Gettin very weak spark from my mag . not even enough to make the bike fire . checked points and condencer everything fine there . even filed them for good measure . still nuthin . checked with meter and the mag seems to be groundin . on what I do not know cause nuthin seems to be out of the norm . wires all look good and everything . dont get it everything you touch inside the mag seems to have a ground on it . the coil has a hairline fracture in it but nuthin that would look like would cause any prolems . do any of you know what might be causein this thing to be groundin keepin it from throwin a good spark ? like I say from the looks of things everything looks in order and I cant seem to find nuthin touchin nuthin . the mag is firin but it is very very weak . not even enough to get to the plugs .

can you hear anything strange like arcing?  
did you wash the bike recently (water infiltration)
Try firing it in the dark and look for arcing.

Cra

No I have not washed it lately nor have I heard any arcin inside not to say it aint happenein but I havent heard any . I have not tried rollin it over in the dark but I will try . Every once in a while the bike will fire but that is few and far in between . Most of the time it is just a dead kick . I walkd out in the garage couple days ago and kicked a few times and it fired up . It ran very poorly backfirein and skippin but it did run for a few minuites . I let off the throttle to just let it idle a bit and it went dead and has not yet cranked again . It did fire a couple times for me this mornin but never did crank . It has been gettin harder and harder to crank for a while .

i aint got a clue mayn have ta checked the muffler bearins  they go bad from time to time   heeeheeeee   now dont go throwin stuff at me      do ya have a new condenser or even another one

the only thang I cant figure out is . why is the mag got a constent ground on it . I aint no mechanic but I dont think it is supposed to be that way . I know when it rolls over it grounds then but this thing is groundin just sittin there

do yall think I might have a bad coil ?

maybe i dont thin the coil should be grounded all the time   but i surely aint no expert  un hook the wire or wires an check from the wires to the leg an see if its shorted should have no cont there   wheres mack when ya need him

Check for leakage on your plug wires too.  Might just be bleeden fire out the wires.

Like Cracky said, good and dry an try the dark trick too.

Might be that crack in the coil.  It doesn't take very much.  

If all that is good ya might see if you can pull it appart while it is on the bike.  The natural magnets do get weak over time so they may be headen south.  I also think, I'm not sure though, that the armeture will start to magnatize over time as well.  It then needs to be "de goused" or replaced.

The best source for Magneto info I have found is Buck at Goblin.  Try checken his web page and if it isn't on there give him a call.  He does rebuilds pretty reasonable too.

done put new wires on it and that idt do a thing . put a new set of autolites in it too . hattin had time to do the dark thing yet but I am thinkin that maybe the crack in the coil might be the prolem . I sent Buck an email so I am hopin to hear back from him in a day or so .

You should be seeing a ground through the coil.  The way it works is the points make
a circuit through ground and a small portion of the coil which the rotating magnet
induces a current in.  When the points open stopping the current the magnetic flux
field collapses inducing the spark in the whole coil.  Simple but it can be touchy.  If the
condenser is bad it'll shut the thing down and if there's any leakage anywhere it's bad.
That crack could be allowing leakage to ground which would cause problems.  Any
moisture in the mag can cause a bad problem, I use beeswax on the gasket to seal out
the water.  A friend was having problems with the mags on his plane, the mechanic painted
the inside of the cases with melted beeswax and that stopped the problem.  If you can
get some beeswax you might try smearing it into the crack to see if that has any effect.
I'd probably throw a condenser at it first because it's cheaper but I'd bet it's that cracked
coil.  Another thing, you should be running non resistor wires and plugs.  Morris has some
recomendations for plugs, I run Harley 3-4 plugs but my heads are the short reach type.
Check http://www.morrismagneto.com.

Mack

Thanks Mack I have been hopin to hear from you . Yeah I have been runnin harley 4's in mine to but I was fresh out and had to use what I had layin around . The wires are non resist. I did some more research last night and came across some aviation site that had some tech question and answers about mags . I came to the conclusion to that the condenser was be the smartest place to start with parts . Readin some of the imfo I discovered that that a bad one can cause me the same prolems as i am having . So I called and got me a condenser on its way should be here thursday . But if that dont work I was gonna try th coil . But I had to try the condenser first for the money difference . But I sure do appreciate your knowledge Mack . you tellin me that I feel like I am headed in the right direction .

I was glad to see Mack show up too....lol  I know enough about Mags to know I don't know nutten.

I don't have that much experiance with them myself, I had a couple of
weeks of instruction in A&P school but I've worked on nothing but
turbines since.  I've run one on the shovel for a couple of years and have
a little insight on them.  One of the things that's gone wrong with mine
is the condenser, it was the kind that has the bracket soldered to the
case rather than having a clamp that holds the base.  That bracket came
loose.  It would start ok but once I got rolling it'd start bouncing and cause
it to cut in and out.  I found that if it starts being hard to start it's likely
the points.  Most important is to keep it water tight, moisture inside will give
you all kinds of trouble, don't open it on a rainy day if you can avoid it.  I
did that once and had to take the cap off and wipe it on my shirttail every
time I wanted to start it for a week.

Mack

well fellas I put in a new condenser today and that did absolutly nuthin . I also checked it all out in the dark and that told me that I am gettin absolutly no fire anywhere that I can see . So I guess it is back to the drawin board . I am gonna try a new coil I guess and see if in desperation that fixes it . I think the fuggar heard me when I said I was gonna sell it and now is just bein stubbern and want crank .

Another thing I've heard of happening is the rotor loseing it's magnetism.  You might
check that, should be pretty easy.

