AA mechanic fixes Land Rover with potato

"DeltawingGothamDeserves" (Dablog)
02/20/2015 at 14:54 • Filed to: None

From !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Mario, an AA patrolman, was called to a Hertfordshire farm to fix the 1960s vintage Land Rover, which was not starting because the ignition did not work.

The condenser, which is part of the ignition system on older vehicles, was broken, but since he did not have a spare one to hand, north-east London patrolman Mario decided to see if he could make his own one.

Mario was unable to tow the vehicle from the farmland, and needed to bodge a condenser to help it limp 12 miles to the nearest garage.

After his first attempt, using tinfoil and silicone repair tape, failed, he decided to get creative.

Mario said: "As the vehicle was on a farm, there were a lot of vegetables around, so I thought I'd try wiring up a potato with a couple of screws to act as a condenser.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (18)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > DeltawingGothamDeserves
02/20/2015 at 14:56

When did they start making Land Rovers in Ireland?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
02/20/2015 at 14:59

Even Irish Engineering is better than British Electronics.

HammerheadFistpunch > DeltawingGothamDeserves
02/20/2015 at 15:00

Oh good, that part should be much more reliable than the original one

505Turbeaux > DeltawingGothamDeserves
02/20/2015 at 15:01

awesome. Ramblin would be proud, sorta

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
02/20/2015 at 15:05

Irish electronics just seem more natural to me.

Mattbob > DeltawingGothamDeserves
02/20/2015 at 15:07

I'm going to call bullshit on this one. A potato is way too conductive to act as a capacitor. When I get home I am testing a potato. The silicone and foil would have been a decent start to make a capacitor, but a potato? I doubt this is true.

*edit* I did some googling and found a man who measured a potato and found that it did have some capacitance. Interesting. You learn something new every day.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
02/20/2015 at 15:09

Irish power plant:

Kinja'd!!!

Cé hé sin > Mattbob
02/20/2015 at 15:11

Let us know how you get on.

With pictures.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > HammerheadFistpunch
02/20/2015 at 15:15

Well replacements are cheap!

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > 505Turbeaux
02/20/2015 at 15:15

The coil isn't supposed to be sideways like that - I wonder if it got tilted to help the potato stay..?

Textured Soy Protein > DeltawingGothamDeserves
02/20/2015 at 15:15

This was the potato.

Kinja'd!!!

DeltawingGothamDeserves > Mattbob
02/20/2015 at 15:17

Yes, please! Please report back with results, I'm skeptical...

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Mattbob
02/20/2015 at 15:21

Cant act as a capacitor, but a buffer maybe? Given that capacitance itself isn't so critical, this might work, just preventing the points from getting burned. It's not the dead short the way a badly made foil experiment could be, and one assumes the points got cleaned/filed during the process. Really shitty spark voltage still lighting off a rich-running. 7:1 compression engine without harm, given good points? Sure.

Mattbob > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull
02/20/2015 at 16:22

it isn't to prevent the points from getting burned. The cap sets up oscillations that amplify the spark effectiveness. You need oscillating current for the transformer to work because transformers don't work for DC, only AC. Taken from Wiki:

"At the same time, current exits the coil's primary winding and begins to charge up the capacitor (condenser) that lies across the open breaker points. This capacitor and the coil's primary windings form an oscillating LC circuit . This LC circuit produces a damped, oscillating current which bounces energy between the capacitor's electric field and the ignition coil's magnetic field. The oscillating current in the coil's primary produces an oscillating magnetic field in the coil. This extends the high voltage pulse at the output of the secondary windings. This continues beyond the time of the initial field collapse pulse. The oscillation continues until the circuit's energy is consumed."

Mattbob > DeltawingGothamDeserves
02/20/2015 at 16:24

ehh, apparently there is some capacitance in a potato, says the internet. I haven't verified, but I am too lazy and I don't have a potato.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Mattbob
02/20/2015 at 16:37

You still get a spark of sorts with next to no capacitor, was my point. Just a really shitty one. The field collapse and spike still happens, just unmitigated and unextended, kind of like how a magneto doesn't need A/C. The coil isn't a primary transformer, a low-voltage oscillation isn't why you have high voltage, it's why you continue to.

What you can't have is a system that burns your points every time you operate, and in that, the secondary role, the potato would probably do just fine.

Mattbob > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull
02/20/2015 at 16:44

I'm done with work for today. No electronic talk anymore. You're a potato. I'm going to go get a beer. Cheers to potatoes and unburnt points!

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Mattbob
02/20/2015 at 16:47

I figure "you're a potato" is among the last great untapped hails and/or insults. Mmmm, beer.