My magneto stopped working years ago. I recently read about charging the magnets while the engine was in the car. The procedure was successful for one day. The car did not run as smooth on mag as it did on battery so I attempted to "charge" the magnets again. Apparently I did something wrong. I can not find NORTH with the compass on the hogshead while slowly turning the engine. Is there a procedure to start the whole thing over from scratch? I can see the brass pins that hold the magnets onto the flywheel through the inspection plate on the transmission. Thanks for any ideas.

Laird,
possible help here:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/302134.html?1343788853
Good Luck

There's a reason your magnets lost their charge, and it is most likely that battery voltage was applied to the magneto post.

Before doing a re-charge, do whatever you need to do to make ABSOLUTELY sure no cross-connection takes place. It's most likely to happen either inside the ignition switch or on the back of it where the wires connect, but could also happen elsewhere. It only takes a second to discharge the magnets!

Magnets can also go to neutral if charged in the reverse polarity that they were charged in originally.

Steve, I think that is what happened. Now, how does one correct that problem?

Here's a hint, that might help.

If a compass's North needle points to the end of a magnet (or pair of magnets), then that is the North end of the magnet.

The North end of a compass's needle is actually polarized South. Opposites attract. The North Pole's orientation is, by original definition, polarized "North." Therefore the South-polarized end of the needle points to the North pole of the earth, or a magnet.

P. S. That also means that if you had a magnet whose polarity was known and marked, you'd find the North end of your unknown magnet by attraction to the South end of the known one.

Next time try pointing the car in an East West orientation. If the magnets are weak you will have better luck in finding the north pole of the magnet.