Just got my new Ferret pulse timing tool. I have a antique timing light. Will I be able to use it? Will I need to buy new light?

 

Can you dial in the degrees on the timing light or will it only flash when you pull the trigger?

You could get by with one that just flashes, but you'd have to mark your crank pulley for the 8-9*BTDC to line the strobe up to.

A more modern light that lets you dial the degrees in AND gives you RPM readout is the cat's meow

 

Nah, it's a flash only. Could the timing mark be marked using a protractor?

 

How does a timing light with adjustable advance predict 8° BTDC?

I suppose if you knew the diameter of the balancer you could use some math to turn 8° into a measurement....

 

Well, that's what I was thinking. I've yet to measure anything; but thought, say the Harmonic bal. was 8" multiplied by 3.1416 divided by 360 times the 8*=.5585 measured on the radius. One degree off would be 1/16 of an inch+/-. I used to be that good. As a matter of fact, the older I get the better I was in a lot of things.

 

Just as you thought, the mark is about 9/16 inch from the TDC line. I made a new line for the timing. You need to use an inductive timing light, not an old in-line style. I had trouble to get the timing light to pick up the signal, had to fiddle with it some and finally got it to work. A dial back timing light could be used and not need to mark the line on balancer 9/16 inch away.

 

Thanks 38, I was hoping my meds weren't off a little. I might buy a new light soon anyway. Like Swoosh was saying, being able to check the rpm would be nice.

 

It reduces everything to a time calulation. If you know how fast it is running, then it would be easy to divide it into 360 segments to deteremine when to flash.