Basic questions about DVA measurements

My 48 SPL has no spark on the bottom cyl so I bought a Electronic Specialties DVA adapter and have the CDI troubleshooting guide but making DVA measurements is new to me.

A basic question.....when doing a DVA test I presume it always with the motor cranking or running, correct?

Secondly, the CDI troubleshooting guide shows DVA values as "connected" and also "disconnected". What is the distinction there?

If it has individual coils, move them and see if spark moves.

Dva , I thought was for capturing high peak AC volts, disconnected is usually for lower readings.

How can you get a reading on a meter if it's disconnected ?

CDI dva disconnected from your meter. And you replug your original leads back in meter. Or use dva plugged in.

PhilSch said:

My 48 SPL has no spark on the bottom cyl so I bought a Electronic Specialties DVA adapter and have the CDI troubleshooting guide but making DVA measurements is new to me.

A basic question.....when doing a DVA test I presume it always with the motor cranking or running, correct?

Secondly, the CDI troubleshooting guide shows DVA values as "connected" and also "disconnected". What is the distinction there?

Click to expand...

I think if you read the notes following the table of readings you will find the explanation

First thing I tried was switching coil posts

vics said:

I think if you read the notes following the table of readings you will find the explanation

Click to expand...

Thank you Vic. I looked at the footnotes and what disconnected means is when testing a component such as timer base, stator, power pack, etc. is you take the DVA reading with and without the component connected.

An example is if you have no spark on any cylinder and the stator's DVA reading is out of spec you then disconnect the stator wires and recheck the DVA output. If the reading is still out of spec then the stator is bad. If the reading is now within spec the powerpack is bad.