Coil pack wiring... thingy?

[Juanhmi]

Pretty sure this thing on my coil pack wiring harness has just been dangling since I acquired my Explorer almost three years ago. I saw a thread indicating it's some sort of RF inhibitor, is that right? My other question is - just where the heck is it supposed to be bolted down? I'd imagine to work properly, it's supposed to be bolted down to a grounded surface.

 

[imp]

Pretty sure this thing on my coil pack wiring harness has just been dangling since I acquired my Explorer almost three years ago. I saw a thread indicating it's some sort of RF inhibitor, is that right? My other question is - just where the heck is it supposed to be bolted down? I'd imagine to work properly, it's supposed to be bolted down to a grounded surface.View attachment 325029

Radio Frequency Interference filter, nothing more than a capacitor. Used to look like this:

But only one wire?? How can a complete circuit be made?? A capacitor consists of an INSULATOR surrounded by two electrical conductors. See metal case screw hole? It screws down onto a grounded surface, on the engine usually, forming one connection to the capacitor. The insulated wire protruding from the end is connected internally to the other conductor in the capacitor.

The capacitor bypasses (grounds) high-frequency alternating currents to ground, shorts them out, removing static from low-frequency radio transmissions. You may see BIG capacitors the size of a breadbox atop electrical transmission poles, square, not round (usually) like transformers. They reduce wasted power resulting from running electric motors, of which there are many in households. If you want to know HOW, please ask; certain members feel I get too technically involved!

 

[Juanhmi]

Now that's fascinating stuff. So it's a tiny version of that device you mentioned on top of a telephone pole. Sounds like I wouldn't have any symptoms from it being ungrounded except for maybe some radio static. Which, although maybe I'm imagining it, I think I've always had out of my stereo.

Also yeah, I'm rather interested in exactly how it does that

 

[Juanhmi]

Thank you for that visual aid! I figured it should go on one of the bolts holding the coil pack down, just didn't want to assume.

The Accel pack and new plugs seems to have cured some rumbly idle issues I used to have. Think I put it on last May and haven't touched it since. Funny that I overlooked that dangling capacitor back then, but then again, I know more than I know now. This Explorer is my first vehicle and only acquired a few years ago, so I've had a crash course in car repair since then.

I'd like to get some plug wires to match the color, for the sake of vanity...

 

[imp]

Now that's fascinating stuff. So it's a tiny version of that device you mentioned on top of a telephone pole. Sounds like I wouldn't have any symptoms from it being ungrounded except for maybe some radio static. Which, although maybe I'm imagining it, I think I've always had out of my stereo.

Also yeah, I'm rather interested in exactly how it does that

Awright, you asked for it! Ha!
Electricity and magnetism go hand in hand. Flowing electricity develops a magnetic field just like a permanent magnet has. The electric current flowing through motor windings creates a magnetic field. Oppositely, a changing magnetic field develops or induces a voltage in the motor windings. Since it's alternating current it's constantly changing, voltage is rising and falling, and changing polarity as the change passes through zero volts. Here's how the A/C voltage looks:

A SINE WAVE (because that's the voltage waveform produced when a generating device spins around, like an alternator). All + and - peaks produce the equivalent of 120 volts, explained some other time. Because the voltage goes plus to minus to plus to minus constantly, the effect is like connecting a voltage to something + to -, then - to + over and over again, which means the current reverses direction every wavelength, or cycle. CAN'T CHARGE A BATTERY WITH THAT! So, we got DIODES.

In nearly all A/C motors, the magnetic field caused by current flow "collapses" as the voltage goes towards zero (the horizontal line). Then a new field builds in the opposite direction; if it was North to South before, then it's South to North. Until passing through zero again. This collapsing field prevents the CURRENT flow from coinciding with it's voltage, it BLOCKS current flow for a short time. This means VOLTAGE appears, but CURRENT does not flow until a short time later. This effect is called "Phase Displacement". PD reduces ability to do work by the electric current. In a circuit having only resistance, like a light bulb, the PD is ZERO. Motors causing PD make Power Companies deliver MORE power than is actually used, as the PD wastes some.

Turns out, the capacitor causes just the opposite effect in A/C circuits; it makes the current flow BEFORE the voltage appears! IOW, the capacitor RESISTS a change in voltage, while the motor RESISTS a change in current (amperes). This effect in motors is called INDUCTANCE, in capacitors it's CAPACITANCE.

Inductance is measured in HENRIES, capacitance in FARADS. These units are used in fancy mathematics to determine what SIZE capacitor will cancel out the effect of Phase Displacement on an electrical line. Is it important? Wallboard Manufacturing Plant I worked for in Colorado was BILLED extra for their PD! Couple hundred bucks monthly. One of my jobs was to install capacitors, to save the extra billing. Payback time was a couple of years.

