Re: magneto confusion

[Tom]

Tom,

It sounds like one side is shorting to ground. One way to determine whether this is happening is to remove the flywheel and put a piece of paper between the points. Rig up a couple of D cells in series, with wires coming from + and -. (You can use another DC voltage source if you have it, but don’t use a car battery or anything with that much amperage.) Connect one lead to the insulated point side, and flick the other lead on the mag plate. This should be enough to induce a spark at the plug leads. Then try this with your shop lights off. If the bad side is arcing to ground, you should be able to see it. I’ve seen this occur on the primary side, too. If the primary coming out of the coil is routed near the laminations, try moving the wire and slipping some insulation between the wire and the lamination.

Now I understand why you want to get the Merc-O-Tronic working. There is a function on them that would help you isolate just this type of problem.

Tom Manley