Damn points

Olliejunkie · May 3, 2019

Well its spring and we are moving tractors around naturally.
No spark on most of them so cleaning points. This year I have been using test light technique I learned here to see if points are making contact. I'm not having much luck with it so far but that's not where I'm getting at.
Question today is do any of you make sure your points are open when parked for long periods? Seems this may prevent some corrosion.

Russ from MN · May 3, 2019

I don't understand all this problems with points corroding, I don't recall having that problem. I just put a new starter rope
in a chainsaw that I bought in 1972. I suppose it has points, never had to clean them, runs great yet! Maybe I will have
trouble with our Farmall C when I go to start it this spring, I put new points in it when we bought it 11 years ago.

Mike(NEOhio) · May 3, 2019

Blue Streak points IN.....Problems GONE.

hd6gtom · May 3, 2019

WD45 sat for 15 years put a fresh battery
and fresh gas fired right up. I've never
heard of points corroding. I've been using
Echlin from NAPA.

oldtanker · May 3, 2019

Russ I believe it has to do with quality of the points to start with. years ago when everything had points my dad always impressed using high quality stuff. Never issues with points I bought and installed. On stuff I bought used? Yea. I've had issues. Used to be corrosion inhibitors was blended in with metals. Today not so much as they are now "hazardous" materials. Same with overall quality. As sales have dropped more and more items like voltage regulator and points have been outsourced. I normally use Blue Streak, Echlin or Standard ignition parts. Generally they have a very good reputation. Last set of Standard brands points I bought were defective right out of the box.

Also how and where things are stored can make a huge difference too. A distributor that hangs off the side of a tractor engine, partially exposed to the weather has more of a chance of moisture getting inside than say a set of points in a chainsaw stored in the basement next to the furnace. I've never had bad problems with it but have had to run a clean piece of paper between the points sometimes. I never considered it a problem. Most often as part of getting something ready to go in the spring I ran paper through the points without even thinking about it as part of my prep to start things I do.

Rick

old · May 3, 2019

I almost never have that problem. I also do not use a test light to check them I use a simple piece of wire and hot wire them if I see a spark wen I hook the wire up I know the point are good or there is a short in the system if points are open no spark. I have started up 2 or 3 tractor that sat all winter and they fired right up

1946 BN IHC · May 3, 2019

Where do you purchase your points though
So far I have bought from car quest ontario canada

rusty6 · May 3, 2019

Its been a long time since I've had to look into a distributor. My old trucks and tractors (and the Merc) all seem to have good life
in their points. I did use a file and paper on the Mercury's points when I resurrected it in 2015 after it had been sitting out in
the bush for 35 years but they still work just fine. No particular brand here. Just whatever was available locally. I recognize a lot
of the brands mentioned here already.

Mike M · May 3, 2019

No rhyme or reason to them either. Some of my tractors seem to have that issue and others not. They even sit in a heated garage over winter and not hot in the summer and some still loose spark and need the points cleaned.

Steve@Advance · May 3, 2019

I don't know if stopping with the points closed would make any difference. I never have tried it.

So much depends on the environment, how prone the conditions are for condensation. Also depends on the condition of the distributor, the proper coil resistance, proper gap... It all works together.

And I don't think the new points are made of the same quality metal alloys as they were in years gone by.

I only have one piece of equipment that still has points, the old TO35. They have been in there for years without any problems. But once they give up chances are it will get electronic conversion.

Rkh · May 3, 2019

Go with electronic ignition when possible, not sure what tractor you have, but for the small Briggs, they make a unit called nova 11. It totally eliminates points & trouble free.

Crazy Horse · May 3, 2019

Russ ..... I have a chainsaw that I also bought in '72 .... a Pioneer, you probably remember them. I never looked but I think they had electronic ignition or some such system (ie. no points). But I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Olliejunkie · May 3, 2019

(quoted from post at 13:16:03 05/03/19) I don't know if stopping with the points closed would make any difference. I never have tried it.

So much depends on the environment, how prone the conditions are for condensation. Also depends on the condition of the distributor, the proper coil resistance, proper gap... It all works together.

And I don't think the new points are made of the same quality metal alloys as they were in years gone by.

