Heinz Coils
I spoke with David Woods in Lansing Mich. He specializes in restoring Heinz coils. He believes that once they are properly restored they are as good as of better than the later K-W coils. Here is what I learned
check the primary to see if the coil is usable
use an ohm meter to check the secondary.
send photos of the boxes and tops of the coils so he can quote on a restoration.
Apparently, because of the age of the coil, the secondary windings are bound to fail. The are two options:
if the secondary tests ok then tune the coil and keep a couple of spares under the seat, because the secondaries will fail.
replace the guts of the coil with modern windings.
My idea of rebuilding the Master Vibrator or using an E-timer is a non-starter if a secondary winding fails. Harry and Les each have a spare Heinz coil that we can purchase.
From: David Woods <dwtworks@gmail.com>
Date: April 4, 2026 at 6:46:20 AM MDT
To: k anderson <kda787@gmail.com>
Subject:Re: 1913 Heinze coils
Hello Peter,
So on the Heinze you can test the secondary coil the same way you check a KW coil. That will tell you if the coil will still fire on the Master Vibrator. The points will shorted on each coil when a MV is used. It does mean the coils are bad just they were controlling the coil with a MV.
Does the owner want to remove the MV and just use the coils?
If the coils never been opened they most likely have the original capacitors so those will need to be replaced but I would not be surprised if the secondary coils are open or one or two may be. It’s typically a question of when they fail not if…
Either way I can help with parts or rebuilding.
517-927-9232
We are out of town on Sunday but I plan to be working in my shop Saturday afternoon.
Thanks
David Woods