[SEL] Back to the Briggs coil

[Jerry Evans]

At 11:05 PM 23/02/2009, Mark Shulaw wrote:
>Jerry , That part number 394988 coil in the ad comes back as a solid state 
>ignition coil not a points ignition coil which is preferrable for your 
>use.    Mark
and:
Hi Jerry, Coil part number 394988 comes back as a electronic ignition coil. 
Not a points coil. You can buy that coil 394988  all day long from a place 
called Tulsa Engine Warehouse for $28.00 http://tewarehouse.com/7-01644
But its just not what we need. The twin points coils like we need is not 
available new anymore unless you happen to find a dealership that has one 
laying on a shelf.   Mark

Hi Mark, Ed (Stoller) and others,
         Firstly let me say that I am very stupid when it comes to coils, 
magneto's, ignition and suchlike so please bear with me when I show my 
stupidity - I'm trying to learn :-)

         What I want to try doing is to use these coils to replace burnt 
out coils on 2 Maytag twin engines (Eisemann mags) as I read about this on 
a Smokstak forum here:
<http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40815>
and also had some offline correspondence with Ed Radtke who seems to have 
done many of these conversions.
         The most important part of what he (and the forum) mentioned was 
that the coil had to be of the older type for "points ignition" not the 
later replacement for electronic ignition and that this Briggs coil worked 
on the same principle as the Maytag coil. ie the spark travels from the 
coil to the 1st plug - then through the block to the second plug and then 
back to the coil and not to earth. (My stupidity shows here - I only quote 
this "parrot" fashion.)

         These older (points ignition) coils are no longer in production 
and very hard to find. Briggs & Stratton South Africa gave me the part 
number 394988 for this coil (which I passed on to the lists). I called them 
again today (after Marks message) and they again insisted that this was the 
correct number for this (points ign.) coil. They told me that it was 
replaced with 394891 which was the electronic version  (they mentioned 
"Magnetron"). FWIW the guy I spoke to on both occasions has been with 
Briggs for many years and seemed to know exactly what he was talking about 
(although that is not always a guarantee) but my point is that he was not 
just some youngster reading a parts list.

         Mark, the link you gave me for The $28.00 coil from Tulsa warehouse:
<http://tewarehouse.com/7-01644> is NOT for the coil with part number 
394988 but does mention that it is a replacement for this number as does 
this page on the Briggs and Stratton site:
<http://www.briggsandstratton.com/maint_repair/repair_parts/index.aspx?_dp=1&pno=394988>
which mentions #394988 being replaced by #394891 (which is the same as the 
SA Briggs guy told me and probably the same coil as being sold by Tulsa 
Warehouse). As a point of interest the Briggs price is $50.00.

         What I (in my stupidity) understand from all of the above is that 
Briggs replaced the original #394988 with the newer electronic (Magnetron 
??) #394891 which worked fine on their engines - would this have been a 
straight swop or was there more to it? But to do the modification to a 
Maytag the electronic coil will not work - I needed to find one of the 
older (points ign.) type Briggs coils which I think I have managed to find.

         It is for this reason that I got all excited when I found the 2 # 
394988 coils on eBay. (Actually the link was forwarded to me by John Smith 
who I believe to be quite clued up on B&S parts).

         So Guys after this long post here is my question to you 
knowledgeable guys. Have I bought the correct coils (as I believe I have)?

Many thanks to you all for the help so far and also for what will still come.
Keep well,
Jerry
P.S. I have my one Maytag twin running at present using a battery and 2 car 
coils. It runs beautifully but I'd like to get rid of the battery and coils.