OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Trimmers and Brushcutters Two Stroke Trimmers & Brushcutters echo brush cutter weak spark

hey guys i got a echo srm 200da brush cutter here, im having some dramas with i just installed a megafire 2 ignition module to replace the points and condensor it was running fine before hand a bit hard to start but when warm but was ok, now i cant start it at all ... after i installed the module i was getting a good current through the spark plug lead i just put a screw driver in it and felt it but when i put a plug in it i cant get much of a spark at all even though it feels like there is good curent. after i couldent start it i converted it back to points and same thing no start not even a puff so i asumed it was the coil so i pulled one from the spare motor i had lyling around put it in and same thing i cant have too bad coils they both mesured the same on the multimeter so what els could it be?? my coil type is the one that runs on the inside of the flywheel with the two magnets.. the only other thing is my compreshion is down to about 65-70 psi but it was enough for it to run before why wont it run now any help or advice would be great thanks guys

I'm not an expert on these modules but I may suggest to make sure it is dry well earthed to the engine, good spark is when you get jolted (I got myself a goodun on an old victa) so hard it feels like someone is ripping your arm off and clubbing you in the head and chest .

Perhaps that module isnt designed to work with that particular motor. Or maybe the magnets are losing their magnetism.

thanks for that joe, im goin to experiment with some coil air gaps as i have read sometimes they need to be ajusted to get the corect charge or some thing along those lines, but ive definatly got a good curent anyway its enough to make your wrist cramp up but i duno about knocken ya off ya feet, after i put the points back in its still acting the same and feels almost if curent is the same, i just cant get a good spark at the plug or even a jump from the lead to the chassie, i get a small one but i realy got spin it up preety hard and then its still not enough to jump 5 milimeters..maybe 1 if im lucky

ok guys i got her running like the last post said i think i had bad earths i had to undo the cylinder bolts then redo them up tight and eath the module to the front of the motor aswel as the back and presto she took of on my longeroom floor its curently 5am at the moment and i dont think my nieghbors would apreciate a brushcutter goin of underneth em ha ha ha id like to but..... any way i did the coil air gap and set both magnets to ruffly 10 thou would this be the optimun gap? if not what is?? tahnks guys your a big help

About 0.010" or 0.012" is pretty standard as the correct air gap for all of the common engines. Most people just use a visiting card (usually about 0.012"), because if you use a feeler gauge it will stick to the magnet unless you make sure you aren't on that part of the flywheel.

I recommend that you never hold the end of a plug lead and turn the flywheel unless you turn it very, very slowly with your fingertips to check ignition timing. Holding a plug lead when the starter is being pulled is likely to do you harm - at the very least it will spoil your day. It creates a current path from one hand to the other, right across your heart muscle. You are applying your own defibrillator just when you don't need one. Fortunately with a small magneto the energy discharge should be lower than a real defibrillator, but it is a very dangerous thing to do, and pointless as well. The purpose of the ignition system is to create a spark, not to electrocute the mechanic, so the only useful test is whether it creates a fat blue spark.

yes grumpy, I couldnt get payed enough to purposely hang onto a ignition lead, Best one I ever did was got a mate to hold the the spark plug boot and hold the plug onto the engine of a little chainsaw....

So he held it with a pair of pliers with no rubber on the handles and squeezed it a bit hard, when I pulled the rope he was on his bu, needed several strong black coffees to snap out of it, incedently it was funny that time as it wasnt me getting "belted" for once.

We men are heartless creatures Joe. I can recall in drawing class there were a whole bunch of shaft couplings on a bench for everyone to inspect. Some idiot put a big cast iron bolted-flange coupling weighing about 10 pounds on its outside instead of laying it flat. It slowly rolled across the table and dropped onto the foot of another idiot on the far side of the table looking at a different coupling. It broke some of his toes of course, and there he was leaping around the lecture hall on one foot while he tried to get the shoe off his injured foot. We all laughed fit to fall over. There's something comical about people dropping things on their feet, I don't know why. Hopefully that incident at least taught us all to wear steel toecaps. I've crushed a couple of toecaps since, so it was a worthwhile experience.

ha ha ha yeh i know its pointles but it wont do me much harm cause im pretty tuff any way i do relise its stupid and they do make testers for that reason but i have diagnosed a few week coils by doing it that way and im pretty far into old school electronic engenering and i have copped a few whacks of 240v ac in my time pluss a few thousand volts from an old tube tv i was working on blew me across the room and put me in hospital.. i tell ya what the must of been a fair few amps sitting in those old capacitors just waiting for me ... but your body does store electricity and you do build a tolerence belive it or not.... but hey any of you guys got a proper spark tester you dont need send it my way otherwise im still happy to just stick my finger in there hey we all do it redneck style sometimes

ha ha yeh ive got a few people like that all ya gota do is tell em if you feel anything but you know ya got a spark when they jump 3 feet in the air.. ha ha

any way got the brush cutter back to gether fully and took it for a test in the garden .... [Censored] it starts easy and ive lost all my flat spots and it was a hell of alot easyer to tune the fuel mixtures but the on the power side of things i dont notice much same as with points but no bad starts or flats spots im very happy so far would like a bit more power but aparently these things are onli 21cc's but for 21cc's it does a mighty job here they are anyway

It sounds as if you've got it running the way it was supposed to. Stronger spark than the standard magneto provides cannot increase the output power unless the original magneto was inadequate, which is unlikely. (Modern cars do have high energy ignition systems, but that is nothing to do with power output, it is to improve their ability to ignite lean mixtures at light throttle, which has emissions control advantages.) Sounds as if your original ignition system was sick - might have been dirty points, wrong point gap, weak capacitor, or high tension breakdown in the magneto secondary. Or, you might have replaced the spark plug at the same time as you replaced the ignition system, and the improvement was due to the better spark plug. Whatever it was, you have the right result now, and you had some fun getting there. If the new unit is any good it should be maintenance free, so you've shortened the list of things to worry about in future.

I'll close this thread. Remember, if any member wants to post to a closed thread, just PM a moderator.