# Electronic Ignition help needed.....



## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

Need some help getting this Nova II system to work...this is on an old Ariens with point system. So, I've got the module mounted/grounded, and have the lead from the coil (which was connected to the side of the points unit with a nut) connected to the module lead, and the kill wire. All three wires are wire nutted together. 

BUT, it seems like there are two wires coming out of the coil (not including the plug wire)and I've chalked the one closest to the condenser. Am I connecting th wrong wire to the module? 

Ideas please....


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Sorry I cant help as I have never done this myself.
What is the third wire that you said you wire-nutted together go to?


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

Thanks dbert -- one wire is from the coil, one from the kill switch that connects to the throttle, and the last one connects to the positive side of the Nova module. THis does have me stymied.....


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

I have never installed a Nova but, the wire you have chalked is the coil ground and is in the correct position. You may want to remove the wire and clean off the rust in that area. Have you tried reversing the leads on the nova module like the instructions show? Also make sure the carb is set to fast speed so the kill wire is not grounded. You could also remove the kill wire and try it with just the coil wire connected to the nova.


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## scrappy (Dec 7, 2014)

I posted this schematic before. Hope this helps. Your chalked wires are grounds. 

So, even if you get this going, how are you going to set the actual ignition timing? Seems to me you would have to use a timing light and a flywheel marked in degree. 

Whats so bad about points and condenser. keep it simple


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

Have you really spun the engine to test it? Unlike beaker points that will crackle at the fling of the flywheel the solid state systems usually need real flywheel velocity to fire.


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

OK -- finally got spark after confirming the wiring, and put the shroud and recoil back on. Then connected the module to the shroud to assure good ground. Tryed it and no spark. Tried the reverse polarity and that was the ticket. Noticed a bit of a jolt in my hand, so knew I had spark. Tryed a different plug and got a nice arch. So, now it's time to move to the carb for a thorough cleaning. Then....change the oil and try to start it up. 

Thank you all for this help.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Glad to hear you got it working. You do realize that you now scared all the snow away and you won't need the blower until next winter.


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## scrappy (Dec 7, 2014)

Grunt said:


> You do realize that you now scared all the snow away and you won't need the blower until next winter.


Ain't that the truth! My lady friend bought a Path Pro 6 weeks ago... I think she now has buyers remorse.


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

Yep, we all know that the simple act of buying a snow blower will cause all the fun white stuff to stay away. As I say to my friends....I live in Massachusetts, and I'm as far south as I want to be. Spent 6 years in Fairbanks, Alaska and loved it!

Now onto a follow-up....I do have spark, which this morning was easily visible, yet still can't get the machine to even cough with ignition.Is it possible (or likely) that my coil is too weak to generate a spark? I've put in a new plug to no avail... Fortunately I've got an extra flywheel and coil off a similar engine that I can switch out if need be...I'm also going to hook up an electric starter and see if that quicker turnover helps any....we'll see.


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## scrappy (Dec 7, 2014)

My advice is stick the points/condenser back in. Reason being is a few years ago I searched around to convert Dad's to electronic. All of the shops said don't even bother... not worth it, the old system will work better and be more reliable.

I don't see anyway to set or check the timing with the conversion you did.

Dads H5 TEC 47 yrs old started on 1/2 pull after sitting since last winter. Hard to beat that!


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

scrappy -- thanks for your insight on the points system for ignition. This blower is going electronic, yet I have another Ariens that I'll look closer at teh points and try to keep it all original. 

I now have this 1964 !0ML60D machine running, although I can only get it started with the electric starter...won't catch via rope pull...after I adjust the drive linkage, I plan to sell it to someone (who hopefully will take care of it .....although I don't have too high hopes of that...)


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## scrappy (Dec 7, 2014)

It's cool. I was not trying to shoot down the conversion... wish there was one that worked at least as good as what was there.


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

A follow-up to my issue with getting this 10ML60D started using the recoil. As a reminder, the original flywheel only had 2 magnets, and I could get the machine started via electric starter, but not via rope recoil. Since I had an extra flywheel that fit with the coil underneath it, I swapped that flywheel, which had more magnets. 

This helped, as I'm now easily able to start this machine using the recoil. Lesson learned -- the coil and magnets have to be strong enough to create a spark.


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## suspicionofignorance2 (Jan 26, 2014)

If I follow this ...we would need to change the flywheel if we were to convert to the Nova system ?


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

No, I don't think so. The original flywheel was lacking some magnets, and that's why it was not creating an adequate magnetic field with the coil. I had a similar flywheel that had the full compliment of magnets, and used this. Remember, this coil and points system mounts under the flywheel.

Hope I explained this clearly enough -- if not please let me know. 



suspicionofignorance2 said:


> If I follow this ...we would need to change the flywheel if we were to convert to the Nova system ?


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## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

I put one on an old Tec['66] and it works great. Just be sure it has an anti kick back feature, because it really hurts when it rips the starter rope out of your hand.
Sid


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