The igniter is located on the side of the cylinder, as shown above, and is used to make the spark inside of the cylinder. Two wires from the battery (or one from the magneto) are attached to the brass binding posts on the igniter.

The trip on the igniter is caught by the trip lever blade on the cam rod, which brings two points together on the inside of the cylinder, and when these points are released the spark jumps from one point to the other, which is known as the make and break system of ignition. In other words, you make the circuit complete when the igniter points are together, and when they separate it breaks the circuit.

KEEP THE IGNITER CLEAN.

To insure a good spark from these points, they must be kept clean. If you feed too much gasoline or oil or use a poor grade of either, a carbon deposit may form on these points, and as electricity will not pass through carbon, the igniter cannot make a perfect spark, which makes the engine hard to start or causes it to misfire and sometimes prevents it from running at all. To remove this carbon, clean the points with gasoline, fine emery cloth or a very fine file.

So that the electric spark will be made inside of the cylinder, the insulated electrode is covered by a mica tube with mica washers on the end, so the electric current must go into the cylinder before it can get across to the other electrode and return to the battery.

As electricity always travels the shortest way, the igniter should be kept clean and free from grease, as dust and dirt on the igniter will in time make a path for the electricity to travel from the insulated electrode to the non-insulated electrode on the outside of the engine, so that you do not get a spark on the inside. This is what is known as a short circuit.

To find if the igniter is short circuited, take the igniter off the engine, leaving the battery wires attached to the binding posts and snap the

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