got my jerry howell powerhouse running and sheared a pin so had to fix,now i am haveing trouble getting it running again,first a weak battery then a piece of something under exhaust valve, ignition was working good, led light was firing and now i get a steady led light , telling me it is trying to fire all the time,any ideas as to why or what could be the trouble. with a meter on the battery it showed 5.8 volts but when i turned on the switch it dropped to 4 volts, any help wouldbe greatly appreciated. hope to get some pics and a video soon, but it seems to be one thing after another. thanks for any help jonesie
jerry howell ignition, exciter coil, and hall pick up
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Hi Jonesie,
First let me tell you my story. I have 2 Jerry Howell ignitions. Although Jerry's systems are basically the same component wise he changed the printed board several times. The first design you had to solder the wires to various spots on the board. The next design he added a diode of some sort, I'm not that versed in exactly what it is. With this board he had all the wire connection points along one edge instead of random spots around the board. You could also get the deluxe board with the screw connection strip. This last design has moved the connection points to a different place on the strip because the printed circuit was changed again. Why I don't know. In all the latest versions they use the same components.
I have one that I use with the old exciter coil that has 2 hot leads (white wires). I use it for my V-twin and others by grounding the one high tension wire. I use a 6 volt 4 amp sealed lead acid battery with it. It has been flawless in performance.
They mentioned on their website that the exciter coils were no longer going to be available when the supply ran out. You had to buy a set of engine plans to purchase one, which I did. This is the Exciter coil with one high tension lead.
I built another ignition and wired it up to the new coil and within a short time the ignition burned out. I would get the steady light like you have. Thinking that there are only 2 components on the board that could burn out, the small transistor and the power transitor (TIP 42C) I ordered a handful of them from DigiKey. When I got them I soldered in the new ones and fired up the ignition again. It ran fine for about 4-5 minutes then the same thing happened again. I checked the ohms readings on the coil and found them to be off so I contacted Alan Howell. He gratefully exchanged the coil (anyone else wouldn't have exchanged an electrical component) When I got the new coil I soldered in a new TIP42C but not the small transistor and gave it a try. It worked again for about 5 minutes and then a steady light. As I said I had bought a handful of spare components so I double checked all my connections, wires and solder joints then soldered in another TIP42C. The same thing happened.
I have a first generation Howell ignition with a Modelectric coil attached to it. I built it into the box/base of my Little Brother engine. I have run it for years on an old 6 volt motorcycle battery with nary a glitch. I was running out of components and patience so I thought a little experimentation was in order.
I soldered one more TIP42C onto my new board, this is 4 of them, and hooked the Modelectric coil up to it. I took my 4 cylinder OHV engine out to the garage and hooked everything up. It started up and ran fine. I shut it off and restarted it at least 6 times until the engine got hot. I let it cool down and then fired it up again.
The ignition is working fine.
I have come to the conclusion that the new coils (Exciter with one lead) have a problem. What it is I don't know. It seems to draw too much current through the TIP42C and therefore burns them out. This is proved out by what I have found and not by electronically testing everything. I'm not skilled in that area.
My question to you is, have you used this ignition setup on anything prior to using it on the Powerhouse engine? If so did it work fine on whatever you used it on? If the Powerhouse was the first try for this ignition setup then it sounds like you have the same problem that I did. If you buy a couple of TIP42C's from DigiKey or Alan Howell and solder one in I'll bet the engine will start right up but how long it will run I don't know. I'm hoping that it runs forever for you but I have my doubts.
If it burns up another TIP42C then that would more than prove out the coil theory.
Let us know how you make out because I'm sure interested.
I see that Outpost Enterprises (the Howell site) is selling new coils now but they are even more expensive than the Exciters.
If you are still having problems I would suggest going to an S&S ignition. They are almost flawless and are self contained with the coil on the board.
gbritnell
First let me tell you my story. I have 2 Jerry Howell ignitions. Although Jerry's systems are basically the same component wise he changed the printed board several times. The first design you had to solder the wires to various spots on the board. The next design he added a diode of some sort, I'm not that versed in exactly what it is. With this board he had all the wire connection points along one edge instead of random spots around the board. You could also get the deluxe board with the screw connection strip. This last design has moved the connection points to a different place on the strip because the printed circuit was changed again. Why I don't know. In all the latest versions they use the same components.
I have one that I use with the old exciter coil that has 2 hot leads (white wires). I use it for my V-twin and others by grounding the one high tension wire. I use a 6 volt 4 amp sealed lead acid battery with it. It has been flawless in performance.
They mentioned on their website that the exciter coils were no longer going to be available when the supply ran out. You had to buy a set of engine plans to purchase one, which I did. This is the Exciter coil with one high tension lead.
I built another ignition and wired it up to the new coil and within a short time the ignition burned out. I would get the steady light like you have. Thinking that there are only 2 components on the board that could burn out, the small transistor and the power transitor (TIP 42C) I ordered a handful of them from DigiKey. When I got them I soldered in the new ones and fired up the ignition again. It ran fine for about 4-5 minutes then the same thing happened again. I checked the ohms readings on the coil and found them to be off so I contacted Alan Howell. He gratefully exchanged the coil (anyone else wouldn't have exchanged an electrical component) When I got the new coil I soldered in a new TIP42C but not the small transistor and gave it a try. It worked again for about 5 minutes and then a steady light. As I said I had bought a handful of spare components so I double checked all my connections, wires and solder joints then soldered in another TIP42C. The same thing happened.
I have a first generation Howell ignition with a Modelectric coil attached to it. I built it into the box/base of my Little Brother engine. I have run it for years on an old 6 volt motorcycle battery with nary a glitch. I was running out of components and patience so I thought a little experimentation was in order.
I soldered one more TIP42C onto my new board, this is 4 of them, and hooked the Modelectric coil up to it. I took my 4 cylinder OHV engine out to the garage and hooked everything up. It started up and ran fine. I shut it off and restarted it at least 6 times until the engine got hot. I let it cool down and then fired it up again.
The ignition is working fine.
I have come to the conclusion that the new coils (Exciter with one lead) have a problem. What it is I don't know. It seems to draw too much current through the TIP42C and therefore burns them out. This is proved out by what I have found and not by electronically testing everything. I'm not skilled in that area.
My question to you is, have you used this ignition setup on anything prior to using it on the Powerhouse engine? If so did it work fine on whatever you used it on? If the Powerhouse was the first try for this ignition setup then it sounds like you have the same problem that I did. If you buy a couple of TIP42C's from DigiKey or Alan Howell and solder one in I'll bet the engine will start right up but how long it will run I don't know. I'm hoping that it runs forever for you but I have my doubts.
If it burns up another TIP42C then that would more than prove out the coil theory.
Let us know how you make out because I'm sure interested.
I see that Outpost Enterprises (the Howell site) is selling new coils now but they are even more expensive than the Exciters.
If you are still having problems I would suggest going to an S&S ignition. They are almost flawless and are self contained with the coil on the board.
gbritnell
thanks gbritnell for the post,i am going to have a friend ck out the coil and transisters,he does circuit board repair and he has some ideas on a fix. maybe a different transister then the tip42c and maybe a different diode. it will be a little while before i can get back to it but i will keep you informed when i get it sorted out. i also think i am going to get one of the s/s ignitions for my farm boy that i am building. thanks again for your help jonesie
