Magneto Pickups - Time to replace!?

[LJ.]

For the benefit of those who do not use facebook...

I recently posted a picture and video of a failed magneto pickup, well it had not done bad considering it was likely a factory fitted part. Full of very faint hairline cracks and crazes, a spark had worked its way to the outside World. I was very lucky to notice this as the bike had been running...okay but lumpish. It just pays to look over the running parts now and then. Good Job Carby was not leaky! 

Short Video on my YouTube... https://youtu.be/lPST9ox2EnQ

[duTch]

 Holy Crack-burners...

[RichardL]

Good video. That would have been hard to detect with just a typical flashlight inspection.

Richard L.

[lawnmowerman]

I think those six sided cranked "universal" pick ups were not original. I have just binned mine and replaced them and the soft brushes with a decent set from Brightspark. I have heard that the wrong sort of plastic was used in the manufacture of the pattern pick ups which allowed tracking through the pick ups and erratic running.
A new set with some new BP7ES plugs certainly made a difference with my Super Rocket. Easy starting now and no more waiting for the second cylinder to wake up.

Jim

[Black Sheep]

Agree. I avoid these universal 6-sided universal pickups. They are very prone to tracking. Definitely not original Lucas items.

[LJ.]

Blimey, you guys know how to get me to spend money!

Just made an order from Brightspark for a couple of new pickups along with acorn nuts and brushes... £36.50  but the quality is second to none, I'll give them that. I seem to remember also Jim, that there was incorrect quality plastic used in the aftermarket six sided pickups, but these are old ones which is why I thought they were original.

The brushes used at the moment are soft as there is a lot of carbon dust around the slip ring and there is an erratic running as you mention, even had to sometimes a wait for second cylinder to 'wake up' so to speak which I always put down to carb induction bias. The bike has been good admittedly but looking forward now to possible further improvement. 

[lawnmowerman]

You will not regret your investment LJ. As I mentioned in an earlier post, if you have manual A/R you will need a 90 degree pick up at the top and a 45 degree in the bottom, for auto A/R a pair of 45s will do the job.
And don't forget to give the slip ring a good clean.

Jim

[JulianS]

Lucas did make a cranked pickup. Part 459190. It fitted on manual mags, around the boss for the a/r cable allowing the ht to exit at 45 degrees and avoid the drip tray.

They were not marked "Lucas"

Unfortunately it does not seem that a quality reproduction item is being made.

[BSA_54A10]

Lucas did make a cranked pickup. Part 459190. It fitted on manual mags, around the boss for the a/r cable allowing the ht to exit at 45 degrees and avoid the drip tray.

They were not marked "Lucas"

Unfortunately it does not seem that a quality reproduction item is being made.

Quite right which leaves you with the six sided aftermarket ones.
The brushes in them were not good but you could pull them out & put Lucas one in.
There is no real alternative as the originals foul on either the drip tray or the advance cable

[lawnmowerman]

The 90 degree non-cranked pick up from Brightspark just fits between the A/R and the drip tray - I put one on last week.

Jim

[BSA Biker]

The original ones on my A7SS were straight out of the magneto and just missed the A&R cable fixture and the drip tray which for manual A&R models had a slightly narrower tray. But stupidly I bought the six sided replacement type and that was the start of all my magneto troubles, which have only recently been sorted. The carbon pickups are too soft and rubbish! This caused the slip ring to be contaminated with carbon all the way round it and arching took place making starting or running impossible. 

 Thanks to help from this forum it is now cured. So get the correct ones from Brightsparks, what price reliability!. 

[muskrat]

G'day all.
Andrews is cheap compared to a NOS Lucas @ $65US. http://www.klempfsbritishparts.com/PICK-UP--MAG--LH--K2F--ANTI-0
Cheers

[LJ.]

The new pickups arrived this morning from Brightsparks, nice quality. I do like to see brass inside rather than alloy. Fitted to bike and runs nice, now need a good blat.

Question though.... I had to reuse the old gaskets, they seem okay, but do any of you seal around between gasket/pickup/magneto body? (As arrowed in picture) I've used a smear of vaseline, I believe it just helps to keep water out. Any other ideas?

[lawnmowerman]

Great idea LJ. I suppose one could also use a smear of silicone - I put mine on dry being a fair weather rider 
I also use the rubber shrouds over the acorns to stop water (and oil  ) running down the leads into the pick ups.

Jim

[muskrat]

G'day LJ.
I used lanolin grease on mine. All weather riding no problems in the rain (bucketing down). Vaso should be just as good but both won't like too mush heat.
Cheers