HS40 Lighting coil has not output

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weazel

New Member
#1
#1
Hi guys,

Im trying to get my lighting coil working on my HS40. For some reason when I put a meter on the wire from the coil I get no reading. I pulled the fly wheel off and I have a yellow wire from the lighting coil side going up to a screw that other wires are also screwed to. This is all on the coil itself. Is there any specific was to test the lighting side to see if Im getting the correct output?
 
SimpleTom

SimpleTom

#2
#2
weazel said:
Hi guys,

Im trying to get my lighting coil working on my HS40. For some reason when I put a meter on the wire from the coil I get no reading. I pulled the fly wheel off and I have a yellow wire from the lighting coil side going up to a screw that other wires are also screwed to. This is all on the coil itself. Is there any specific was to test the lighting side to see if Im getting the correct output?
Click to expand...
Are you sure you have a lighting coil? You mention only one wire. Is that wire coming out of the shroud back by the carburator and going to a screw mounted on a bracket? If so that is the wire to ground the coil for a shut off switch, not a lighting coil. That would explain why you get no reading on the wire. The lighting coil "wires" come out at the front of the engine opposite the carb. Those wires go into a plastic connector.
 
W

weazel

New Member
#3
#3
Yes, I have a lighting coil. I have a black plug at the front of the engine opposite the carb. I have a black wire, red wire and a yellow wire. Im assuming the yellow is the lighting wire.

Its kinda hard to explain but I have two coils with windings, that tie together but one splits off and goes to the nut or stud that I believe is also for the points. Perhaps I need to grab a picture to help show what I have but its a standard lighting coil.
 
SimpleTom

SimpleTom

#4
#4
weazel said:
Yes, I have a lighting coil. I have a black plug at the front of the engine opposite the carb. I have a black wire, red wire and a yellow wire. Im assuming the yellow is the lighting wire.

Its kinda hard to explain but I have two coils with windings, that tie together but one splits off and goes to the nut or stud that I believe is also for the points. Perhaps I need to grab a picture to help show what I have but its a standard lighting coil.
Click to expand...
Yea, pictures would help. I believe one of the wires in the black plug is for a kill switch. So, the other two are for the lighting.
 
The Restore Kid

The Restore Kid

New Member
#5
#5
If you have three wires minibike correct three prong plug..

The red and black are both positive wires, it should be (green) but yellow is possible too I suppose, is the engine kill wire..

two slots on bottom are both positive out, body ground negative..

One wire stacked centered on top of the two positives, is body ground to kill the engine... :mellow:

try grounding your negative electrode real well on the engine somewhere, and test the red AND black wire for electricity +

http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/tecumseh-engines/58774-tecumseh-6-horse-lighted-system.html
 
The Restore Kid

The Restore Kid

New Member
#7
#7
red and black are positive, yellow is your engine kill.. Ground it to the body somewhere and it shorts out your ignition coil and the motor dies.. Red and black are positive leads out..
 
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weazel

New Member
#8
#8
Ok, so my Kill Switch works great!! Thats the only thing.. I have no voltage on either the Red or the Black wire. Everything looked great on the coil. I just dont know why there is not output on the 2 wires.. Any suggestions??
 
The Restore Kid

The Restore Kid

New Member
#12
#12
Hmmmm well.. They can burn up, but usually you'll SEE burnt wires.. You might not be getting a good enough ground to complete the circuit.. Plus, they don't put out a lot of amperage.. So if you are testing with a car headlight at idle speed you won't see anything.... If you're using a multimeter it should register...

I'd say make sure the prongs in your plug are nice and clean, and make sure you're getting a good ground..
 
W

weazel

New Member
#13
#13
I am testing with a multimeter and a good one which I tested on various things around the house so I know that works. The only think I can think of is that I do have some rubber washers Im using as isolators between the motor and the frame. I cant believe that would be causing a issue since Im grounding the multimeter to different bolts on the engine itself and still not getting any readings. I didnt see any burnt wires but I certainly can double check.

Is there a way to check the coils themselves.. Ohms, continuity or something like that?
 
The Restore Kid

The Restore Kid

New Member
#14
#14
PSHEwww I wouldn't know what the OHM's would read, but yes, you should be able to check it for continuity.... If you are alligator clamped onto a bare shiny piece of the engine itself, it should have a good ground... If the engine is not bolted down dirrect aluminum to steel on the frame, that will definitely cause a ground fault..

Also you could pull the flywheel and coil right off, and make sure the coil pack is grounded good to the rest of the engine.. I doubt that it isn't and if it wasn't, your kill switch probably wouldn't work either... :glare:

OR I may have lied to ya and red is hot, black is negative, although I have NEVER SEEN that combo ever on a Tec lighting coil setup...

If you DID pull the coil pack off, you should be able to see the windings in the lighting coils, and see how thy are rigged up...

It should start out a little bare wire hoop screwed to the main body of your ignition system.. Body grounded negative..

then from there the wire runs into the center of the coil windings... winds around and around and around a few thousand times, until the coil is full of wire, then the OTHER END of the wire should be an insulated wire, running out to your plug as the positive end of the wire spool...

one pack will have a red positive coming off the top side of the spool, the other will be a black positive end of the windings running out to your plug..
 
Rhodyjoe

Rhodyjoe

New Member
#16
#16
I know this is a 4yr old thread... But I thought I'd chime in. On my newer TEC SnowKing engine, the voltage generated by the lighting coil is AC, not DC. I was getting no voltage reading either when using my VOM set to DC. Set to AC and voila... Voltage readings! I did have to wire in a bridge rectifier to convert the AC to DC, which allowed use of 12V lighting. I chose LED due to low current draw and high output. Not sure if this applies to vintage H40/50 or HS40/50 engines. Hope this helps.
 
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wjustice

Well-Known Member
#18
#18
People see a motorized vehicle and think, battery/DC. However these engines, motorcycles, snowmobiles and cars all use alternators. Alternators generate Ac current. Lights can use either ac or DC. Older snowmobiles often used ac with a shunt reg to limit voltage. When they used electric starters a rectifier was used to get DC and use a battery. Cars are rectified inside the alternator to get DC.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
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