Albeit one fixes a lot of Radios; It's not always a radio with valves in it, that wanders in. This (photo coming) was extracted from 15 thou of motor mower gunk. It might be of Historical interest? but is in fact "Garagenalia".

What we have is a "Magneto Coil & Condenser checker".

"Auto Lab" Industries P/L Sydney Model 196AC. The AC would imply mains, as apposed to a 6V DC Vesta car coil (only) tester I have here.

Similar to the VESTA it has a 6V Vibrator to work as the points. The Vesta uses a synchronous one, with half as the points & half for the PSU.

Apparently it was "Dad's" & son (who continued the business) found it & had more sense than to plug it in. It had been worked on before, but would not calibrate on the condenser side. Two caps looked non original, but tested OK, the third was paper: Instant alarm bells. It tested 40Meg: There is no place for a cap like that in test equipment especially when on a 6V6 (which I think is Triode wired) that is driving the meter.

Paperwork for it...... Not yet found, if it in fact still exists?

I note a 2009 reference to one in 2009 on one site: They could not calibrate it. Because of issues with this and other instruments at that workshop, I have made up a "Tagboard" for this instrument with two caps in its range and some resistances from short to 10K. This will allow rough checking of it, another similar machine & the ohmmeters.

Photo uploaded.

This is a blast from my past!!
AutoLab was one of the George Sample group of companies and was located at 364 Eastern Valley Way in Chatswood NSW. When I left the Army in 1961, (after 4 years apprenticeship plus another 5 years service), I joined what became Sample Electronics as their second employee in Sydney and we shared a tiny office in the AutoLab factory.
I recall one of my first jobs was retuning TV wobbulators that had been sold to customers such as Kriesler, Stromberg Carlson etc., following the change of the channel frequencies. I became very adept using a grid dip oscillator and this job launched my lifetime in the test and measurement field.
Harold

Not far from AWA Redifusion and Weston Electronics. It was quite an innovative little area, all gone now though.

I could have used that magneto coil tester yesterday! Trying to find why the mower stops after a few seconds running. Killed my 20 year old DVM! The replacement I bought at Aldi a few months back (why wouldn't you have a spare at that price!) is much better anyway.

It is the coil that's breaking down. Hopefully I'll pick up a replacement tomorrow before the grass grows too much longer. A web search tells me it's a very common type.

Not far from AWA Redifusion and Weston Electronics.

Add to that Ferguson Transformers.

No, they were in Chatswood. Not far away, granted. Particularly if you walked along the creek.....

One of the greatest causes of "fails to start" or "runs briefly", in garden equipment around here is "The Mud Wasps". These are like some Australian workers & will seal up holes rather than built the whole nest. So the enterprising little darlings build on radiators, under dash boards, inside open cage motors, a myriad of other places, and mufflers & fins on small equipment are quite popular.

Two mower places here have testers for coils: I know this as I have repaired them. So they should be able to test them. Some older B&S engines have capacitors & I had one here fail recently. The more modern Imrie 3000 can test the modern types as it has a coil that emulates the magnet on a flywheel.

The capacitor tester is spot on with this, but it has an ESR function & that and another ESR meter I have do not agree. The open circuit however, does go exactly to where it should?

No, they were in Chatswood

???

As per Harold's post: the George Sample group of companies and was located at 364 Eastern Valley Way in Chatswood

364 Eastern Valley Way Chatswood to 331 High St Chastwood = 650 metres. Went there numerous times myself.

So are you saying that Ferguson Transformers was part of the Sample group and they moved from Eastern Valley Way to High st Chatswood?

I only ever knew Ferguson to be in Chatswood (we used to buy transformers from them) but then my time in this area only goes back to around 1975.

No, I was responding to "It was quite an innovative little area" i.e. that part of Chatswood.

Hi Marcc, I have recently bought one of these 196 AC coil and condenser testers, because I renovate motorcycles from the 1950s - and they all get their sparks from magnetos. I hope to receive the operating instructions in a week or so, and I am willing to share these with you. I am led to believe that the condenser tester part of my machine has been blown up (probably by a previous in-experienced user). I see that you have made up a tagboard for the condenser checker. Do you have a wiring diagram for the machine? Even something you have sketched yourself? I would like to get mine up and running to be able to test magnetos.

Hi Marcc, I now have a copy of the user manual. If you would like a copy, email me at rickgardbigpond.com.