Changing ht lead on 102

[pat777]

Hi everyone,

So I managed to get the flywheel off my 102. It came off very easily indeed. I did spray some wd40 a few days before we took the hammer to it. One good tap was all it needed. I'm left wondering what all the fuss is about with taking off flywheels. I guess they must not all come off as easily as my one. So anyway to remind you all of the purpose of taking my flywheel off, it was to change the ht cable as it is badly damaged. I have electronic ignition/ cd ignition on my 102 as you can see in the pictures below. It doesn't look as if it is going to be an easy job to replace the ht lead. Is it possible or will I have to get a complete unit to replace it? Is it possible to join ht cables? Any advice on changing the ht lead greatly appreciated.

Thanks Pat

[Daryl]

I can say you were lucky with the flywheel. The 40+ im dismantling took quite a few hard hits with a 4Lb hammer to dislodge the flywheel.

[1650bullet]

If the wire is not broken on the HT Lead itself, You could just join the broken and parted bits of insulation toghether with heat shrink. Some poeple may think this is a rough way of doing things" But it can be a very effective way to fix the problem. Ive had a look at your picture. What i would do is use a couple of drops of super-glue per each broken bit of insulation, hold them toghether with your fingers till dry enough to let go. And then use some heat shrink to cover up all the joins. You could use a whole length of heat-shrink to do the length of the HT Lead and have it look like new again. Do that and see how it runs before you go out on the water.

[pat777]

I can say you were lucky with the flywheel. The 40+ im dismantling took quite a few hard hits with a 4Lb hammer to dislodge the flywheel.

Yes it must have been beginners luck. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't take a recording of it. I couldn't believe it when the flywheel came off so easily. I was only using a 2lb engineers hammer by the way. Here's hoping the next one comes off as easily!

[pat777]

If the wire is not broken on the HT Lead itself, You could just join the broken and parted bits of insulation toghether with heat shrink.

I was hoping to replace the ht lead with a new one but I guess if that's not possible the heat shrink would be a good alternative. Before I had the flywheel off I actually thought that the ht lead was not a seagull part because the copper wire and the insulation on it seems so thin. Has anybody ever dismantled a wipac mark 4 ignition and established how the ht lead is connected to the cd ignition?

Thanks for the advice

Cheers Pat

[1650bullet]

If the wire is not broken on the HT Lead itself, You could just join the broken and parted bits of insulation toghether with heat shrink.

I was hoping to replace the ht lead with a new one but I guess if that's not possible the heat shrink would be a good alternative. Before I had the flywheel off I actually thought that the ht lead was not a seagull part because the copper wire and the insulation on it seems so thin. Has anybody ever dismantled a wipac mark 4 ignition and established how the ht lead is connected to the cd ignition?

Thanks for the advice

Cheers Pat

The wire itself would be as thin as the graphite in a pencil, If that" As for the lead, The wire is folded over the coil end of the lead, and pushed in while turning until it bottoms out, It is then held in with a bit of special non hard type of glue, but only just a drop. Try using the heat shrink method first Pat, British seagulls respond well to repairable methods better than going all out to fix them.

[pat777]

Try using the heat shrink method first Pat, British seagulls respond well to repairable methods better than going all out to fix them.

It might be the sensible option all right, leave well enough alone and all that!

[Charles uk]

The Wipac mk 4 CDI ignition HT lead is not replacable without removing the potting compound from the CDI, I'm told.

The HT lead is an unusual size that is very hard to find, 4mm, the normal course of repair is to send the CDI back to John who can get them repaired on an exchange basis.

It might be possible to cobble together a repair below the base plate to keep you going, on a short term basis, but you will never be able to remove the CDI from the base plate as even a bit of heat srink won't go throght the protective grommet & 1/4" HT lead certainly won't & the motor won't run for too long without the grommet before it starts to short.