Mack

I'm watching this subject with interest 'cause I've got a mag (somewhere) that I plan to use if I can ever find all my parts after this move.

Unfortunatly I think your magnets are getten weak bro.  There is nothing "easy" about the fix for that.  

The mags should be rebuilt every four or five years or so depending on how much you run it.  Silly thing is that if you run it more they last longer.  Anyway, Buck at Goblin is really good.  Little spendy but he backs his work.  I think he did the complete overhaul on mine for about $300.  That really isn't bad up against a new one.  

no it really aint cause a new jim hunt like mine is 600 bucks

I hope it is not a magnet cause them things are pricy since they have gone to the new improved earth magnets . I had a guy tell me the other day that he thought I might have an open coil . So he wants me to change the coil before I try anything else . They bout 90 bucks so I dont know if I am gonna try it or not . I might just pull it and send it back to Hunt . called them up and they said to send it to them and they would fix it . The only thing is they charge a 75 dollar handling fee not counting parts and labor . So that too could get pricey

That crack in the coil leads me to belive it's the coil.  Morris uses the new rare earth
magnets but I've heard that the new magnets are too much for the old coils.  It might
be cheaper to send it in as opposed to throwing parts at it till it works.

Mack

Yeah Mack I think you are right cause I have done stuff like this before . You know just throwin parts to sumthin till it works and I have found that I could have bought new stuff cheaper than the old learn the hard way trial and error . So i am prolly gonna pull it this week and get it off to Hunt for a rebuild . Atleast that way I know it will be right when I get it back .

  is it fixed yet shawn hurry up brutha i wanna see pics of this new sled mayn

Check with Goblin too.  Buck might be able to do it cheaper.  I don't know but I do know I am pleased with the work he has done for me.

L no I have done got lazy and Dingers buddy Buck want return my emails . Anyhow the guy that I was gonna trade with has done seen the error of his ways and backed out on me . Get this he is workin on an old HONDA 500 chopper instead . Aint that just insane ? Pass up a nice old Pan/Shovel for a danged ole honda 500 . Now dat is sum cheut

WHATTTTT   i cant believe it mayn   hey just pack tha whole sled up an shipp it to me  ill fix it free of charge an ride it bac to ya hows that

now that sounds like a plan

see i knew you was a smart feller i been sayin soo

now how am I supposed to get you back home ? break sumthin else so you can fix it and then you drive that home ?

    im a pretty good farm hand ya know an i can fix bout anything       ya wasnt spupposedta think that far ahead

hey that amazes me sumtimes to . my mind wanders off ahead of what it is capable of doin sumtimes

naww just messin round mayn    im gonna be ready ta runn iffin i ever git a chance ta meet any fo you folks after all tha scheeyat i talk

ah come on it cant be that bad can it

   just kiddin around like always  or most always  so what ya gonna do with tha mag  put in a coil or send it off

I dont know I am thinkin if I am gonna keep it I may just buy the kit and switch it over to 12 volt and put a distributor back in it

well it may be worth tha money hold that thought

http://www.ebeyond2000.net/      a dude posted this link over at shovels maybe itll help ya

I have no idea what it will cost to do that or what it even envolves but I guess I can find out . fella told me it would cranck better and run better all in all it is just a lot better set up

look up 2 posts i posted a link maybe will hellup ya

ahite then I appreciate it

dunno if itll hellup ya or not

man they aint no help for this old bird but I do apprecaite your offer

  you gonna have to move closer mayn so i can hellup ya fix yer stuff

yeah I know I need a good teacher . I got a good friend that is a mechanic he told sombody the other day that he has tried to teach me everything he knows but I dont listen very well . I think I must have that A.D.D. cheut I rekon

naww mayn it just takes time an ya got a good knowledge of what yer doin i can read that much    specially bout this mag   i deal with one now an then on old equipment there all basically the same  

it seems like a purty simple deal but a little agrevating when they give prolems

an thats tha story of life mayn  

well i might as well learn to work on um cause it dont look like I am gonna sell it no time soon . everybody wants it but they want it for nuthin

well ill trade ya my sled an my truck an my camaro

L i cant afoard that much insurance

well fugg mayn guess ya gotta keep her  ya know ya didnt really want to trade any way

deep down ..... I think you prolly right

hell mayn  its a machine just learn how to take care of it theres enough knowledge on here ta help ya an there always books  i learned alot from books

well lets hope so

aww ya aint no dummy ya actuall know more bout mags than i do

yeah I know they make you wanna blow ye dayum brains out

naww just gotta try harder to understand how they work  an its a constant challenge even when ya understand how things work they dont always obey the laws

yeah it seems to be a purty simple ignition system aint a whole lot that can go wrong in there and they aint no battery or switches to go bad and everything I have read they supposed to be purty reliable . L lot of these small engine planes use them

yepp sn small engines use a version of one   dont get much simpler really

yeah a guy I work with has a really old lawnmower that he said had a mag on it . I forget what kind it is prolly an old wheelhorse or sumthing

well its just the theory   lots of old gas tractors used them  an i hate fuggen withem i git bit eva time

yesir I gots 2 old tractors out there in the shed that run off Wico mags . you would think as much as I fool with the old tractors I would know mags but I am like everybody else ...... I dont

theys all tha same mayn dont matter what there on

yeah I know they all the same but I just aint never had to mess with one before

Kenney to tell you the truth I have no idea I hattin looked at it that close to see if there were any marks

the points are opening and closin like they supposed to it just aint makin no fire at all . with everything I have drumed up so far I think I might have a bad coil