Programmable Big Red CDI

[ps2fixer]

Lol, it's kind of a technical subject xD. I guess it all boils down to, the programmable CDI can replace a stock CDI, but there's a lot of config involved. The aftermarket computer (speeduino) is a car computer that's programmable as well, and with car parts, it can be made to run atv engines too or even EFI them. Same amount of config, if not more.

I have a fancy tool (oscilloscope) to read sensors and such, so it would be neat to compare stock to aftermarket for the performance. Like give cold hard numbers and facts against wild claims that likely aren't tested. Like a "hot coil", how "hot" it is, is measurable. Kind of like project farm, but with electronics lol.

[ATC King]

it would be neat to compare stock to aftermarket for the performance. Like give cold hard numbers and facts against wild claims that likely aren't tested. Like a "hot coil", how "hot" it is, is measurable.

The 'hot coil' thing has already been debunked. Ignition coils only produce the power necessary to discharge. On a stock engine, they're a waste of money at best, even worse is when they fail sooner than OEM.

On an engine with serious modifications from stock it may require more energy and a coil change. A problem is the physical aspects of the coil are fixed. The core design, the windings, none of it changes during use. There are compromises to how the coil will work in reality and it's extremes.

Showing a spark plug firing in open air is not any form of realistic comparison to OEM. A coil that's capable of very high RPM use isn't needed on these trikes either. Really, for the RPM's they operate at, an inductive ignition may be better, but that requires a battery. At multi spark CDI would probably be better too.

If the stock CDI is still being used, it's only going to do so much and a mismatched coil could hurt performance and impact CDI longevity.

It's easy to overthink it and even getting a quality aftermarket coils can be difficult. Luckily, the OE coils are still availble for many of these.

But hey, at least those 'performance coils' are available in bright orange. That's got to be worth at least an extra gerbil power or two.

Is it high performance compared to a failed coil? Absolutely.

On the other end is the 'performance' CDIs that raise the rev limiter to a dangerous level and don't do much else.



Thinking about Honda OEM performance, you can check out the CBR250RR from the 90's. It had a 19,000 RPM redline and they used gear driven, overhead camshafts to get it there. It wasn't available in the US though.

[ps2fixer]

Dang, you spoiled the ending of the coil testing xD. My idea was to force them to their limits, I have a PET4000 spark tester to measure the spark gap it can handle in open air. Standard engines is around 6mm to simulate how hard it is to spark in cylinder with a spark plug. I also agree, the exciter coil, CDI, and ignition coil are a balanced system. People are quick to throw Chinese CDI's on and wanted to show how that hurts performance (if measurable).

The capacitor inside the CDI should be the most critical part of the CDI besides the ignition curve built into it. Once you swap over to DC based CDI's, I'm not sure if there's much of a difference since the inverter circuit would have to change and capacitor.

I think one of the more interesting things for stock vs aftermket (Chinese) CDI's would be showing the spark advancement curve difference. The 200ES ones and similar shouldn't be any different, but they make the CDI's for every machine just about anymore and I suspect they aren't too great.

I'm kind of shocked atv's haven't switched over to the car style ignition system. Something like 95% of machines have batteries in them and it's already a known design used for decades in the automotive world. Maybe there's an advantage to the CDI design over the DC fired coils.

[ATC King]

If you've got the time to test and post findings on random Chinese parts, by all means, go for it.

It'd be an informative thread, especially for those trikes that are very picky with what ignition parts are on them.

I don't think the Honda 185/200 engines care much at all as long as there's a strong spark. I ran a GM HEI module on my 200ES for a little bit.

I'm not certain why the blue wire is cut in the pictures. I think I only ran this for a week or less while waiting on another CDI. I had the parts and was curious. It ran fine, so if all else fails and somone can scrounge a HEI module and inductive coil, they can get a 200ES running. The module needs a heatsink and I had a trashed stereo amp handy.

Attachment 269215Attachment 269216

[ATC King]

Just an update that it's still there and running good.

It seems like these may be difficult to get now and an alternative may be needed. I like this one because it doesn't need a computer to program, it's all done with the buttons. Most of the other programmable units I've seen need an outside source, which makes adjustments on the trail out of the question.