Danarm Chainsaw starting issue

[Fix'em all 49]

I bought another Danarm 55 MK2 chainsaw at the weekend & have a starting issue that I believe is electrical or timing. It has fuel & when you pull it over reasonably quickly it has a spark. It does however snatch back when you pull it over & takes forever to start. I am thinking that the timing is advanced  more than it should be. My other saw has condenser & points & has a spark at low revs as they do with points. This one has points, but where the condenser is on the other saw, this one has this small yellow box. Has anyone seen this before & can throw some light on this problem please.

[Stormin 4,458]

  That yellow box looks like an electronic ignition module to me. Apart from that I can't help. Sorry!

 

  Alain (Headexam} may know as he has a considerable chainsaw collection.

[HeadExam 1,783]

Someone has indeed put an electronic chip in it (Nova 2 ?) they are notorious for lasting for as little as 5 minutes to several weeks. Remove it and replace with points and condenser. I have the timing specs if you need them

[Wristpin 399]

The yellow module looks like the Atom that was sold in the UK in the 1980s and, I believe came from Australia. Unlike the “ one size fits all” Nova and Meco modules the Atoms came in colour coded specific applications. We used to fit lots of them and I have no recollection of reliability issues. Somewhere I have a list of all their different colour applications .

I still fit Meco modules when rebuilding Villiers F12 and F15  engine’s on vintage Ransomes cylinder ( reel) mowers etc. 

[Wristpin 399]

I have just found an Atom application list and interestingly it does not mention Yellow at all , so the module on your danarm may not be an Atom. . It shows Brown as being specifically made for Chainsaws, brushcutters and nylon line trimmers.

[Fix'em all 49]

i joined a US based chainsaw group & an English guy was sure it was an Atom & mentioned that they advance the timing too far and cause this problem. He doubted that there would be spares to return it to Condenser & points but a small company in Worksop claim to have them in stock. Only problem is they are not replying to me at the moment.

[Wristpin 399]

If, as you say , the points are there and they are in reasonable condition , the condenser should not be a problem  as to a great extent most small engines are not too fussy about the exact farad rating. The main issue will be finding one small enough to fit.  I recently found two on fleabay that fitted under the flywheels of two Kawasaki engines. They were Denso, in their original packing and advertised as being suitable for a certain model of Datsun (Nissan) car. At the worst, the condenser can be mounted remotely from the coil and points.

[ol' Grump 8]

For a condenser you might try checking your local electronics shop, some of those are pretty small

[Fix'em all 49]

Finally got around to looking at this and picked up a second hand Condenser with the right fixing and dimensions. Cleaned the points & wired it back up as it was originally but still no spark. First thought was the Condenser was duff, but I did think something looked odd when I cleaned the points, so I whipped the flywheel off again. The metal strap that tensions the points was earthing out where the wiring from the coil joins it. I put a small piece of roofing felt between it and now have a lovely spark. It now starts & runs lovely, so it was the Atom module that was causing it to over advance the timing. The previous owner probably didn't spot the earthing issue, so fitted the Atom module & created an even bigger problem.