Magneto Problems

[HarrySmith]

I am working on a woodie and I am going to be using the maneto to ring the ringer. This is the first time I have ever tried to work with one. I took the shafts out because it was very hard to turn. They were gunked up with many years of old grease & oil. I cleaned the 4 rotating points and lubed them with Moly lube. I got it back together and now it spins nicely. I hooked up my multi meter  but do not get any readings. I tried hooking it to the ringer and also get nothing. I also cleaned the contacts with WE bond paper. I do not see where the power is supposed to come from. Is there any connection points inside? The ringer is marked 50F if that matters.

[tubaman]

Perhaps some photos of the offending magneto would assist here Harry?

[HarrySmith]

ok. Pictures attached.
I am thinking the only thing I did was to lube it. I did not take the magnets apart or even loosen the mounting screws for them. Is it possible the grease I used is insulating the shafts? What is the proper lube for it? I used a Moly lube.

[countryman]

Will the shaft with the crank move horizontally when you turn it and operate the contacts on the far end? Does the magneto turn freely or do you feel a certain resistance?
The contacts will short out the armature in normal position, and open when turned.

[HarrySmith]

Yes, the shaft moves to push the contact spring. It spins feely with little to no resistance.

[countryman]

I'd suggest to check if the armature winding is still conductive. In the worst case it might be interrupted. Do you have a multimeter / Ohm meter? Any cheap one will do.

[HarrySmith]

Already checked that. It is good. I also checked the magnet polarity, they are installed properly.

[countryman]

Great, so it will all come down to contact issues? Try contact cleaner spray, and sliding a cardboard slip through the points to clean them? Any short circuit should result in a hard cranking magneto.

I had a hard time with a receiver lately until I found the magnet laminations were mismatched  (wrong polarity) so it was very wise to check that, too.

[HarrySmith]

Already checked contact operation and cleaned them with WE bond paper. I also checked the magnets yesterday, all good. I really  have no idea what the issue is here. I guess I am going to disassemble it again, remove & inspect armature, remove all the Moly grease and see what happens. In the meantime I have others I can use in this project. I will test them first!

It took me years to figure out it was a good idea to test a phone before starting the restoration. A few were no good and the time I spent restoring was wasted. I did end up with some clean shiny spare parts though