Ground wire insulation on OMC coils

[olcah]

I noticed that on some of my coils the insulation was rubbed through on the ground wire about 1/4" from where the wire enters the coil winding. Looking at the location of the flywheel hub on my 54 Evinrude Big Twin, the hub of the flywheel is very very close to that wire during operation. It looks on my motor that the wire will almost inevitably get rubbed close to the coil regardless of how it is routed.

Have other folks noticed this?

As it is a ground wire anyway, aside from the wear on the copper, does it matter if it is partly grounded on the flywheel?

[frankr]

It is true that if you don’t push the wire away from the hub as far as you can, there is danger of it rubbing and maybe even wearing in two. And of course rubbing on the flywheel won’t affect the way it runs, but certainly can wear it in two as just discussed.

BTW, while on the subject, it is often seen where the other coil wire rubs on the breaker cam, and/or the condenser wire loops upward and rubs on the flywheel.

Good practice demands that these things are addressed properly.

[chris-p]

Put some heat shrink, electrical tape, liquid electrical tape on it.

Common from poor routing of the wire.

You must pull it in tight, before tightening screw.

Same with the condenser wire, pull it down, before tightening connection to points.

[Mumbles]

This ’67 Johnson JH mag has the ground wires attached to the screw on the left side to keep them where they should be and the condenser wires pushed down to clear the flywheel. The slack in the green wire to the points is pulled back between the condenser and the coil to keep it away from the cam.

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[david-bartlett]

I like the left side as well for the ground. Seems like the wire is just a little too long, or too short, depending on how you route it.

[chris-p]

The prufrex coils are pretty good, but the sierra coils have a VERY long ground lead, much too long

[olcah]

I much appreciate this info. Thanks to everyone.

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