Another scrounge

hiya mate i assume u mean WICE SERIES A magneto with a twin cylinder distrubution cap. if so i have several redundent WICO Series A Magento only one cylinder though, can the gubbings be used, or is anything else any help to you,

thanks, Martyn,

(pictures would help me distinqish)

Exactly and a kind thought. I have everything but the rotor arm which is unique to the 2 and 4 cylinder distributor variety. ttfn Roland

so there no use to u then,

worth a thought

Martyn

Roland,

Think I may have one somewhere in my garage? I'll have a look at the weekend. Regards, Ian.

Well, I never knew that. I suppose twin has less time for current to build between sparks, but I am surprised it makes a difference.

I was thinking of the half engine speed sort, as on Norman twins, which has twin lobe cam. Mind you, shape of cam probably means that dwell is much the same for twin and single - I'm still baffled as to what difference in coils might be. Must ask Martin Percy next time I see him.

One thing you have to look out for is that the coil for the single cylinder mags. is not the same as for the multi cylinder ones. A friend of mine has a Petter A2 to drive his sawbench, and when the mag. died I gave him the coil from a single cylinder one. Henceforth, the engine kept spluttering and misfiring and wouldn't run a damn until Martin Percy came up with the correct item, whereupon it ran like the proverbuial Swiss watch.

Regards

Philip T-E

I believe I have the right item but time will no doubt tell :-) A2 - Swiss watch. Are you sure ! ? ttfn Roland

Please do check my logic which seems to square with some Wico literature I have. The mag is driven at engine (in this case a Lister G2) speed. The mag has a single lobe cam and thus sparks once per rev like a single cylinder with wasted spark. The distributor runs at half mag speed and therefore sends the spark to each cylinder in turn but no longer has a wasted spark. As it happens in this case the coil is from a twin lobe cam 4 cyl Wico A from a tractor and date stamped 1970. Will it work? regards Roland

I've gone through this same evolution of ideas in my head trying to find a mag for the T600 - and no, I've not got it going yet, Nick ;o))

Basically, the Norman twins - and other more modern in concept (if not in years) engines run the mag at half engine speed as they can be expected to run at something over 3,000 RPM and the armature might fly to pieces without radical beefing up! Agricultural engines like Lister D's and Wolseley WD series run at about half that speed or less and need the mag to run at engine speed to get a fat spark.

It is here that I suspect that the difference lies, the slower running coil being wound for higher KV at low speed and probably breaking down the insulation at twice the design speed.

Just a guess, you understand ;o))

Regards,

Kim Siddorn,