About once a year or whenever the engine was off I would wipe some grease onto the spring, just sort of squish it into the spring. I don't know if it really dose anything or not. It's suppose to keep the spring steel from rubbing/friction when you wind it. The spring starter works great though. I too like mag systems, my old Zinoah engines were all mag but any of my newer engines have electronic. Other then a bit smoother idle I don't see a lot of difference. Weight used to be an argument but the ignition, battery and switch make them close enough in weight to not make a big difference.