The content of the article:
- Interesting facts about the ignition system
- From magneto to dishwasher
- There is a contact
- MPSZ
- Fast start
- Let the candle burn
The ignition system is one of the most important "organs" of the car, responsible for the stable operation of the power unit. This is where a spark appears at the right time, igniting the air / fuel mixture to get the car moving.
Nowadays, too few car owners know about the origin of this system, the process of its formation to the modern level, and its structure, having only the most approximate ideas about its functioning.
Interesting facts about the ignition system
From magneto to dishwasher
Today's consumers would be surprised to learn that one company and one person owes both an automobile ignition system and household appliances. There are a couple of centuries between these discoveries, but it is difficult to judge which of them is more important for humanity.
At the end of the 19th century, an engineer and inventor from a large German family, Robert Bosch, began his experiments with low voltage magneto. At first, he tested the ignition system on stationary internal combustion engines, but the process of opening the contacts in the chamber turned out to be too individual for each specific power unit, and therefore impractical.
Then he worked on a high voltage magneto, where a spark began to appear among the contacts of a spark plug connected to a magneto wire. Such a system could already be installed on any engine, and therefore became much more widespread and gradually reached the automotive industry.
There is a contact
Over time, ignition systems have been divided into several varieties, some of which have ceased to be used due to their imperfection, and some have survived transformations and have survived to this day.
In the contact, which now can only be found on old classic cars, the control and movement of energy depends on the interrupter-distributor.
Contactless has a transistor switch that stores energy and is connected to a pulse sensor. In this system, the commutator plays the role of the interrupter, and the mechanical distributor directs the current.
The electronic version is most actively used in the modern automotive industry, in which an electronic control unit is in charge of all processes. He is engaged in the accumulation and redistribution of energy, and in earlier versions he is also responsible for the fuel injection system.
MPSZ
The microprocessor ignition system was mainly equipped with Soviet models of AZLK and VAZ, and those models that were supposedly exported as an improvement in performance.
It possessed two inductive sensors, DNO and DUI, mounted on the clutch bell. The first tracked the movements of a single pin driven into the flywheel, the second counted the teeth of the flywheel. Thanks to this design, the ECU controlled the engine speed and the position of the crankshaft.
Now models with microprocessor ignition are considered more advantageous in comparison with contact and non-contact ignition, as it makes the car more dynamic. However, in Soviet times, the factory MSPZ was considered an incredible shortage, which it was impossible for an ordinary car owner to get. Therefore, domestic "kulibins" independently assembled at first pair-parallel ignition systems, since the distributors for a number of cars were located too low and were regularly flooded with water from puddles, and then transformed them into an ISPZ. Moreover, they succeeded in the systems so well that they were even sold to less skilled car owners.
Fast start
The ignition lock in cars is traditionally located to the right of the steering column, since drivers are predominantly right-handed. On some models, the lock is placed closer to the gear lever, which "relieves" the steering column, reducing its risk of injury.
But in Porsche and Bentley cars, the locks are basically located on the left side - why? Legend has it that the brands' sporting past is to blame. During the 24 Hours of Le Mans races, the participating sports cars lined up on one side of the track, and the drivers on the opposite. At the start signal, the drivers jumped from their seats to their cars, started them and started the race.
In this situation, the smallest fractions of a second mattered, which is why the manufacturers placed the ignition lock on the left side so that the pilot would start the engine, and with his right hand already switched on the desired gear.
Why, then, are not racing cars, for example, a simple Soviet "penny", having the "wrong" location?
Here, the automaker has already laid down ergonomics for the convenience of subsequent vehicle repairs. With carbureted engines common before the 70s, the driver often needed a right hand to control what is known as a choke, a knob that controlled the choke.
In addition, when carrying out repair work, the owner could turn on the engine without even getting into the car. Such subtleties are not very clear to modern car owners, but before such a dashboard was not a wonder.
Let the candle burn
The spark plug was invented almost a century before the ignition system itself. At a time when the science of electric current did not actually exist, and Volta was not a unit of measurement, but an Italian scientist, the first attempts to obtain a continuous current began.
Alessandro Volta did not even think about a car and an internal combustion engine, trying to simply create some kind of independent apparatus that could rotate, move, and at the same time move any weight. In 1800, for the first time in the world, he received a chemical current source, which was named the Voltaic pillar. Explaining the parameters and capabilities of the electric current and the methods of its isolation from metal, he placed a specially made metal rod in an insulator made of clay. It was this rod that became the first prototype of the spark plug.
Almost half a century later, an engineer from Belgium Jean-Etienne Lenoir, using luminous gas, began to work on an internal combustion engine. To get a spark, he designed an electrical system based on a spark plug, now quite comparable to the scheme of work and appearance known to modern motorists.
This engine subsequently served as the prototype for a fully functioning powertrain with an upgraded spark plug. The engine was installed on the so-called "self-run" carriage, also the first of its kind, although some are sure that Benz was the first to develop such a carriage.
Conclusion
The ignition system can be called one of the most complex in the car, which is part of the electrical equipment. It has come a long way from glowing heads, which had to be warmed up before starting the engine, and magneto, to modern electronic developments.
Now, different vehicles use different ignition systems - some more reliable, some less, cheap and expensive. Each of them has at least one drawback, so sometimes there is no need to install an expensive system, especially on a budget car.
