Allen Distributor Tester

[Hrdlx62]

Anyone out there have an Allen distributor machine or know anything about them? I have an opportunity to purchase an EH1415 model. It hasn't been in many years but the owner said it powered up. I'll be taking a look at it next week or so and I would like to get some idea on the hows and whys of the machine.Thanks

[PackardV8]

I've got one and wouldn't pay much for another. There are no parts available. The vacuum gauge worked for a while on mine and then failed the diaphragm; a sealed unit. The light on the dial is pretty weak, but anyone using it every day would figure how to replace it with something LED.

Bottom line, an Allen is better than nothing, but nowhere as desirable as a Sun.

[Hrdlx62]

Thanks, yeah not a lot out there on the Allen units, the Suns have pretty good support. The cool thing is a good friend has a Sun 404 that hadn't been run until today. I went over to his shop and we got it dusted off and with a little tweeking we got it fired up and working with an old points unit. He has the pulse amp for it but it needs new leads. I have a hybrid/homemade small cap HEI distributor I want to run and sort out.

[Schurkey]

I had an Allen table-top unit for awhile. Bought it from a former employer. I don't remember what model number it was. I paid $50 for it. A few years later, the Allen was damaged in a fire. I used an HEI module to trigger the strobe when testing distributors with magnetic pickups.

The light on the Allen was ten times as bright as the light on my Sun that replaced it. This also tells you something about the Sun I have now--needs to have the usual capacitor and strobe upgrade.

The light on the Allen was a direct-view deal--the light spun around and flashed, you looked right at the strobe. The Sun has the strobe hidden under a shield, you see the light after it reflects off of another surface.

[Hrdlx62]

Thanks Shurkey, seems that I've read something to that effect about the Allen being brighter.I guess its worth checking out. The party is asking 200 bucks for it. The funny thing is that the previous owner setup an HEI for me with it a some 20 years ago so it should be set up for HEI and other electronic ignitions.

[Firedome8]

I have an Allen dist tester that my father bought me and use it weekly. It has proven its worth for 38 years so far. I Keep the moving parts lubed and its never been repaired.

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[engineguyBill]

Allen Distributor Machine is a good quality tool and should last a lifetime if maintained properly.

[Hrdlx62]

I went and checked out the Allen tester. I took an old but working Delco points distributor along to test the machine. I honestly wasn't sure how to hook the machine up. It only has 1 lead so I connected that to the Delco lead and figured the ground would be through the clamp. Turned the tester on and the speed control worked the tach and other meters appeared to function but no strobe. I didn't buy the tester and told the owner I would do some research on the workings of the machine. Any ideas or input.

[Schurkey]

Is there a switch to activate the strobe, in addition to some other function? Strobe vs. points resistance, or simply and on-off for the strobe?

Photos?

[Hrdlx62]

The function switch controls on/off, point resistance, cam angle, syncro, I tried all functions, all worked except the strobe. I am hoping someone will chime in about the actual connection procedure. As I said earlier there is only one lead which I assume is the power and the ground would be through the clamping arm but I really don't know for sure. Yeah no photos, and to think I had the almighty smart phone with me!! The guy wants 200 bucks for the tester but I'm just a little too frugal (read that cheap) to pay that much at this time. 100 and it would be in my shop.

[Schurkey]

Yes, the single wire of the machine goes to the single wire connected to the points. Yes, it grounds through the clamp.

"Syncro" should have turned on the strobe. At least, that's the way I remember mine.

"Mine" used an ignition coil to power the strobe light. Could be as simple as a failed coil, or loose wire.

[Hrdlx62]

I guess that's where I'm stuck on the price. For a hundred dollar bill I would get it and be done. I did find an old post on a website where a person did a pretty extensive rework on an Allen machine but it seemed to end before it was finished. I'll have to just put this on the back burner for now and replace the leads on the Sun pulse amp and head over to my friends shop and fire up his Sun 404.

[Hrdlx62]

Firedome8, is the tach and coil in the pic you posted used to replace the units non working parts? Can you test a GM HEI distributor on your machine?