[SEL] Ignitor question

[R & M Ingold]

If you use the primary windings of a car coil, 12v battery, Bat- to earth, + 
to the coil, to igniter,igniter, and the engine fires up ok, then you have a 
weak LT mag/generator.(Disconnect the mag lead from the igniter first).
Most times, in my experience, this is the reason for not running.
A carbon bridge to earth, over the insulating Mica, is another
Common trouble.
Easy to check an igniter outside the engine with the battery,coil setup too.
Reg & Marg Ingold.
Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
randmingold at hotkey.net.au
http://www.oldengine.org/members/randmingold

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Tucker" <oldironnut at alltel.net>
To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:08 AM
Subject: [SEL] Ignitor question


> Howdy all,
>
> I have a couple of igniter questions. I know that with spark plugs, a
> spark plug may have a reasonable spark outside of the cylinder but fail
> to spark inside the cylinder under compression. Is that the case with an
> igniter? I'm getting irregular spark out of the igniter on my 1907 4 hp
> IHC Famous. Although there are times when it doesn't spark at all and
> I'm not really sure which wiggle or other assorted voodoo seems to get
> it to spark, whne it sparks it seems to spark well when it's grounded
> outside of the cylinder. However, when it's installed on the engine I
> don't seem to be getting spark (plenty of gas, plenty of compression and
> timed correctly). So, back to my question, are igniters like spark plugs
> in that they may not fire correctly under compression?
>
> That's the situation and question for educational purposes but I guess
> that the bigger and more important question is who have y'all used that
> rebuilds igniters who will be able to do it BEFORE Portland?
>
> Thanks for the help,
> Mike
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