Magneto Ignition

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18581, 15 December 1934, Page 9

Magneto Ignition

A SINGULAR fact associated with ™ the development of more efficient ignition systems has been thilt at the von- time when the technique oi construction of high tension magnetos had reached an enviable point, their popularity among manufacturers ot passenger ears declined and they have now been almost completely ousted by the buttery and coil equipment. That policy was doubtless followed primarily from motives of economy, combined with the simplification of ap-

paratus, for it is easy enough to replace a defective ignition soil and the cost of renewal is not great;'but a faulty magneto whose windings have broken down calls for most intricate and expensive repairs. Another factor which discouraged the continuance | qf magneto ignition was that formerly that accessory might not “throw" a good spark at slow revolutions and *b I tended to increase starting difficulties. But against that circumstance nJlast he | weighed the independence of the magneto, which produces within its windings both the low tension primary and I high, voltage ignition currents, and is completely divorced from the .battery, 'so that even when fhc.jntter .ts “flat" the car can be staked easily with the crank-handle, or by allowing the car to coast down a slope in gear. That quality is quo which appeals, to liianv country motorists who are remote from any battery charging station, and who.might be left stfaiuir eld in tin; event of the total failure of the accumulator. Furthermore*, .tat high engine revolutions the magneto furnishes a .very robust au,d. “fat" spark, thanks to the-’building up of a higher primary voltage' than that.procurable from a six or 12 volt, battery, )pit one of the major drawbacks for country motoring hits been that mugnetos were ordinarily set in a lonposit ion, whereas battery ignition distributors and coils are commonly installed at a much higher level, where they are better protected anti are more accessible:

I Lately, however, the magneto has in new guise begun to regain some of its lost popularity, and several oversea accessory firms have introduced con-version-sets in the form of a vertical high tension magneto which can ho substituted for the .high tension ilisU'ibnlor and fitted without difficulty or the need for any machine work,