[mac266]

My mechanical background is having been a hotrodding punk as a teenager. I worked on a few race cars, built hotrods, etc. So I know how distributors and coils work (or HEI distributors, in which the coil is part of the distributor). However, my antique JD uses a magneto. I know where it is on the engine, but I couldn't begin to tell you how it works. Can someone enlighten me?

 

[Stephenscity]

Magneto is, in a simple term which is all I have, is sorta like a generator. It produces the current necessary for the spark to the engine. When you don't have a battery or gen. Think about how your lawnmower works it is basically the same thing.

 

[DerickS]

I always thought that a magneto worked off of timed magnetic impulses......could be real wrong though

 

[Stephenscity]

I always thought that a magneto worked off of timed magnetic impulses......could be real wrong though

Not wrong he was asking how it works and I was just makuing it simple.
It is basically an electrical generator that has been tuned to create a periodic high-voltage pulse rather than continuous current. An electrical generator (or a magneto) is the reverse of an electromagnet.

 

[BruceG34]

Most of the JD's I have seen use the Wico. It is wound on an double open horseshoe core with a coil and a permanent magnet. a piece of soft iron moves neat the ends of the horseshoes. as it gets closer the magnetic field increases. and lines of flux cross the coil. magnet, conductor, motion between the 2 = electricity.

 

[soundguy]

yep.. same basic principle as a generator.. ball of wire and magnet, and movement.. ie.. mechanical energy converted into electrical energy.. at just the right time..

 

[bikerdave]

MAGIC :!: :!: :!: :lol: :lol:

 

[soundguy]

magic smoke..