> Scott Bard Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Another piece of the puzzle to add into the whole “ spark output “
> circuit is the “air gap” of the stator coils to the magneto.
>
> I bought a barn find 1979 Puch maxi with a ZA50 engine.
>
> The magneto was removed from the moped when I bought it.
>
> I was chasing a no spark condition.
>
> Followed the normal troubleshooting steps of cleaning and setting
> points.
>
> As it turns out, there was no air gap of the coils to the magneto.
>
> From what I found, the coils need to be .020 away from magneto to
> generate output.
>
> So now that there is the air gap to the coils, I have spark and output
> for the lights.
>
> I suspect the previous owner at some point, had the magneto off and used
> a flat blade screwdriver to loosen every flat blade screw behind the
> magneto.
>
> A Girl Scout cookie box lid, the green o es with the mint cookies, is
> .020 thick.
I'm sorry. It's not clear where your 'air gap' is located. The magnets are glued to the spinning flywheel. The coils are wound on iron cores (laminated silicon steel, actually) and are bolted to a mounting plate so they stay just inside the flywheel rim. If there wasn't an air gap between the magnets and the coil cores the flywheel (and the engine) couldn't rotate: the magnets would scrape the coils. When there is a small gap between coils and magnets (about 20 thousandths of an inch is a good distance) those magnets zoom past the coil cores, and that generates electricity for ignition and lights. That whole assembly, flywheel, magnets, coil, and all, is generally known as the 'magneto.'
Can you clarify what it was you did to get your bike working?
Mark Kinsler