I only have one piece of equipment that still has points, the old TO35. They have been in there for years without any problems. But once they give up chances are it will get electronic conversion.

Thank you Steve for answering the question I asked. My thinking is to have them open rather than closed may be better. Evidently no one has tried it.
Seems to be a lot of moisture where I live. I'm sure that creates problems.

rustyfarmall · May 3, 2019

If there is no spark, I just open the points, insert a folded 5 dollar bill, hold the points closed and pull the bill out. You can even use a $20 if you have one.

Olliejunkie · May 3, 2019

(quoted from post at 14:13:17 05/03/19)
If there is no spark, I just open the points, insert a folded 5 dollar bill, hold the points closed and pull the bill out. You can even use a $20 if you have one.

Done that too. Thank you.

4wdtom · May 3, 2019

I never had points corrode (I am 70),until last summer. It was humid for longer than usual and I didn't run the AC B for a few months and sure enough when I wanted to
make sure it was ready to plow snow in late Oct. or Nov. no spark. cleaned points and fired right up.

jeffcat · May 3, 2019

My 2 cents. Several say what I use. The ones from NAPA. Points long ago had a
wisp of a coating on them. Platinum coating. Boy they worked great but was
close to 50 years ago. If you run stuff now and then it cuts way down on those
problems. Happens with my Gravely machines. Every couple of months they will
start. Sit for 8 or ten months you need to clean the points. I remember way
back in the early 80s the little relays we used in the photo copy machines had
platnum coated points. They worked soooooo nicely.

Dick L · May 3, 2019

I am having coil problems on my Farmall C. This is the third spring in a row I have had a coil go bad on it. I just bought one from NAPA. The other two I ordered over ebay which is most likely the problem.

Elton Fancher · May 3, 2019

I stopped buying points or condensors made in China. I have had a couple sets points that were dead grounded from the go, If you get something to run with them, a couple months sitting and they are corroded. Around here all I can get that are any better are Blue Streak, made in Mexico. I put a set of them in the other day and man's tractor ran 10 minutes, then died. After a bit of snooping I figured out the disc on the opening arm of the points had fallen off. The quality of these electrical parts has changed a great deal from 50 years ago.

old popper · May 3, 2019

Us poor folks have even used a one.

flying belgian · May 3, 2019

I think a 20 would be to thick!

Russ from MN · May 3, 2019

My dads first chainsaws were Pioneers, the gas tank and carb had to stay right side up and the rest of the engine rotate for felling!

jeffcat · May 3, 2019

How about one of them illegal two dollar bills. Yup...think it was last year in
Texas Some little girl payed the cafeteria lady with a $2. She had the office
call the COPS because it was counterfeit!! The cops show up and THEY didn't
know. Drag the kid down to the cops big bad jailhouse. This girl is threatened
with a felony for passing counterfeit money. Idiots! For some crappy chicken
nuggets.
Jail time

JMOR · May 3, 2019

Coils seldom go bad. It is usually a matter of, " I don't know or understand what that black thing does or how it does it, so it must be the problem". :roll:

Steve@Advance · May 3, 2019

Jeff, that's some pretty scary stuff!

The things that go on in public schools these days is unbelievable!

Getting the police involved in day to day discipline problems is nothing new. Over reacting, blowing every incident out of proportion...

Get the cops involved, get a criminal history started, financially strap a struggling family.

The government that's here to help us.

MarkB_MI · May 4, 2019

> How about one of them illegal two dollar bills.

What does that have to do with distributor points? Anyway, it's hardly news that Texas cops can't distinguish a two dollar bill from Monopoly money.

MarkB_MI · May 4, 2019

Count me as a convert to the Dark Side. Pertronix rocks.

GEO-TH, In · May 4, 2019

My Farmall C has a mag. This is the first year I've had condensation under the mag cap. Never had a problem with points in mag.

After drying cap two days in a row, I coated cap with a film of WD40. It worked yesterday.

Condensation is a big problem in Indiana.

If I have to replace points on mag, I'll have to take it apart. Then I plan to drill a drain hole in mag. My distributor has a drain hole. Never had a condensation problem with distributor.

Mike(NEOhio) · May 4, 2019

I get them from a local independent parts store.

Damn points

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