Hot Legs

[manson]

I'm a noob to this game and I hear some talk about "hot legs" from the coils. I've seen it in my builds but don't know what causes it. Is it a bad thing ? Can it be prevented ? What causes it, sloppy, loose coils ? I try to be precise about my wraps.

 

[Number3124]

I usually see it when I fire my coils for the first time when I go to clean them up after installation. The wraps aren't all in contact (assuming that you are wrapping a contact coil that is) yet. It's easily eliminated when you fire then pinch the coils repeatedly to fuse the wraps. What's happening as that resistance across the coil isn't constant. Various hot spots exist on the coil. You could think of them as kinks in a coiled hose interfering in the flow of water.

While it isn't a prefect analogy, I often explain electricity in terms of water in a hose or straw.

Hot legs are almost impossible to completely avoid, but they are easy to get rid of. Just be patient.

 

[Slicknic]

Sorry, I could not resist.

 

[manson]

At least it wasn't a picture or Rod Stewart.

 

[lordmage]

here is my contributions

Hot legs can happen in the coil or at the post if they are not insulated correctly. Talking about the positive to the deck post

 

[OBDave]

Ideally your coil starts glowing in the center, and the heat spreads out evenly from there. The legs should be the last part of the coil to get hot. As Number says, just fire, adjust with tweezers, repeat until your hot legs go away, if you have them to begin with...

 

[Xhalin]

Great responses... Helpful!!

 

[Haadkoe]

I find that if I intentionally put a kink/bend in the leg to get my coil into position it seems to eliminate hot legs... In my limited experience anyway.