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Points to Electronic?


larry8200

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The next time my points need replacing on my 3416H, engine model 326431 I think I'm going to convert instead. Is the B&S kit the best? The Mega-Fire? Whats involved? It looks like the kit might cost less than the points and condenser. Thanks, Larry
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Never could get that B&S kit to work. If you are referring to the one that clips on to armature (coil). Was later told by the same guy that I bought from that the flywheel had to be sent in and depolarized for it to work. I have been using the Nova II and Mega Fires ever since and haven`t had a problem with them in the past 10 years. I wouldn't waste my money on another set of points and condensers. You can get the Nova II for half the money of points and condensers. Also when the plunger or cam wears it causes the point gap to change. That is eliminated with the Nova II and Mega fire and you don`t have to send in your flywheel to be re-polarized.
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I have had one Mega Fire in a 7010 for better then 15 years. Wire the unit thru the points to eliminate a popping problem on start up after I made the conversion. Since then, no problem.
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You can mount the nova II and mega fire under the points cover. All you need to do is remove the condnsor and mount it in the screw hole for the condensor. Doesn`t get much neater than that. I leave the points intact so that oil doesn`t come out of the plunger or just remove plunger tube and epoxy the hole shut. Dutch did one where he removed the plunger tube and threaded the hole and used a pipe plug.
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So far the only one I've seen (online) is the Mega-Fire. Can you use any of these with A 12 volt coil if the magneto fails?
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No, they are not for battery type ignition. http://www.mfgsupply.com/m/c/31-8786.html NOVA II Electronic Transistorized Solid State Ignition Module Universal and high-performance. Improves engine performance by stabilizing the spark, much like crank trigger ignition does. Durable die-cast aluminum housing. Produces a hot spark even at cranking speeds, is weather-proof and very reliable. Ignition timing is automatically set. No kick-back and no timing adjustment required. Works excellent! Suitable for use with most 2 leg or 3 leg magneto coils and with a flywheel having one or two magnets mounted internally or externally, and with coil mounted underneath or outside of flywheel. Works great regardless of the polarity of the magnets, too. Works on lawn mowers, chain saws, trimmers, garden tillers, snow throwers, brush cutters, outboard boat motors, etc. Works only with magneto type ignition coils that originally had contact points and a condenser. It will not work with solid state ignition (CDI) coils, battery ignition coils or with flywheels having a ring of magnets mounted internally to which the ignition coil (mounted underneath flywheel also) operates off of, such as the bigger aluminum block Tecumseh engines (8hp and up). (As each magnet passes the coil, it'll produce a spark. And if the spark don't occur at the precise time with the piston at a certain position in the cylinder, the engine will either "kick back" or won't run.) Being this coil is designed for Tecumseh engines and Kohler no longer makes this type of coil, some of the wires may need to be lengthened for use on a Kohler engine. And NOVA 2 module will work great with this coil. Has two wire connectors. One connects to the ignition coil and the other connects to the ground of the engine with use of a supplied mounting screw. Comes with detailed instructions.
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quote:
Originally posted by RayS
No, they are not for battery type ignition. http://www.mfgsupply.com/m/c/31-8786.html
I didn't think so, but thanks! I'm starting to get the picture.
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OK, im fairly new on here so bear with me, if i want to switch over from points on my 3416h what components do i need to purchase?
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You should just need the module and a way to mount it. On mine I just mounted it on the outside of the point cover with one of the longer cover screws(after cleaning the grounds real good). Make sure your plug is the type listed and it is gapped right as this is your ignition "timing" device. Too much gap and it will be retarded(found out the hard way).
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The air cap for the magneto is .010 and doesn`t need adjusted for either the Nova II or Mega Fire ignition module. The Atom module may need it and is probably the reason I couldn`t get that to work but NAPA took it back.
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hmmm, now I'm curious. Ray is talking about the magneto air gap and I think Josh (dentwizz) is talking the spark plug gap. What does the module use to sense when to fire the plug?
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I'm slightly confused noe too. The spark plug sets the timing? I would have thought the magnet on the flywheel set it.
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There is nothing in the installation instructions about changing air gap to use the Nova II or Mega Fire. I think the Atom module that I bought was just defective. I hooked it up as the instruction stated and I couldn`t get it to work so I took it back. I have never had any problems with either the Nova II or Mega Fire from Stens. A good ground is critical.
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These were just recomended to me. The "Point Saver" and the "Point Slayer" designed for the Kohler K series looks like the point saver will work with anything. The point Saver is a module that works with the points, eliminating the condensor and uses a external 12 volt coil. It uses very low current across the points, greatly extending their life. The point Slayer has a module and pushrod replacing the points and condensor, and uses 12 volt coil. Of course the lobe on the cam must be OK for either. http://www.kirkengines.com/
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I bought the Magnetron upgrade kit for my engine a couple years ago. The kit cost about $18.00. When I installed it according to the instructions in the kit, I had the same problem as with the points..... It turned out that I had a bad magneto. When I bought the new mag, the ignition pick up was molded into the assembly. I didn't need to send the flywheel out to get repolarized. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=110680&SearchTerms=flywheel Here's a thread that tells what Briggs engines required you to send your flywheel out to get repolarized.
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The clarification on the "gap": I meant the spark plug gap. Coil setting is constant with all systems and the conversion modules(not magnetron) should not involve modifying the coil itself. The mechanism that produces a minor timing difference with the gap is that the points/condenser system works on a relative difference between the point gap and the spark plug gaps. In order to adjust with a solid state module, since the point gap is now constant the spark plug is the changeable part. Shorter gap takes less energy to bridge, thus less time to build up. Longer is vice versa. The difference is minor, but at low speed such as startup it can be the difference of start or no start.
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I messed with a Nova II for a couple days on a 2110 and never could make it work. I just bought a new set of points and condenser and said to heck with it.
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  • 1 month later...
Today I had a Stens Mega-Fire quit on me. It is about 3 years old. I knew it quit because I had a second one on-hand to swap out. With the dead one, the engine wouldn't start. Put in the new one and the engine fired right up. This unit is mounted on the outside of the points cover on my Briggs 243431 in a Landlord 2010. I was surprised it failed but suspect heating and cooling killed it. Jason
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Throw away the magneto, keep the points and condenser and install a battery powered coil from a Kohler K series. Been running a B/S 243431 engine that way for over 25 years. Easiest starting and best running engine I have. Much easier to clean and gap the points once in a while than to pull the engine to work on a magneto. I have not replaced the points or condenser since I set it up this way.
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I put a mega-fire on my 3112H about 3 years ago and it works perfectly. I mounted it under the points cover, but after reading the discussions, I think I would mount it outside the cover and keep the points in place in case the mega-fire died.
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