Magnetos

Rotary Magneto

    Here is the early mounting position of the gear driven magneto.  The bracket was attached to the base by a pin on the casting that held the cam gear shaft.  The end of this shaft also helped to support the bracket.  Note the cast iron gear guard shown under the crankshaft.  Also take note of the position of the main bearing grease cup.  On smaller engines the bracket interfered with the grease cup.  The grease cup was "moved" by the use of either a 45° or 90° street ell.  Many different makes of magnetos were used, Pfanstiehl; Accurate L, R; Splitdorf E-16, G, type 20, model 30 and JR 30;  Sumter (#16, #21, #26, #30, a giant pot metal mag (like those used on New Holland engines) model B (15,20, 25 K) and Elkhart.  For any of these to work correctly the ignitor must be timed to the engine and the magneto timed to the ignitor.  Engines 9 hp and over need to use a battery when starting.  The battery must be wired to the ignitor through a single pole double throw or 3-way switch mounted to the top left side of the hopper.  

Factory published photo showing an Elkhart magneto.

This very unusual bracket was used on early model N and possibly People's Priced engines.  There is no part number or any mention of this style of bracket in any F&J literature.

The Pfanstiehl low tension geared magneto that fits in the above bracket.

Oscillating Magneto

    Very little is available on the oscillating magnetos used by Fuller & Johnson.  No part numbers for the brackets are listed in parts books.  Only a quick mention of the ignition timing and the starting of large engines in the model K manual is all that I have found.  Four oscillating magnetos were known to have been used.  One was a well built Hercules Wizard type 2SO attached by two cap bolts to a bracket built by Fuller & Johnson.  The second is a Sumpter # 12, third is a Webster.  I've only found a single reference to the Webster in factory correspondence, by far the Wizard 2SO was more popular.  Like the igniter, either of these brackets will fit all engines from 1 1/2 to 12 hp.  No batteries are required for starting like the rotary magnetos.  Engines equipped with either magneto should trip when the crank pin is 22° below the inner center.  On some Double Efficiency and possibly all Big 4 Pumping engines, a brass body Bosch type 32 magneto was used.

The Wizard 2SO oscillating magneto.

Dynamos

    The only evidence Fuller & Johnson offered a dynamo for their engines is on a 1914 price list for the Double Efficiency, a Motsinger "magneto" with or without pedestal.  It is possible that this option was available for the oil cooled engine as well.  Dynamos were not offered on any other line of engines.  Several other firms however, made dynamos that were universal and could fit a variety of engines.  These could be installed at dealer level or by the engine owner.  

Henricks Novelty Company type S dynamo fitted to a 1914  6 hp People's Priced engine.  The engine is started on a battery and then switched over to the dynamo.

Magnetos on 15, 20 and 25 hp Model K engines

    The big throttle governed engines came equipped with a built in rotary magneto from the factory.  If this was not wanted the buyer could deduct $12 and use a low tension coil with battery.  An oscillating magneto was also offered on these big engines and a different trip system was required for it.

Wico EK

    Towards the end of 1924 the Wico EK magneto began to replace the ignitor.  This was accomplished by an "L" shaped bracket that had a sparkplug in it.  A conversion kit was also available to convert older engines already having an ignitor.  After 1924 almost all engines used the Wico magneto.  In fact, the Wico almost became the standard source of ignition for all future Fuller & Johnson engines.  The larger engines still retained their igniters, taking longer to make the switch.  Starting with the NC a more simplified bracket was introduced.  While some engines still had the sparkplug in the bracket, most had it in the cylinder head.  All of the later ND and NK engines had this new bracket.  So did the direct lighting light plant engines.  The Wico EK was even adopted to the still popular Farm Pump Engine.  A geared eccentric tripped the mag while the mag bracket itself was bolted to the battery box support shelf. 

Farm Pump Engine

    For an extra $30 the Farm pump Engine could be equipped with a gear driven magneto.  This was a substantial sum and you can see why from the photo.  The  crankcase and cover were different from that of the battery ignition engines.   Presumably the high cost was because of these extensive changes.  A magneto equipped engine in the US is a very rare thing but apparently all those shipped to other countries, Australia in particular, had the magneto.  The engine this photo was taken from happens to be one of those shipped to Australia and has a Splitdorf Dixie M1 magneto.  A German Bosch DA-2 magneto was also used and was protected by a special tin house.  Only after 1924 was the Wico EK adapted to the Farm Pump Engine, it only cost an extra $10.  These too are rarely seen and probably 90% of engines used a buzz coil and four dry cell batteries.