Would any of these things be useful for working on our cars, assuming one learned how to use them? They are at a local garage sale and not very expensive. There is also a Heathkit tube-testing unit, which seems like it could be useful for radios in older cars. Thx.
ignition analyzers?
- Thread starter Jeff
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Got a pic of that Heathkit tube tester? Grab it if its cheap. Those things are hard to come by, very handy to have when needed and are worth some money if in good shape.
Actually Heathkits are very collectible these days. Grab any you see.
Actually Heathkits are very collectible these days. Grab any you see.
What is the story on the Tektronics, Is the owners manual included. Need a pic of all leads included, and of course price. Thanks for the post.
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commando1
Old Man with a Hat
78Brougham
"Chump"
I'm not so sure it would do much good on our cars, but would be great for a lot of different applications.
The one to get for our cars is usually a SUN machine or a Snapon Counsellor. Those are automotive specific.
They can show primary and secondary ignition and do cylinder inhibiting for power balance testing.
Back in the day (late 70's) you could buy a house for less than what one of those cost. A SUN analyzer was pushing a whopping $25k! Now you can get a decent used Snapon Counsellor for $3-500 bucks. I could have had SUN machine last year for free, but I already have a Counsellor. Even has the distributor less ignition option.
The one to get for our cars is usually a SUN machine or a Snapon Counsellor. Those are automotive specific.
They can show primary and secondary ignition and do cylinder inhibiting for power balance testing.
Back in the day (late 70's) you could buy a house for less than what one of those cost. A SUN analyzer was pushing a whopping $25k! Now you can get a decent used Snapon Counsellor for $3-500 bucks. I could have had SUN machine last year for free, but I already have a Counsellor. Even has the distributor less ignition option.
There were LOTS of Sunn machines! From the smaller ones with their own roll-around cart to the bench units, to the 15' wide ones on their own wheels (ignition, exhaust emission digital readout for HC and CO, etc.) There were the separate ignition and such testers, the separate air/fuel ratio checkers, the distributor machines. None were "cheap" when new, but the newer versions obsoleted the earlier ones, naturally.
It was an art to know what each of the lines in the plug firing traces meant. With a reference point at idle, you could also check ignition advance as the engine speed increased. If all of the spikes were even, then you knew the internal health of the motor was good AND the plugs were gapped with much finesse!
There were LOTS of HeathKit products. All "build-it-yourself" in nature.
CBODY67
It was an art to know what each of the lines in the plug firing traces meant. With a reference point at idle, you could also check ignition advance as the engine speed increased. If all of the spikes were even, then you knew the internal health of the motor was good AND the plugs were gapped with much finesse!
There were LOTS of HeathKit products. All "build-it-yourself" in nature.
CBODY67
Kenny, I must be an idiot not to think of you sooner... I have a Sun 450, I have a lot of new parts (leads and boards), but I am very interested in another used one... My primary desire is the SOFTWARE. I would love to find a working machine, but a parts machine w/software would do it for me just fine.
Over the past decade I was forced to dispose of so many really nice DSO's. I had an old Bear from the 80's with MB adapters to set Lambda and a big old Sun analyzer with GM obd1 software all the way up to 1982. Both ran on Windows 3.1 and were bullet proof. Like this:
I was NOT allowed to save them, and couldn't find a high school to take them either.
I seriously consider putting my job in jeopardy to save the Sun, she was huge, but perfect for distributor cars (no DIS ability).
I had 2 of the Sun 450's at one time...
But the jagoff's threw one away. When they finally allowed me to buy the last one... they had spread the stuff for it into storage all over our buildings... I spent months tracking down all I have, which is a lot and includes a lot of new leads and they bought out some of the last boards from Snap On inventory... but the damn software
... IMO these scopes lost reliability when they upgraded them to Windows 98, and I never could get a tech guy to want to bring it back to 95...Jeff, That is a great find... I wouldn't invest too much unless you know you have a use or a buyer, but some of that stuff is desirable to someone.
The leads are often missing or damaged for older scopes, and they are not always easy to find. If you really want an ignition scope, I could run some stuff by you in PM to help you begin using it. The biggest issue would be if you have everything to make it work.
I don't do tubes, TV's or radios so that stuff is out of my wheelhouse, but has value to somebody.
The thing to watch for, for you're desires, is the ability to look at secondary ignition. You will need the special inductive pickups to do this, with a scope that can handle 200vdc you could just scope the primary side of the coil and get basically the same information. I'm not familiar enough with the television industries oscilloscopes to know offhand if they would work well for this.
I can tell you that automotive oscilloscopes are very slow sample rates compared to many other industries that used them... everything we would focus on is pretty viewable in milliseconds (a few minor exceptions for certain newer car sensors). I see much faster sample rates on older TV/radio repair scopes.
The ideal scopes for an old car hobbyist IMO are the 12v powered analog ignition scopes several companies produced back when. They would be less desirable to most repair businesses and often couldn't do as much with newer ignitions. They are also a bit harder to find, and are often worth much more then more advanced/less reliable digital equipment.
There are too many that I haven't worked with for me to start into which are better.
I never had a working Counselor II I could work with, I'd love to fool around with @78Brougham 's for a while.
78Brougham
"Chump"
I'll keep my eyes open.
Dammit man, I wish I knew you wanted one, the one I turned down was only about a year ago Chrysler dealer had it, you could have had for my cost .... free.
Sorry...
Dammit man, I wish I knew you wanted one, the one I turned down was only about a year ago
Chrysler dealer had it, you could have had for my cost .... free. Sorry...
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Want
Thanks all. The ones in the pics are at an estate sale that starts in an hour. I can't go, but a coworker is and she offered to shop for me. I gave her some cash and my max prices on three things. I'll let you know what happens.
thanks for the heads up Jeff.
You did good I think... Once you have unpacked your winnings, a few more pictures will help the forum tell you what you have. Leads are very important, try to get good pics of those.
Thank you sir, if only I had been thinking better...I'll keep my eyes open.
Dammit man, I wish I knew you wanted one, the one I turned down was only about a year ago
Sorry...
Got one, I'll drop it off for you to restore and use all you like... But eventually she's going into the "Imperial Room"... at the rate I'm working... you have plenty of time
I even have a 70 something neighbor who would love to give some lessons on how to use it
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
But, of course you would.
i have one of these. does all the basics i need.
I come across them all the time around here. I have two I use and a bunch of others I am restoring to working condition that I will bring to Carlisle in July.
I can keep my eyes open for you for one, pm me your price range shipped, usually 7-800 here used.
That brings back memories Stan. When the Chrysler California emission test facility closed down in 1981, I was allowed to take one of those sun machines home. I still use it today - a rugged piece. The rest of the equipment there was actually buried in the ground along with a huge inventory of thermoquad NOS carburetors and a lot more emission related parts. I scavenged some of those as well before the dirt covered all of it. Now a set of warehouse/terminals occupy those former grounds (which was a Nu Car Prep Site). The old days are long gone......................
Amazing how they did things like that... imagine what the next developers will find when they excavate.
I may have to see if I can pack mine and just have you redo it, I probably won't get to it very soon if I wait for me to get caught up. Mine did work a decade ago, but needs a rewire before being tested... I'm sure some of the wear parts need love too.
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