[pat777]

Thanks for the info. Charles uk. I'm planning on having a go at a repairing the lead by cutting off the damaged section and getting a length of 5mm ht lead and connecting the existing 4mm lead to the 5mm ht lead somehow and then putting heat shrink over the lot to hold it together and waterproof the connection. Does anybody foresee any problems with this method? Is there a special connector for connecting two sections of ht lead together. I don't imagine it is something that is done very often these days. I'll only be cutting off a few inches of the existing lead, where the damage has occurred. As you can see from the close up shots below, the existing ht cable is very frayed and a number of the strands of copper wire are broken.

Cheers Pat

[Taspiper]

Soldering the leads together should be fine. Look for heat shrink that has glue on the inside. It's thicker than the standard and the glue will bond the the lead and give you a waterproof seal.

[pat777]

Thanks Rolf, I've never used heat shrink before so thanks for the heads up on the specialist heat shrink with glue on the inside. Just had a look at this video on youtube using a screw to join two lengths of ht lead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvqJGNmIIeE

Cheers Pat

[Charles uk]

It would appear from your pictures that the insulation on your HT lead is in a very poor state, why not look at a repair above the baseplate where the insulation is more protected & should be in better condition, then all you need to find is the right sized copper cored HT lead & some method of connecting them, the joint will then be better protected from vibration as it will be supported quite closely at both ends.

This sort of repair should be ok for frendly river use but might no be quite as suitable for crossing the Irish sea!

John might have the right sized HT lead have you tried him?

[skyetoyman]

modified screw to connect is similar to how some plug caps are fitted - so should work fine.
Will be ok for up and down the Liffy

[Taspiper]

It would appear from your pictures that the insulation on your HT lead is in a very poor state, why not look at a repair above the baseplate where the insulation is more protected & should be in better condition, then all you need to find is the right sized copper cored HT lead & some method of connecting them, the joint will then be better protected from vibration as it will be supported quite closely at both ends.

+1
I would try and do this too so all your joints are protected.
Try a place that does specialist car parts. We have a place here that does rare spares and the like and they have facilities for making up leads including wire cored stuff with crimp connectors, may even have joiners. They made both my Century leads for $10 including nice rubber plug caps that seal on the plug porcelain.

The heat shrink with the glue is also a lot thicker than the garden variety. Couple of layers and you probably have close to original insulation thickness.

[pat777]

It would appear from your pictures that the insulation on your HT lead is in a very poor state, why not look at a repair above the baseplate where the insulation is more protected & should be in better condition, then all you need to find is the right sized copper cored HT lead & some method of connecting them, the joint will then be better protected from vibration as it will be supported quite closely at both ends.

The insulation is very bad at the end all right, there is no noticeable damage after the first few inches. I agree it would be better to have the connection above the base plate under the flywheel for both the support and the weather protection but I think it might be a bit of a fiddly job trying to get the connection right in the confines of the flywheel. (I'd be worried about straining the joint when it comes to pulling the lead back through the grommet on the base plate. You'd only really get one chance to get it right also where as if I keep it below the base plate if the first attempt doesn't work I can just cut another bit off the existing lead.

I'm hoping with the adhesive lined heat shrink that I will have a fairly secure joint that will be protected from the elements and the vibration. Thanks for putting forward the idea though, it's good to consider different options when it comes to these bodge jobs.

This sort of repair should be ok for frendly river use but might not be quite as suitable for crossing the Irish sea!

That sounds like a challenge to me! I'm not sure the RNLI would be too happy with me heading off across the channel with my "trusty seagull". If I leave now I may make it in time for the Essex Flocking. I think I'll stick to the safe option cruising up and down the canals.

John might have the right sized HT lead have you tried him?

John must have Charles uk on commission for all of these referrals! I'll try and get some lead locally but if I have no luck I'll get in touch all right. I know I haven't got a hope of getting the 4mm locally but I'm hoping one of the local motor factors will have some 5mm that will hopefully do the (bodge) job

Cheers Pat