 

[EB4X]

DILLARD'S ONGOING SLIDE SHOW ABOVE /\ /\ --- ..... GREAT INEXPENSIVE HOME ENTERTAINMENT!

 

[Juanhmi]

Thank you for this! The extent to my electronics education was in high school electronics class, and I always had a tough time understanding alternating current - after that, I was occasionally a low-level contractor installing outlets and light fixtures. This is very cool. And it seems like an understanding of all this will really help working on modern vehicles like the old Explorer. I will be properly grounding that capacitor tomorrow!

 

[Daymon Powell]

Thank you for this! The extent to my electronics education was in high school electronics class, and I always had a tough time understanding alternating current - after that, I was occasionally a low-level contractor installing outlets and light fixtures. This is very cool. And it seems like an understanding of all this will really help working on modern vehicles like the old Explorer. I will be properly grounding that capacitor tomorrow!

In a semi related vein I had coil probs. while bck crank no strt. 12V on coil primry couldnt figure it out .Stayed with it saw this coil pigtail on R/A spliced it in prob. solved intrmnt.open on red coil prim. wire brass terminal plast.conectr deteratd. What do u expct.after. 23Yrs./208K mi. The way I found it got it running (sm.miracle) and when I moved wrng.harns it cut off
.zip tied harness and it ran fine since brass contcd coil term till I got the wrng harns.All this was b4 I found this great forum thanks guys hope this helps some1

 

[imp]

Thank you for this! The extent to my electronics education was in high school electronics class, and I always had a tough time understanding alternating current - after that, I was occasionally a low-level contractor installing outlets and light fixtures. This is very cool. And it seems like an understanding of all this will really help working on modern vehicles like the old Explorer. I will be properly grounding that capacitor tomorrow!

I also started in high school with Electric Theory, freshman year.Old guy taught it, knew his stuff, but back then I did not understand the deeper principles. High school was miserable, and I failed to graduate with my class, not enough credits, so went an extra semester. Took Psychology 101, Instructor was very good, set me straight. Most important thing in my life was my car, though, and all the electrical knowledge was most useful. By then, I was building Tesla Coils, winding high-voltage transformers.

Two years at DeVry Technical Institute, hard-earned, got me an Associate in Electronics Technology, marriage got in the way, took night classes in Junior College, enrolled full-time at age 32 in Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Divorced at 35, lived with my mother while completing degree. So I got a good background in Mechanical Engineering, too. Fortunately, messing with all the cars self-taught me welding, fabrication, electrical I already had.

Intense understanding is not necessary, but understanding the basics absolutely is, WHY a circuit must be complete, how to protect it, HOW the hell do SOLENOIDS work, those mysterious everywhere devices? Some push stuff around, some make/break circuits, some nowadays even control transmission fluid to control shifting. Friggin' amazing!

 

[imp]

My IQ just doubled! But that ain't saying much.

One is said to be born with a certain IQ which never changes. I believe that's bullshit.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

My brain cell just exploded...

 

[1998Exp]

Awright, you asked for it! Ha!
Electricity and magnetism go hand in hand. Flowing electricity develops a magnetic field just like a permanent magnet has. The electric current flowing through motor windings creates a magnetic field. Oppositely, a changing magnetic field develops or induces a voltage in the motor windings. Since it's alternating current it's constantly changing, voltage is rising and falling, and changing polarity as the change passes through zero volts. Here's how the A/C voltage looks:

View attachment 325044
A SINE WAVE (because that's the voltage waveform produced when a generating device spins around, like an alternator). All + and - peaks produce the equivalent of 120 volts, explained some other time. Because the voltage goes plus to minus to plus to minus constantly, the effect is like connecting a voltage to something + to -, then - to + over and over again, which means the current reverses direction every wavelength, or cycle. CAN'T CHARGE A BATTERY WITH THAT! So, we got DIODES.

In nearly all A/C motors, the magnetic field caused by current flow "collapses" as the voltage goes towards zero (the horizontal line). Then a new field builds in the opposite direction; if it was North to South before, then it's South to North. Until passing through zero again. This collapsing field prevents the CURRENT flow from coinciding with it's voltage, it BLOCKS current flow for a short time. This means VOLTAGE appears, but CURRENT does not flow until a short time later. This effect is called "Phase Displacement". PD reduces ability to do work by the electric current. In a circuit having only resistance, like a light bulb, the PD is ZERO. Motors causing PD make Power Companies deliver MORE power than is actually used, as the PD wastes some.

