FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Here we have the answers to the most commonly asked questions. If your question remains unanswered, please contact us.

1: Can I deliver/collect my magneto myself? Yes of course! Contact us for directions. If you are too far away and wish to post it to us please click here for more details. BACK TO TOP
2: Do you take work in from overseas? We certainly do! Please click here for more details. BACK TO TOP
3: Do you take credit card payments? Yes, we do take Mastercard and Visa debit and credit card payment. Please click here for more details. BACK TO TOP
4: What will it cost to overhaul my magneto? It really does depend on so many factors that it’s best to give us a ring and talk about your particular requirements. Then we would be pleased to give you a rough idea of cost. Ask others too. Inevitably, we are cheaper than some, more expensive than others – but do check what you are getting for your money. Some replace everything which in our opinion adds unnecessary expense. We once asked one company if they vacuum impregnated their coils. The rather curt response was that we did not need to know that – only that their work was guaranteed. We are happy to explain exactly what we do and how we do it. If you are able to visit, we would be pleased to demonstrate our operations as well. Talk to everyone, ask questions and then make your own mind up. BACK TO TOP
5: What is your turnaround time? It varies depending on our workload but is always weeks, more usually months. Occasionally someone gives us a 'hard luck' story about needing a magneto for a rally next weekend. We will always do our best to help where we can but a quick turnaround like this pushes the queue further back so it’s not something we do lightly. Talk to us and we’ll let you know the current position. BACK TO TOP
6: How long does it take to overhaul a magneto? A very common question but not an easy one to answer. Assuming all parts are there and are reusable, it’s down to time taken to strip, clean, inspect and test. Next job would be to rewind the armature. Then there is the reassembly time and finally an hour or so running on the test bench. Rewinding the armature sounds simple but the heat/vacuum/pressure/bake cycle we use takes a minimum of 16 hours. That’s two working days so the coil is usually left in the vacuum overnight extending the time even further. While this is going on we are obviously able to get on with other work but even so, unless we have an armature already wound, we couldn’t do a magneto overhaul in less than three or four days even if we wanted to. Others may do it quicker but they don’t do it the way we do. BACK TO TOP
7: Do you supply exchange armatures? We prefer not to. Yes, the armature is a key part of the magneto but there are many other component parts which need to be correct too and we would have no control over them or the reassembly process. If the magneto subsequently failed we might get the blame.... BACK TO TOP
8: My magneto sparks OK, Can you just check it over for me? Again, we prefer not to. You know it sparks so you have probably already done a 'quick test'. If it does spark, it shows that it works now but there is no guarantee that it will work a week/month/year later so there is no point in us doing a ‘quick test’. To do a 'long test', we would have to take it apart and clean everything up. Then we would put the coil in the oven so we could test it when really hot. If it passes that test we would then have to reassemble it all. In all conscience we couldn't do that without having checked over bearings, slip ring, pickups, rotor arm, distributor cap, fibre/plastic gears, overhauled the points, probably replaced the condenser and so on and so on. Once it's all back together we would remagnetise it and put it on test for an hour's running. In other words, it would be a complete overhaul with the exception of rewinding the coil which is the very part most likely to fail further down the road. In both cases, our name is then attached to the magneto...... 

We have done 'long tests' on a few magnetos in the past. Some of those magnetos subsequently failed - always because of the coil - and on one occasion, more than twelve months had passed before it failed. In every case we had a dissatisfied customer claiming they thought we had 'done the mag' - despite having explained at the time that we could not, would not, guarantee the coil. We don't like dissatisfied customers - our reputation is very important to us - so we no longer offer 'check overs'. BACK TO TOP
9: Do you sell spare parts? Not really. As far as new parts are concerned, we buy in spare parts and we do manufacture some parts ourselves but don’t normally sell those parts on their own. As for second hand parts, we prefer to keep them for use in overhauling our customers’ units. BACK TO TOP
10: Can you supply refurbished magnetos? We do have a reasonably good stock of magnetos but the truth is, we are too busy working with our customers’ units to be able to spend time refurbishing our own to put on the shelf hoping that someone might want to buy them one day. So we can’t supply overhauled units ‘off the shelf’ but we may be able to supply a unit which we can then overhaul for you – please ask. BACK TO TOP
11: Would you be interested in buying my old magnetos? Possibly - though in our experience, any units which are incomplete are usually missing the very parts we are looking for! No harm in asking though so talk to us about what you have. BACK TO TOP
12: Can you tell me what this magneto was used on? Unlikely - we have very little information on which magnetos were fitted to which vehicles. Your guess is as good as ours! BACK TO TOP
13: Would you be interested in buying magneto spare parts? We are always interested in hearing about what you have – talk to us! BACK TO TOP
14: I have an Octopus Test Bench too! Can you supply a copy of the manual? No – sorry. Unfortunately, we have not got any manuals for any of our test gear. If you find one, perhaps you can supply a copy to us? BACK TO TOP
15: Would you be interested in buying my test bench/growler/magnetiser? We are pretty well self sufficient now but we might be interested – talk to us! BACK TO TOP
16: Is that right? You no longer work on dynamos? Regrettably, yes, The Magneto Guys no longer work on dynamos. The shear volume of work coming in has meant that something has had to go. As our main area of work has always been magnetos, the decision has been taken to stop dynamo work. We are happy to continue offering help and advice on your dynamo/charging problems but cannot take on any dynamo repair/overhaul work unless it is part of an 'all-in-one' magdyno - no 'stand alone' dynamos. All the dynamo related pages remain on the website as an information service. BACK TO TOP

We are particularly keen to get hold of a flywheel magnetiser.
Do you have, or know of one we can buy? Thanks!

Your question not answered here? Please Contact Us!
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