PVL coil advice (820 Power Bee)

[RANDY DUNCALF]

Steve you need to make a video on boost porting. Maybe then I would have the courage to give it a try....LoL.

YA, DO IT STEVE

[doug tenney]

Kevin, don't leave us in suspense. What fixed it?

If you just weren't spinning it fast enough, don't feel bad... I've been down that road.

[ted johnson]

Wonder why it is I can always get a test spark by rocking the flywheel as fast as I can. TJ

[steve welte]

Mine too Ted. I can get the spark when I snap the wheel back and forth or spin it over by hand quickly. If i don't get that it is a bad one. I'm going to figure out a way to never have to buy another expensive PVL but I probably won't have time until winter. If only the new inner cover could take the old style ign unit it would be easy. Use the cheap little elec. triggers but that won't work without a coil mounted so I'm thinking a bracket to mount a coil in place of the PVL and use the small trigger that is like the purple atom. Probably many coil styles that could be used.

[Kevin Davis]

It was really so simple I’m embarrassed . I simply had the coil lamination to flywheel set too far apart. I called Kprecision ( where I bought the PVL along with their high strength rod bolts.) Good guy there @ Kprecision by the way. I was told to set it @ about 10 thousandths and it should work. He also said if not call him back and he would send me out another one that same day. Well ,that simple solution fixed my problem.

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Steve, I read on a chainsaw site where someone claimed they used Ryobi ignition modules on their WB 820 hotsaw ,but with no mention which one. It was an old thread.

[ted johnson]

I'm with Steve. Back in days of yore, there were a couple trigger setups used. I was running foreign open at the time, and didn't pay attention. I wish I had. I've yet to have a PVL fail, but it's an expensive failure! We need a simple "no-machining" solution, documented and videoed so all the guys can do it easily. C'mon, electronics wizards!
Kevin, I bought a 10" long .012 feeler gauge about 40 years ago. It's still in the toolbox. Anything between .010 and .015 is O.K. for coil lamination-to-flywheel-magnet gap, but I like the .012 as it gives a little margin of safety.
BTW, here's a short vid on timing the electronic ignition West Bend with a degree wheel and light. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGI9Za3t25I  Also, Bill McCornack once wrote a concise article for one of the vintage association's magazines, showing exactly how to install a module on a Mac. I saw it on Google, but can't find it now. If anyone has a link to this article, it might be nice to show the newer crowd how to hook the unit up. I don't know how well the Mega Fire unit works, but I'm sure some of our crowd can chime in. Ted

[steve welte]

You would first have to mount an older style coil (from points) and then a lot of elec triggers will work. $12.00 off ebay can get one. Coil is the problem and mounting. I use a thin piece of alum coil stock to set all my gaps. Cut a thin strip and lay over the flywheel. It's that stuff they use to make covering for widow casings out of and such. Any sheet metal place has it. It is .010 thick. As for knowing where a PVL is timed you can do the normal degree wheel setup. Then hook your continuity light to the kill wire. Watch very closely. It won't go on or off but will change intensity at the timing point as you rock the flywheel.

[ted johnson]

Steve, since it's said that the trigger should be away from the coil, Bill McCornack mounted the Mac Mega Fire to the inner crankcase cover, as far up and away from the coil as he could. That article was a good one with photos, but I can't find it now. When I get some minutes, I will email Bill and ask where I can find it. I think it'd be a help to the newer guys at this. I'm up to the ears right now, sorting out the new oil housings for the Rev Grip on the Dyna Drive gearbox for the 610. Looks real good. Ron Cubel did nice machine work. TJ

[Kurt Bogerman]

There's this page at VKA:

http://vkakarting.com/replacing-points-w...on-module/

In the comments at the bottom of the page, Rolf Hill recommends checking out the Nov 2013 FirsTurn. Ironically, it's not available to download from the new FirsTurn download section in the VKA Documents page, http://vkakarting.com/vka-firsturn/

[ted johnson]

Kurt, I saw that article this morning. The nice thing about Bill M's article was that he had several photos there. His article was for McCullochs, but it still applies to the Benders. TJ