[AT] Points

[Stephen Offiler]

Ivan's "emergency" ignition system is pretty interesting; never heard of
that before.

John, I do own a points file but I'd have to go digging to find it.  I use
a piece of "wet-or-dry" sandpaper (dry of course) with a grit somewhere
either 400 or 600.  I'm reluctant to take off too much material.  Points
contacts used to be made of a multi-layer material with copper core (heat
transfer) then some silver-cadmium alloy in a measureable thickness, not
just a plating.  That stuff has some magic metallurgical property that
resists corrosion, resists micro-welding if there's any arcing, and resists
or prolongs that inevitable material transfer (those hills and valleys, the
reason you eventually need to file them)

Now I just said "used to be made of" because I strongly suspect the cadmium
has been removed and along with it goes some or all of the magical
properties.  So they're more prone to all the bad stuff mentioned above.  I
think my points must be new enough to be made of the inferior materials.
But they have very low hours and show no signs of wear and pitting.

I was curious to see if others have similar trouble, and if there are
clever solutions.  I realize I really should lean towards that Pertronix
electronic ignition retrofit.

SO


On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 9:10 PM, John Hall <jtchall at nc.rr.com> wrote:

> We rarely have this issue. Must have 20 pcs of equipment with points. I
> would suggest replacing the pts and condenser and anything else that is
> flaky looking in the electrical system. FWIW, I don't own a point file.
> I use 800 or 1000 grit sandpaper if needed. It's nothing for some of the
> equipment here to sit 10 months untouched.
>
> John Hall
>
> On 3/7/2017 2:39 PM, Stephen Offiler wrote:
> > Here's an old tractor subject to chat about.  I've got a JD 440IC, where
> IC
> > is "Industrial Crawler".  But it has farm tractor roots, tracing back to
> > the JD 420, further back to the 40, and before that the model M.  It's a
> > vertical twin gas engine.
> >
> > I only get a chance to run it a few times a year, and each time I do, I
> > have to give the points a pretty good cleaning.  Knowing this, it's the
> > first place I go (after fresh fuel) before I even attempt to fire it.
> And
> > yet, somehow, it seems that I end up getting after those points three or
> > four times before I get consistent spark.
> >
> > Sitting, it seems, allows the points to corrode (it is stored indoors,
> but
> > in a building well-vented to outdoors) and I guess I'm initially
> reluctant
> > to take off too much material, hence, the need to go back in several
> times
> > until I get enough.
> >
> > Anybody else have this sort of trouble with points?  Right now, I am
> > conducting an experiment.  After the last run (only a few weeks ago) I
> took
> > a piece of jute and soaked it with WD-40 then stuck it between the points
> > before I buttoned the cap back on and walked away.  At the moment I don't
> > know if this actually works;  a proper test probably entails letting it
> sit
> > 4-6 months.  Ideas?
> >
> > SO
> > _______________________________________________
> > AT mailing list
> > http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>