advice

[rogerfishburn]

After trawling the internet and sending lots of emails but without luck just wondered if anyone could help me with regard to the recent post I wrote about the 50hp crescent coils. I don't think I will find any straight replacements so wondered if anyone could tell me what I could use as an alternative coil. I need three in total and the resistance was measured at 1.1 ohms if that means anything to anyone
Thanks in advance
Roger

[floater]

I'm not familiar with your motor at all but if the motor is old style flywheel magneto with points and the coils seperate then any basic coil will do so long as you can sort the wiring which is usualy either two wires one from the positive the other from the points or one wire only from the points . You could try older motorcycle coils such as this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Ignition- ... 2eb685b8b4

Alternatively a visit to your local lawnmower repairer or motor factors may turn up a make do match.

Good luck in your quest.

[se7en]

The coils that Floater has put the link to don't work, we tried a set on my sons Crescent C class hydro engine, I wasted two days changing everything else in the ignition system until I tried some old Crescent coils I had under the bench, there are some Yamaha coils that do work, they are expensive, there the ones fitted to the old yamaha's from the late 1970s,with a points ignition and are around £ 120 each, these are the ones we now use,
I worked for Crescent in the 1970s, the engines perform very well if set up correctly,thats why my son races one in classic hydro, however,the coils were a big problem in the last years of production as STEFFA the company that made them, had a manufacturing problem, I would not buy second hand ones, most of those are living on borrowed time..!! the problem of spares will only get worse,the points ignition motors went out of production in 1972, yours being a 50hp will have been built in the late 1960's, and all the common spares have long been used up, unless the motor has some sentimental value it may be a good idea to think about an engine that doesn't have a spares supply problem , just a thought

[rogerfishburn]

Thanks for that guys, I would like to keep the engine if possible as it goes with the sabrecraft I bought recently which was apparently raced. The model is a" 50 s" three cylinder so if there is a specific coil that might work that would be a help. What about a bendix coil?
Thanks Roger

[rogerfishburn]

Hopefully good news on the coils front , just had an email back from a guy in Sweden who seems to have 2 of them with the right cat no. so there may be a chance yet of saving the engine from the river bottom. Would still like to know if there are any alternatives to these though for the future and these may not be the only problem so not out of the woods yet.
cheers roger

[solitaire]

I'm having similar problems location phelon coils for my old Merc twins - any NOS ones appear have aged to the stage where the rubber/bitumen casings are soft and gooey - there are some in the US but the Sheriff of Nottingham is over there also, and am seeing $75 per coil plus all the other import charges - more than the engines value in some cases!!

I was wondering if it would be easy to convert to a battery ignition system (A decent m/cycle battery could provide the juice) and install a couple of 6 or 12 volt bike coils under the hood and retain the points and condensers under the flywheel,, it's often done to old vehicle magnetos - has anyone tried this approach?

[se7en]

We are most likely going to convert James Crescent C class hydro engine to coil ignition over the winter, will let you know when its done.

[rogerfishburn]

I have just been contacted by American Marine Imports who had one of my emails passed to them from discount marine in the states. I haven't contacted them yet but they say they have the coils in stock that I need and deal with other makes and trade in obsolete parts. Don't know what level of pricing they use but at least they are over here. Just wondered if anyone has used them , if not I will let you know how I get on. Their contact number for anyone interested is 01789 491673

[rogerfishburn]

Just spoken to the guys at american marine imports and they were great, just bought three new coils for £45.00 each which is better than the 60 euros each for the used ones I was offered and they are over here. I mentioned that others here were looking for help and they stock lots of different makes including mercury from the 60s and 70s so may be worth a try. I suspect they have lots of other contacts as well as they seem to have been round for a long time Good luck!

[Alacrity]

I know of at least one other CMBA member that has used them successfully. 01789 491643 or am1.ltd@btconnect.com are their contact details I believe.