You saw this coming - right?? So yep - I've been tinkering with the old (1957?) King Distributor machine my buddy picked up at the auction. Interestingly enough - I have most of it working EXCEPT the strobe. I've had no luck finding a manual/schematic and have yet to fully disassemble it, but was wondering if there is a "normal" failure mode to these that might save me some trouble shooting effort. I ogigionally thought it'd be a normal ignition circuit, but there's so much crap in there - it's hard to tell what's what. Any experience here would be great!!! TIA
Try contacting Mark Sanders at Rush Automotive in Michigan. 616-878-9734 . I bought a used strobe from them for my Sun machine, sometimes they have new ones. They know Sun distributor machines, maybe they can help with your's , maybe adapt something. Good luck, regards, Tom.
Hmmmm you should know better to buy old stuff..... box it up send it to me <<grin>> Don't think I have anything on King distributor machines, have some other stuff that may look nice sitting next to your! JB look for a bad bulb or bulb loose in socket, it happens. tt
Terry, Yeah that's what was I thinking!!! ;-) This one was only 10 bucks - so if it's a dead player I'm not out much The bulb looks like a neon bulb - everything is soldered - well to the bulb anyways. I suppose I could test it with a transformer... I pulled the motor drive out tonight - so I could see the "switch" (looks like a slip ring design with one providing pulses) under the spinning disc - it "looks" ok. I could only track down 2 of the 3 wires - the 2 seemed to switch just fine. The neon bulb on this is fired with what looks like an old coil. I have yet to measure any voltage on the coil - which I assume is my problem - I just can not yet figure out what feeds what. I wonder what would happen if I jumpered my battery charger to the plus side of the coil... 2B continued... You don't have one that'll run a magneto do you (eyebrows raised) ha ha ha!
ok JB, you got me thinking, sometimes that is a good thing...... ok you got a good lathe! set up the mag so it will spin comfortably. then set up 8 plugs w/wires and connect your engine analyzer / scope, you have a good sun machine? lathe for speed like 1000 rpm 3000, 5000, 7000 you should get a good idea if your spark is breaking down if so where. Sounds easy, just don't grab a hold of a wire if the plug ain't firing...... tt
Jason, What I've heard about the old distributor machines is that the capacitors fail most often. It is possible that the strobe still might be fine. Check with either Mark Saunders: http://paramountd.com/parts.html or Bob Masters: http://www.distributortester.com/equipment_type.asp Either one of those guys should be able to help.
Terry, You are reading my mind again!! I actually was gonna go one step further and mount spark plugs in a piece of bar stock so I could pressurize them to simulate "real world" conditions. I bought a high pressure sight glass from McMaster-Carr to see if it'd work. See what happens when our minds are idle!!!!!
Jacin, This is getting wierd, was thinking how you could simulate spark under compression. then I thought probably what you are looking for is a breakdown of spark at higher rpm or some type harmonic resonance between wires. Larry is right about the wax caps in need of replacement, you will find most of then in the metering section of a distributor machine. Antique radio supply was a good place to replacement caps. Funny I was just out in the old radio shed looking for my potentiometers for the VFD's I'm still building tools! a bead roller, electric planishing hammer or two, and a power hammer, ya and I could use your help JB!!!! I think you will find that a couple of the old metalshaper sites are back to a friendly atmosphere, some of the hate mongers/my way is right your wrong are not around. Even found a metal spinning pics, have you done anymore of that? have a trade for a metal spinning lathe in the works. timed out once better not a second time... Take care! tt
Have you checked your "vacuum advance" yet? I just had to do it......even made a trip back to the house to make this post..... oh that brings back good memories of auto shop class. oh I'm having a good laugh!!! Thinking back and can see "ol'chrome dome's" eyes rolling and him saying "no wonder you two a flunking the class" it was the usual two, was a couple of the smart ones..... damn I can't remember who though. My auto shop partner was Gerry Heiser been gone 35 years now RIP......
Well I got it fired up today - I think everything is working correctly - I just gotta learn how to use it now!!! The rectifier was toast - not sure about the cap for it, but I replaced the cap anyway just for good measure. Terry - nope no metal spinning lately, but I gotta say I need to do some more of that - it was SO COOL!!!!! VFD's!!! I didn't realize you were such a high roller - ha ha ha. Whatcha building??? My next project is to make a Black Box to use this for an electronic distributor!!! I read somewhere that those are made out of a GM HEI module - hmnnn I got one of those laying around here somewhere....
I hate to be a bummer about anyone's product, but: New King "PUP" distributor machine I bought turned out to be a TOTAL pile of loose parts. I don't recommend these units at all. Mine failed (smoked) within the first week, and continued to shed parts inside and out well after. The new PUP goes 7,000 rpm with the BALDOR motor, but I can smell burning circuit board if I leave it on at any speed, for more than a few minutes! The new strobe and digital tach doesn't work either. The chuck is a cheap, wobbly offshore part that fell off the spindle at speed and broke the cartilage in my nose when the thing flew apart at 4,000 rpm (it loosened up my teeth and almost hit my animalistic racer friend I sponsor, who would have killed me, but I still have my eyesight). The degree ring nuts fell off into the box, on top of the bare circuit boards. Several wires broke off internally too. Oh, and the warranty ended when I got the box to my shop. Cost a fortune to ship it to my shop, and it costs twice that just to send it in for a fix that they won't cover because they think I did something clever to make it all fall apart. Nice sheetmetal box, but the rest is poorly assembled scrap now. Cost me over $2,000.00 and a broken nose. Buy a stout old Sun, beltdrive machine if you don't need 7,000 rpm. I did later. If you need 7k rpm, convert a drillpress into a test stand.
Yessir, 4 pin hei module and a 12v power source (internal or external )... Works great, make sure you ground the module very well.. It will work on msd, chrysler electronic, ford electronic ( I have tried all of them ) and I think it will do pertronix, but I have not verified yet.. Dave
Black Box? is this the infamous Pulse Amplifier? Yes need to make one(or two) of them too! So how does the mag perform? did you find anything? new tools? I wouldn't say they are high tech, just have become necessary right should is junk, left isn't a whole bunch better, can not hammer, (well I did use transfer punch today) so jumping into "more power" just to keep active.
Must have been their old unit because the new one is called D16 and it sells for $7000. I hope it's better than the PUP!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
The D16 is not 7000.00 it is 5695.00 and a bargain at that with all the features compared to a SUN...and it wont scare the kids when it is running..lol
Hello everyone, So I recently aquired a Sun model 500 distributor test machine and a Sun generator and voltage regulator test machine model 100. I found the manual with it along with a manual for a King D-12 distributor machine. I would be happy to make copies for anyone wanting a manual for their machine. I seen this older thread here about a couple guys looking for a manual for the King tester so thought I would put this out there.
If you have a way to scan the manual or put it in pdf you could post the scanned pics or attach the pdf file here for others looking for it now or in the future.... ...
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