I have an HM80 that is on a VT8012. I cant get a spark / attached pics of the Mag and Coil assembly.
Does anyone know how to test the Mag to make sure it is good?
I am replacing the condenser as its cheap and I am in that far.
Any other ideas of what to check?
Personally, I have never had a bad Tecumseh 30560A magneto, other than cracked plug wire. They are surprisingly reliable. They are very inexpensive, and with your points system and the resultant requirement of timing it, I'd replace it. Tecumseh 30560A anywhere from $20 to $35.
The reason it wasn't making spark could have been stuck points, or the "kill" circuit shorted- bad switch, shorted wire, etc. otherwise grounding out the coil.
Checking out the AC generating portion is nothing more than a visual inspection of the coils and wiring. A few guys on here rewind them, but that's another story. They are also very robust.
New points tend to be very stiff. Keep this in mind as you're setting the initial TDC point gap at .020. Your final timing setting for this engine will be .090 inches of piston in the bore before TDC. (I checked the book) That is the point at which the points will break electrically, and you set this up by moving the stator plate with an ohm meter attached: One lead is attached to the points, and the other is attached to ground. You want to see continuity break right at that .090" BTDC. (again, use the book)
Indeed a member here did a write up on timing procedures. While it's a decent write up, the author advocates it not being necessary to use an ohm meter to determine exact point break. I and several others (including Tecumseh) advocate using an ohm meter, since it's ridiculous to obtain exact piston placement, then eye ball the points. It yields an inaccurate setting. Hopefully the moderators will correct these techniques, and align the procedures with what is in the book.
The book
can be found here, and I hope anyone building an engine would use the correct technical references.
In conclusion, I recommend obtaining a new mag. coil because of the lengthy time to time the points, install flywheel, and shroud, only to find that old mag isn't working. (again, it is probably okay) Installing condenser and points is simple and straight forward. You can PM me if you have any questions.
