Cotten, I moved shovelhead operating temp here

[T. Cotten]

That explains a lot, Ryan!

So much for 'octane boosters', huh.

....Cotten
PS: Somewhere I have a pair of 1/16" cylinder base shims I ran in the late '70s-early '80s.
Suddenly they are worth something to somebody.

[ryan]

Oh my gosh, I make a stupid, stupid mistake. I left the ignition switch on, by mistake, for about 45 minutes after doing the compression test and cracked my coil in a few places. The circuit was protected by a 30 amp breaker and then went through a 15 amp breaker. I am so lucky I was beside my bike when this took place.

As far as the timing went as far as comparing strobe light timing to static timing: Static timing was advanced so much that the line was just outside the window. I retarded the timing so the line was in the center of the window at or just over 2k rpm.

[T. Cotten]

Leaving the switch on cracks coils, Ryan!?!

This is new to me, as is everything electrical.

.... Cotten

[ryan]

Leaving the switch on cracks coils, Ryan!?!

This is new to me, as is everything electrical.

.... Cotten

This was new to me as well Cotten, I was putting things back together after timing, compression testing and adjusting the front brake all while the switch was on. I was picking up tools and smelled something hot and then I started hearing something crackle, my eyes went straight to the coil and then it started cracking and splitting apart before my eyes, I looked at my switch and instantly turned it off, my coil was very hot and my ignition switch was pretty warm as well.
Why did this happen, why did it take so long to happen and why didn't the breakers protect it? Oh, the points were closed.

[T. Cotten]

I knew that if the points were closed, Ryan,...

That it would drain the battery; If it cooked the coil, I'd guess that was one helluva battery.

...Cotten

[ryan]

I knew that if the points were closed, Ryan,...

That it would drain the battery; If it cooked the coil, I'd guess that was one helluva battery.

...Cotten

It sure did drain the battery Cotten. The battery is not even a month old.

[T. Cotten]

It sure did drain the battery Cotten. The battery is not even a month old.

Well then we gotta blame the coil, huh.

....Cotten

[ryan]

Well then we gotta blame the coil, huh.

....Cotten

So does that mean that the coil was going out anyway? It was an Andrew's coil from the early nineties. Lol

[pan620]

I have seen 3 or 4 coils do what happened to yours, can not explain why but it does happen.

[ryan]

I have seen 3 or 4 coils do what happened to yours, can not explain why but it does happen.

I think it is because the coil was charging, while the ignition was on, and could not release it's energy, so the energy built up and melted in down.
It kind of sucks to, because a big bike show is going on today, a huge 30 mile Trump parade and it's my birthday. Could have been worse, it can always get worse.

[Peter Cooke]

Isn't that why cars have the 'accessories' position on the ignition switch? So you can use the battery without charging the coil and risk burning it out.
I was always taught to not leave the ignition switch in the 'on' position, without the motor running, for that reason.

[ryan]

Isn't that why cars have the 'accessories' position on the ignition switch? So you can use the battery without charging the coil and risk burning it out.
I was always taught to not leave the ignition switch in the 'on' position, without the motor running, for that reason.

I was always taught that as well, but just happened to forget the switch was on. You did give me a thought though, I am not sure if starter can be used in accessories position on my bike or not, but I am going to check.