What are the components of the traditional ignition system

The conventional ignition system is mainly composed of power source (battery and generator), ignition switch, ignition coil, capacitor, disconnector, distributor, spark plug, damping resistor and high voltage wire. The ignition switch is used to control the opening and closing of the instrumentation circuit, the ignition system primary circuit, and the starter relay circuit.

The ignition coil is equivalent to an auto-transformer, which is used to transform the low voltage DC of 12V, 24V or 6V supplied by the power supply into a high voltage DC of 15-20kV. The distributor consists of a disconnector, distributor, capacitor and ignition advance regulator. It is used to connect and cut off the primary circuit of the ignition system when the engine is working, so that the secondary winding of the ignition coil generates high voltage, and according to the ignition moment and ignition sequence required by the engine, the high voltage generated by the ignition coil is distributed to the spark plug of the corresponding cylinder.

The circuit breaker consists of a circuit breaker cam, circuit breaker contacts, and a circuit breaker active contact arm. The breaker cam is driven by the engine camshaft and rotates at the same speed, i.e. for every two weeks of engine crankshaft rotation, the breaker cam rotates for one week.

The distributor consists of a distributor cap and a distributor head. It is used to distribute the high voltage generated by the ignition coil to the spark plugs of each cylinder. Distributor cover has a center electrode and a number of side electrodes, the number of side electrodes equal to the number of cylinders of the engine. The distributor head is mounted on the camshaft of the distributor and rotates with the distributor shaft.

(Photo/text/photo: Car Selector) @2019