It's alive but now another odd problem...

[Arc weld]

I took the front of Magneto off my SA200 and it was dry inside but I didn't see any points. If I recall, they put some kind of electronic parts in that replace the points?? The only thing with a spring was the guide that rode on the shaft. Slight bit of oil at the bottom but otherwise clean and dry. I sprayed a shot of WD40 in for good measure.

Then I took the distributor cap off and found the rotor inside. The contacts were black as well the rotor so I cleaned them with some fine sandpaper. Put it back together and it looked wet on the ground behind the air cleaner. Gas! I took the oil cup off the air cleaner and it was overflowing with gas. I thought it was supposed to drip from the carb but maybe it was a little gummed up from sitting. Dumped the gas out of the oil cup and left the cup off top see if it would fire. Fired right away! Couple more tries and she started right up with a big cloud of gray smoke out the exhaust for a few seconds. Smoke cleared and she was running great.

Left it run for probably 5 minutes and it never slowed down to idle. Then I played with the throttle and idler lever and it finally idled down. Put a rod in the stinger to set my heat and now the idler wouldn't speed up. Pinned it on high idle and it welded fine. Took the pin out and it wouldn't go back to idle. The R57 idler worked perfect before. I'm thinking of burning some bigger rods in it to see if the idler starts working again. Can sitting affect the idler? It used to idle down after about 25 seconds which was great and sped up fairly quick when you struck an arc. Your help would be very appreciated.

 

[Shield Arc]

I think he is a member here to, but over on Welding Web JAS who is a very good friend of mine had trouble with his R-57. I found some of his threads, but can't seem to find the one where he got help. But it seems to me when he was over one time he said duaneb55 and him handled it all through PMs.
Maybe PM JAS and see if he can walk you through the re-build. He is very good with this kind of thing!
You may have to bite the bullet and go with an idler upgrade.

WeldingWeb - Welding forum for pros and enthusiasts

IDLER UPGRADE KIT - Idler Upgrade Kits - Products

 

[farmer2009]

Arc weld. Just another thought may want to add fuel stabilizer before you store that welder again. All this ethanol is hard on older engines. Good luck.

 

[Shield Arc]

That's a very good point! I use additives in both my gas, and diesel farm tanks. I also shut the fuel off on all my welders, to let them die, before turning off the kill switch.

 

[Shield Arc]

Sounds like you're getting really close to having to do a complete tune up. You may be able to get parts through NAPA. Not sure if you have a Bosch or Fairbanks Morse Mag. If you have a Fairbanks here are NAPA numbers that may help you.
FM J mag uses FM#-- R2437 points or NAPA Echlin-- ECH CS1500 or BWD-- FS50 or Standard#-- S3-480
FM X mag uses FM#-- A2437A points or NAPA Echlin-- ECH CS1504 or SME 701014 or Borg Warner BWD -- FS11 or Standard#-- S10-478
If your mag housing or tag isn't marked J or X the J mag has the dist gear inside the cover cap or the X mag has dist gear mounted on the breaker points bearing plate.

I think I've ordered parts from this out fit before.
Fairbanks Morse Magneto Parts

I've also had very good luck with Denso L14-U spark plugs.

 

[Arc weld]

Today's update. I had a good day today, even it was a fixing things kind of day. I took the starter off the skid steer and was going to take it in to get it looked at but thought maybe I could find something simple that was causing it not to engage. I took the end cover off the solenoid and it had a bunch of white stuff on the metal indicting moisture. I wasn't sure how it went together but I tipped the starter and a shaft came out. There was a steel sleeve on the shaft that had some rust on it and also on the piece it slid into. There was a long spring on the end of the shaft as well. Once the shaft came out, I saw exactly what the problem was. At the top of the steel sleeve was big copper washer and in the solenoid were the copper contacts that mated to the washer when energized. The copper washer and the incoming contact were black in one spot. The shaft was the plunger to engage the starter. I think maybe the rust was causing it not to slide all the way in or turn and the copper contacts arced which turned them black. I cleaned everything up with the fine sandpaper I used on the SA200 dist. cap and had nice shiny contacts again. I sprayed some WD40 on everything and wiped most it off. I put the cover back on and put the starter back in. Voila! Turns over every time now and no annoying click, click, click, etc., etc. I never wanted to shut the machine off for fear it wouldn't start again.

As for the SA200, I played with it too. I started it up and it came to idle after about 3 minutes. Then I cranked it up and tried some 3/16" 7018. The idler was working again.:shocked::confused3: but took about a minute and a half to slow down. I removed the time adjuster on the idler to check the felt but I didn't see the felt. Is it pushed right into the elbow where the vacuum line attaches? I read they can get carbon build up and need occasional cleaning or replacing. I guess you have to take the whole idler off to get at everything? I backed off the adjustment about a turn and tried welding again. Finally went to idle after about a minute so I backed off the adjuster about a turn more. I only tried it once more but it went to idle in just under 30 seconds which is fine with me. As far as the idler kicking in when striking an arc that part was working perfect. Maybe when I do the next project and put some time on the welder it will start working normally again. The stars must have aligned for me today. I fixed a really annoying starter that was basically just rebuilt(less than 50 hours) and don't think I need to upgrade my idler. That saves me money so it's a good thing. Sadly I'll probably have to spend more money fixing some other weird problem... like the leaking oil pressure gauge on the Cat.:duh:

 

[Shield Arc]

Just a thought! But I'm wondering if you don't have some binding in the linkage? Or the spring may be to old? Maybe couple squirts of WD40 on the pivot points of the linkage?

 

[Arc weld]

It seems to move freely. I think I just need to use it more.

 

[Shield Arc]

I really try to use mine at least once a month. I also will grab some 3/16-inch 6010 and crank them up and burn one rod after another to warm the generators up some.