuure ignitioon amplifier failure
n
commonlyy occurs following incorrect
aassembly affter removaal for anyy reason.
s
A thin smearr of thermall conducting paste

urfaces to allow innternal moddule heat too

transfer eefficiently t o its metaal
mountingg area on the side of thhe
distributoor or insidde the remottely
mounteed module. MMore here
http://wwww.vintageemodelairpllane.com/paages/Downlloads/Roverr_Tasters/Iggni
tion02.httml
Ramon Alban wwww.vintagemmodelairplanne.com

ramon.albann@bti
nternet.com
01234
838770
wwww.vintagemod
elaairplane.com