F4 mag ?

Just asking a question for temp. fix.

Will the points on this mag withstand a 12 volt coil being hooked up? I say 12 volt cause I have a 12 volt ignition system.

I think I have a problem with spark and want to make sure before I order a new coil. No sense in wasting the money if it isn't the problem. I have already replaced the points and condensor, so I know they are good.

If someone can see an obvious problem please let me know.

can someone tell me if the wire in the photo is supposed to be attached to something. One of course touches on the top of the coil, but where does the other one go?

Okay

disregard all previous questions as I see what the wire does

in looking a further it seems as though the "new" condensor may not be working properly, as I don't seem to get consistant spark.

Go ahead and get a new coil from YT or from Rice Equipment. You should get a great spark (3/8 to 1/2 inch) and eliminate one possible source of the problem.
While you have it apart, drill a small hole out the back of the mag; attach a ground wire to the condenser; and hook the wire to a one-wire kill switch off a H or M. It makes a great was to kill the engine and looks like it belongs on a IHC tractor.

(quoted from post at 11:08:35 02/01/09) can someone tell me if the wire in the photo is supposed to be attached to something. One of course touches on the top of the coil, but where does the other one go?

Click to expand...

That second wire does not go anywhere. It is supposed to be where it is for a safety spark gap. If the mag is rotated without it being hooked up to spark plugs, there has to be a way for the high voltage spark to escape to ground without it's creating a path where there should not be one, thus the reason for the safety spark gap.

As for the kill wire that F-Dean mentioned. I would not do that, the F4 mag already has a built-in kill switch. The cap that covers the points rotates to adjust timing, when the cap is turned all the way in one direction (I don't remember which at the moment) it grounds the points and kills the tractor.

The cap on the back of the mag is "off" when it is rotated to the left looking from the back, which is to say that the lever is all the way up. You can certainly attach a ground wire as described above if you're not concerned with originality. The cap does the same thing--it grounds the low-tension side of the mag, right through the body of the magneto.
Here's a magneto story for you. Recently, a pilot in a 1940s biplane was coming in for a landing at the airport in Lebanon, NH. As he approached from the north, his engine quit dead. The airport is on a flat spot on the top of a ridge, and the approach faces a steep cliff rising probably 200 or more feet from I-89, which runs more-or-less E-W below the top of the cliff. The pilot KNEW he'd hit the cliff head on if he continued, so he wheeled the plane around 90 degrees and set it down on I-89 South. This guy was some pilot, because he got the plane down, WITHOUT DAMAGE and WITHOUT HITTING ANY CARS, on I-89, "dead stick." The cops came, blocked traffic, called a tow truck. The plane was towed down the on-ramp and taken to the airport. Problem: An old magneto switch that shorted out BOTH magnetos.
A mag is "hot" or "on" all the time, unless it is shorted out. Pilots don't fool around with wiggling propellers back and forth because they never know if the mag might be hot. Props aren't good for the human head.