OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Trimmers and Brushcutters Two Stroke Trimmers & Brushcutters Modifying a magneto to fit

I bought a magneto that I thought would fit a Ryobi. It doesn't fit! My fault. The pick-up on the coil is too long so I can't get it to screw down with sufficient clearance from the flywheel. I was considering carefully grinding back the pick-up as all the other fittings are fine and there can't be that much difference in the magneto properties for trimmers. Has anybody tried this modification?

I tried fitting a different coil to an Echo blower for the Jims man who does my lawns, because after chasing around the only coil I could get for that Echo was going to cost $90 plus postage. I spent quite a long time cutting housing bits to fit a coil that was sort of close but in the end timing must have been slightly off because I was unable to get it to fire, but at least it had spark. I told him to ask at their Jims meeting if anybody had that model Echo that had seized or had just worn out, but spark was ok.
So sparker I have tried but not had success

Hmmm... Thanks Norm. Not very encouraging. I hadn't thought of the timing. If I get the shape and length right it should work in theory.

Only in theory. As timing can be issue. On some engines even the flywheel timing has to be shifted. Since I don't the time to experiment getting a coil from another brand or model I stick with the OEM design forthe machine I am working on. A good example of this some the Husqvarna chainsaws that I work on where they fit different coils and flywheel even the same model series. On these you must match the coil to the flywheel.

Grinding down the pick-up will reduce its sensitivity which also will delay the triggering as takes longer to get up to the induced trigger voltage. This would shift the timing to more ADTC instead of BDTC which produce lower power even if this engine even runs. On top of that some modern electronic coils have timing advance systems built-in.

You are right there AVB I pulled about a dozen line trimmers and from memory I only found 2 coils that were the same. With the Echo one I wanted to fix they are a reasonable quality but at over $100 for a coil for a well used blower was stupid to even think about getting one

Thanks for the input AVB and Norm. This is my problem too, the cost of a new coil for this model is more than the trimmer is worth. They're about $70 new or $35 second hand on ebay. I can only get around $55-60 for a repaired trimmer. It annoys me that this is a relatively new trimmer too - a Ryobi RLT26CDSN.

Sparker,

That is what so bad about working on these. It is the knowing what wrong and what it takes to fix them.; yet the repair costs exceeds what they are worth. It like working on the TTI handheld 4 cycle where they self destruct due to oiling issues and they only sell a short block. When you buy it plus one hour labor for a 4-5 job you still exceed the replacement cost.

I personally don't even take in trimmers that retail for under 100 usd anymore except when the customer is willing to spend the money. When it comes to some senior citizens I will do them just the cost of the parts as I can make up for it with later repairs.

I remember how my mother got before her Demetria fully kicked-in. If it was something new she couldn't operate it, like the new cook stove. Believe me I don't wish this on anyone or their caretakers. I was about to fall apart after an year taking care of my mother. To took me nearly an year after her death to recoup. If it wasn't for Hospice I don't think I would have held it together.

I remember one day I was at the mower place getting a belt for an Ariens and a bloke waked just through the front door of the shop holding a Ryobi trimmer in his hand and the shop owner just yelled to him "don't bring that thing in here, not interested" I thought the bloke was going to cry.before he turned around and left

Australia's idea of professional customer service. Abuse potential income. Not smart.

MF the people who buy the Ryobi junk are never going to buy a quality product from him anyway and he is not going to waste his time explaining that they buy cheap rubbish and when if fails and often quickly, they want somebody to fix it cheap because they didn't pay a lot for it so they assume it can be fixed cheaply. Andrew knows his stuff and is always flat out mostly fixing machines for contractors who buy quality products that are worth repairing

Some of my best customers started bringing in the low end disposable equipment to test my abilities. In situations like this is where being tactful can be a benefit. I have gain valuable customers by explaining why their equipment is considered disposable. Most shops in my area charge over $60 / hr where is I am @ $40. Even at the this rate don't fully charge for my time. I will put on new fuel lines and other minor repairs but no major repairs to help out a potential new customer.

Yes, most customers with the el cheapo thinks they can be fix cheaply when our costs are the same. These machine are usually built in countries that have extremely low daily wages like Mexico where the minimum wage is around $2 per day. In my area it is now around $6.50 / hr. Even had some to tell me that I am just trying to rip them off. Those I politely show them what it actually costs me just for the parts. Now they are willing to buy the parts and fix it themselves I give the website address or if I have the parts on hand just sell them the parts. Now of course I need to make a profit on the parts.

Of course I am not volunteering my main best sources that took me years to develop my discounts through like the Stens dealership I landed last fall. These vendors have help me to be more profitable and stay competitive with the larger shops.

I had one fellow to say to me that I was too high on the fuel lines that I selling by the foot. He said "Oh I can buy kit at the auto parts stores for X number of dollars". I just looked up the the store's website and showed that my 2 ft was half the price his auto part store's line and it was the same line. Customers sometimes think that since I am a small shop that I am an idiot and sell them parts at or below cost.

Now my brother was one of those that would do it which I why I had to do his parts pricing, even then he lost nearly $6,000 by buying from local shops before I got involved. The second year I had him turning a small profit then he start breaking our business agreement. He wanted me to do all the work, he keep all the profits, and me to buy the needed tools out my pocket. After I had a serious talk with him about what was going on he quit the business and stuck me with all the repairs that he had got prepaid for. Since the business was officially in my name I had to make good on those repairs. That was 7 yrs ago. I closed the books down paid my brother his little profit, keep about $600 in parts for my part (which he accused me of stealing), and reopen the business under a new name. I think the hardest part was honoring the one year contract I signed on his behalf with a supplier right before things went sour.

I have turn that little inventory into nearly $25,000 now. My bottom line is still not too good but I manage to net a little over $4,000 last year after all the shop expenses. The net profit would have been better but I am retooling the shop as I am taking on ATV repairs and those tools are not cheap.

Now this said Sparker have you tried the following site for the coil.

http://www.toolspareparts.com.au/ryobi-rlt26cdsn-spare-parts.html#