Magneto speed

Liam,

I'm not sure what quick fixes will do for you except put off the evil day when the magneto is reconditioned. A good mag makes owning an old engine so much more pleasant.

I trust you've cleaned the points and made sure the gap is correct and they are opening at the right point.

Check the coil resistances if you have access to a multimeter, most duff mags I've owned have been open circuit in the HT section. A mag coil has three connections normally, common (connected to the body of the mag), LT (connected to the points) and HT (connected to the sparkplug). You should get a very small number of Ohms between the LT and common, and somewhere in the region of 10-20 kilohms between the HT connection and common. If, as is often the case, the reading on the HT section is Megohms, then you need a coil rewind. You *can* get a spark out of such a coil, as the HT current can jump the gap in the coil, but the intensity of the spark will be much less, particularly at low speed. This will mean troublesome or no starting, and will make you hate your engine and result in the dog having spanners thrown at it :-).

Regards, Arthur G

engine I cannot turn the engine over fast

compression. I've also tried a few

even something temporary just to get the

It may also be as simple as a bad circuit through the engine, make sure you have metal to metal contact between the Mag and the engine and make sure the female and male plug threads are clean also.

Mart> Liam,

If the points are really clean & dry, then this sounds to me like a lack of magnetism. Arthur is right, poor or unreliable starting will foul your relationship with your engine, so hoik it off & get it fixed!

There ought to be a way of fitting coil ignition temporarily utilising the points in the magneto, but I'm not smart enough to figure that out - bet you others here are tho' ;o))

Regards,

J. Kim Siddorn,

I wonder? It is just possible that the magneto base plate is not making good contact with the engine. Just as an experiment, Liam, trap a wire under one of the magneto case screws & wrap the other end directly around the plug body.

Worth a try ..............

Regards,

J. Kim Siddorn,

Hi I've checked and cleaned the points and everything else for that mater. I've stripped it down and checked the coil resistances. Common to LT is 0.9 Ohms and common to HT is 2.8k Ohms, Does that sound OK? Also tried moving the cam to different positions but the strongest spark is where it was set anyway and tried a bit of wire between magneto case and plug to check its earthing properly.

Thanks

Liam

The HT is about half the minimum for a passable BTH. On that basis a rewind is in order. hth Roland

Any recommendations on who to contact for a rewind. Is there anyone in the North East area who does them?

Thanks

Liam

I've never done it but there are a lot of Morgan V twins running around with non-functioning mags and a pair of HT coils.

John

I have just repaired two Wico EK mags using parts from a company called `Standard Magneto Company` in Chicago, USA. They do a full repair kit for these and other magnetos. The delivery was fast and every email was answered promptly. I would like to see anyone get a two full repair kits (Coils, leadout, points, cables, insulation etc) for the princely sum of £76 delivered in this country!!!! I now have two EK`s that will blow your socks off. Might be worth a try for a coil etc for your mag.

Cheers, MartinH

particularly

Link here in case anyone wants to keep it for the future.

I know nothing about magnetos but had to convert my miller roughneck welder with kohler engine to run on battery and coil. Simple enough to do, first remove wire from magneto to contact breaker, take positive lead from battery to + on coil, - on coil to insulated side of points and ground battery - to engine. Remember to disconnect battery after use.

AJH

A work mate did it to his sons vintage lawn mower, he used a mains 240v to

Mart>> There ought to be a way of fitting coil ignition temporarily

I can't see a Yank supplier doing coils for a Brit mag, but could be wrong.

Martin Percy is my first choice for mag work (see SEM helpline) or if you're in a hurry try

HTH

Regards, Arthur G