Turns out, the capacitor causes just the opposite effect in A/C circuits; it makes the current flow BEFORE the voltage appears! IOW, the capacitor RESISTS a change in voltage, while the motor RESISTS a change in current (amperes). This effect in motors is called INDUCTANCE, in capacitors it's CAPACITANCE.

Inductance is measured in HENRIES, capacitance in FARADS. These units are used in fancy mathematics to determine what SIZE capacitor will cancel out the effect of Phase Displacement on an electrical line. Is it important? Wallboard Manufacturing Plant I worked for in Colorado was BILLED extra for their PD! Couple hundred bucks monthly. One of my jobs was to install capacitors, to save the extra billing. Payback time was a couple of years.

Great job, IMP! And now to explaining how a PFC (power factor correction) eliminates harmonics from the current consumed by switch-mode power supplies.

 

[imp]

Great job, IMP! And now to explaining how a PFC (power factor correction) eliminates harmonics from the current consumed by switch-mode power supplies.

I will have to defer to your greater knowledge of this material, for I don't know Jack **** about it! But don't hesitate to clue us in more!

 

[Mr. Alligator]

@imp ... Dang, you are very intelligent. And very kind to share your wisdom.

Well done here, sir.

 

[1998Exp]

I will have to defer to your greater knowledge of this material, for I don't know Jack **** about it! But don't hesitate to clue us in more!

Guess than when we get bored discussing the issues of our aging 2nd gen Explorers, we find other topics, from basic electricity to more advanced electronics. But how many members of this forum are interested?
So here is another suggestion, a bit closer related: the subwoofer in the back of my Limited bit the dust a few months ago. It was a bad speaker, but then I realized how lousy its amplifier (borrowed by Ford from a 1980's Jaguar) was. So I replaced both - the amplifier with a new "Class D" design - which refused to turn on because it needs a 12V control signal, not the 5V signal that the Ford radio sends. That 5V signal couldn't even deliver enough juice to turn on a tiny relay. The rest is for interested parties only, I guess...

 

[imp]

@imp ... Dang, you are very intelligent. And very kind to share your wisdom.

Well done here, sir.

Thanks, but it really isn't intelligence, but rather years and years of working the early-learned theory into everyday work. The fact that the theory "works" often mystified me: television, for example, when I had a course in it, I swore it couldn't possibly work!

 

[fast_dave]

@Juanhmi

Here you go - look at pic - coil pack screw closest to intake manifold - HTH!

 

[c47@pacbell.net]

Awright, you asked for it! Ha!
Electricity and magnetism go hand in hand. Flowing electricity develops a magnetic field just like a permanent magnet has. The electric current flowing through motor windings creates a magnetic field. Oppositely, a changing magnetic field develops or induces a voltage in the motor windings. Since it's alternating current it's constantly changing, voltage is rising and falling, and changing polarity as the change passes through zero volts. Here's how the A/C voltage looks:

View attachment 325044
A SINE WAVE (because that's the voltage waveform produced when a generating device spins around, like an alternator). All + and - peaks produce the equivalent of 120 volts, explained some other time. Because the voltage goes plus to minus to plus to minus constantly, the effect is like connecting a voltage to something + to -, then - to + over and over again, which means the current reverses direction every wavelength, or cycle. CAN'T CHARGE A BATTERY WITH THAT! So, we got DIODES.

In nearly all A/C motors, the magnetic field caused by current flow "collapses" as the voltage goes towards zero (the horizontal line). Then a new field builds in the opposite direction; if it was North to South before, then it's South to North. Until passing through zero again. This collapsing field prevents the CURRENT flow from coinciding with it's voltage, it BLOCKS current flow for a short time. This means VOLTAGE appears, but CURRENT does not flow until a short time later. This effect is called "Phase Displacement". PD reduces ability to do work by the electric current. In a circuit having only resistance, like a light bulb, the PD is ZERO. Motors causing PD make Power Companies deliver MORE power than is actually used, as the PD wastes some.

Turns out, the capacitor causes just the opposite effect in A/C circuits; it makes the current flow BEFORE the voltage appears! IOW, the capacitor RESISTS a change in voltage, while the motor RESISTS a change in current (amperes). This effect in motors is called INDUCTANCE, in capacitors it's CAPACITANCE.

Inductance is measured in HENRIES, capacitance in FARADS. These units are used in fancy mathematics to determine what SIZE capacitor will cancel out the effect of Phase Displacement on an electrical line. Is it important? Wallboard Manufacturing Plant I worked for in Colorado was BILLED extra for their PD! Couple hundred bucks monthly. One of my jobs was to install capacitors, to save the extra billing. Payback time was a couple of years.

What they taught me in 70's high school electronics - ELI the ICE man!