Ignition system

Purpose
The purpose of the ignition system is to generate a spark in
corresponding cylinder at the instant time to be able to ignite the
air-fuel mixture and initiate its combustion.
Requirements of the ignition system
1. The ignition device must supply the voltage which is able to
create a spark between spark plug electrodes.
2. The spark must have sufficient energy for ignition of air-fuel
mixture.
3. The ignition instant (ignition point) must correspond to the
engine operational conditions.
4. The voltage must of the same value for all cylinders.
5. The timing of spark distribution must be the same for all
cylinders.
Types of ignition system
Type
Trigger
Advance
Voltage
source
Distributor

Convention
al
Mechanical
Mechanical
Inductive

Electronic
Electronic
Mechanical
Inductive

Programme
d
Electronic
Electronic
Inductive

Distributorl
ess
Electronic
Electronic
Inductive

Mechanical

Mechanical

Mechanical

Electronic

Battery ignition system

Basic components
Storage battery.
Ballast resistor
Contact breaker & cam
Ignition distributor.
Spark plugs.

Ignition switch.
Ignition coil (prim & second)
Ignition capacitor.
Spark advance mechanisms.

Ignition coil
Strores energy in the form of magnetism and delivers it to the
distributor via the HT cable.
Ignition switch
Provide driver control of the ignition system and is usually also
used to cause the engine start.
Ballast resistor
It is a resistance in series with the primary winding. This resistance
consists of an Ni-Cr wire coil. It has the property of increasing
resistance with temperature.
- At low speed, the high current heats up the iron wire, increasing
its resistance, and reducing current.
- At high speed, the current is less, so the iron wire resistance does
not increase, thus the current is not limited.
Contact breaker
Switches the primary ignition circuit on and off to charge and
discharge the ignition coil.

Capacitor
It suppresses the most of the arcing at the contact breakers open.
This allows a more rapid break of primary current and hence a
more rapid collapse of coil magnetism which produces a higher
voltage output.
HT distributer
Directs the spark from the coil to each cylinder in a pre-set
sequence
Centrifugal advance
Change the ignition timing with engine speed. As engine speed
increases the timing is advanced
Vacuum advance
Changes timing depending on engine load. On conventional system
the vacuum advance is most important during cruise conditions
Ignition coil
It consists of primary & secondary windings. Both windings are
wound on the same core.
Primary winding few hundred turns heavy wire.
Secondary winding many thousand turns very fine wire.
Primary winding is usually being wound on the outside of the
secondary winding.
The winding is immersed in the insulating in oil for cooling and
absorption of heat generated. Operation of the ignition coil
depends on the mutual induction (transformer action): If 2 coils
(known as primary and secondary) are wound on the same iron
core then any change in magnetism of one coil will induce a

voltage in to the other. This happens when a current to the primary

coil is switched on & off.

Ignition coil (free hand)

Ignition distributor
Functions:
1) It closes and opens the primary circuit (open & close the contact
breaker).
2) It distributes the high voltage at the ignition instant to the
corresponding spark plug.
It consists of:
Spark advance mechanisms, Rotor & cap, Contact breaker &
capacitor, Distributor shaft (drive shaft).
The shaft is usually driven by the engine cam shaft with speed half
of the crankshaft speeds.
Ignition timing
- In order to get the ignition system work perfectly, the air - fuel
mixture should ignite at the right time.
- To make the best use of fuel (the right time of ignition), the spark
should occur before the piston reaches the T.D.C in the
compression stroke.

- The ideal ignition timing depends on 2 main factors:

Engine speed.
Engine load.
- Since the time taken for complete combustion of the mixture
(assuming constant charge & fuel induction) - about 2 ms -, then
the ignition must occur earlier at high speeds. (The engine speed
increase piston velocity time taken for the piston to travel
the same distance - stroke - spark should be advanced).

A change in timing due to engine load is also required. At low

loads, the mixture is lean so it burns at a slower rate (needs a long
time to burn), the ignition advance is necessary. At high load, the
mixture is rich so it burns more rapidly the ignition delay
(retardation) is necessary

Centrifugal advance mechanism

- The centrifugal advance mechanism adjusts the ignition point as a
function of engine speed.

- At higher speeds the advance weights move outwards against

springs the advance cam rotates in the same direction of shaft
rotation but relative to the shaft the breaker cam also rotate by
the same angle the cam opens and closes contact points earlier
at high speeds.

Vacuum advance mechanism

- The vacuum advance mechanism adjusts the ignition point as a
function of the engine power or engine load. The vacuum in the
intake manifold near to the throttle valve serves as a measure for
this vacuum advance.
- As the engine load decreases the vacuum in the vacuum
advance unit increases the diaphragm. The vacuum advance
arm turns the movable breaker plate in the opposite direction to
the direction of rotation of the distributor shaft the ignition point
is advanced.