Wisconsin engine magbeto issoes,,,,

So you can have a dirty point contact, a bad condenser, or a bad coil.... For a test, you could probably use any condenser that would fit in the hole... I have only worked on FM mags and get the condensers on line for about $15.

Some DMM have a capacitor function ,which is relalhandy some dayze......

If not , put on low ohms.it'll read zero them nothing(open) after a second or two. flip the leads, do it again, should be the same (0 then open).

it's kinda important to replace with same valued condenser, but any will give you 'spark'. proper one will give you SPARK.

Jay

There ARE condenser test sets... they're essentially a capacitance meter, but the expensive unit that a Bona-Fide-Magneto-Doctor uses, operates at a much higher voltage than a typical DMM capacitor-test function would apply.  Last one I saw in-person, was the one that John Boyens used to sort out the problems with my Kohler 6.5R-something four-cyl.

The note about 'anything will generate spark, but the right one will generate SPARK' is about as correct-as-you-can-get....  but "just about any that will fit... will work'... is not quite the full story... not in a Mag.

In a battery-coil, the spark appears because a magnetic was built during the time the breaker points were closed (the 'dwell' time!), and battery current was flowing through the primary winding of the coil.  Just so happens, that in that same magnetic neighborhood is the secondary winding that is connected to the spark plug (on one end) and ground) on the other).  When the contact points open (firing time, right?) the field collapses, and in doing so, dumps a whole lot of magnetic force through the coil (both primary AND secondary), and the secondary, having no place to go (because the plug is an open gap, right?) builds a phenomenally high voltage, until it's higher than the level necessary to ionize the gap between the center conductor, and the ground electrode (or through a wire, or through a carbon trace on the plug, or a crack in the cap, or through the rotor, or through your hand...  at which point, that energy blasts through to the other (grounded) side of the coil.

This process happens, and it doesn't care when.  Flip the points with your fingernail when the engine is stopped, and you'll get spark.

The condenster, on a battery-coil system, is a 'cushion' around the contact points... because when the points open, not only is the field collapsing around the SECONDARY, it's collapsing around the PRIMARY too... and if you don't provide someplace for that energy to go, it will jump right back across the points, and burn them up.

In a magneto, the magnetic field isn't built by a battery... it is flying by on a rotating shaft.  The points hafta open up when the piston is in the right location... and the MAG ARMATURE needs to be in the right position WHEN IT HAPPENS, otherwise, you'll get a fizzle-fart spark...   it's like... setting off your 4th of July fireworks on the 6th of july, or the 28th of june...  or being on a hot date and having a premature [description of adult content deleted]...

The function of the condenser in the magneto provides cushion to protect the points, but because of the magnetic character of the magneto coil and it's armature, in order for the mag coil to generate it's greatest spark energy, the PHASING (timing of points with respect to the armature) and the CAPACITANCE of the condenser, need to be matched to get the BEST result.

John tested and measured six or seven different condensers... all good and working, before he found one that yielded a really, really good hot spark.  He noted in his worksheet HOW MUCH capacitance yielded the best result, and he used the adjustable spark gap tester to determine it's effectiveness... then ran the magneto through it's complete speed range, to see how well it performed, and the circumstance of variables was very, very clear...  even using a supposedly identical 'new' coil would mean re-testing to see what value yielded best results.

But Joe, the most obvious performance measure is from your fingers and pants.  If it shocks you, it's working.  IF you roll it over, and just the SOUND of the SNAP!  makes you wet your pants, it's working right.  Strive for a spark of incontinent suggestion, and you'll have a running engine.

   WHOOOPS,,,,,the new condenser came in today,,,got it installed,, and put a spark in the mag and,,,,and,,,,the SOB started right up,,,but the throttle was stuck wide opened and I'm running around trying to figure how to kill this sob before it chunks a rod,,,and "ALMOST grabbed for the spark plug wire and quickly remembered ole Massey from way back then so,,,,,I grabbed a piece of plywood and managed to knock the friggin plug wire off the spark plug,,,BUT,,,it runs!!!!  The swivel for the governor lever at the carb was kinda stiff but after a few squirts of WD she idled down just fine,,,,

  Ran outa sunlight so I'll do some fine tuning tamattow on the carb. This machine never had a "KILL" switch or button,,so how to rig one on the magnito?

  OH,, and MANY THANKS for all the help on this one too,,,,whatever would I get done without ya'll's help,,,??? ?

 There' is one thing,,,,, This engine was totally overhauled by a contractor that used to do lots of machine  work for place I worked at and since day one,,,after I got it home and fired it up,,there is a noticeable "Clankling" noise coming form the crankcase. I mentioned to the contractor and he said that was common on the Wisconsin single cylinders. He said,,"Don't be afraid of that noise as it will not hurt a thing and goes away after engine starts. Well, he was right but after using the trencher many times,,it still has that "clanking" sound but does go away soon as the engine starts. Engine is quiet as a mouse when running,,,,WTH,,??

 

 I also remember many years ago working for a farmer that had a Wisconsin powered New Holland baler That you could only get running once a day. If you forgot to fill it with gas to get it through lunch and it stopped, any baling was done for that day. Even then that Wisconsin had a flat pulley mounted on an extension of the crankshaft and would only start by belting up the tractor to get that ba$tard started.