I just noticed something tonight and want to make sure others know just in case......I noticed that the moment when I turn on my electronic ignition switch,it fires the plug one time. I know this usually wont cause for a problem,but I cant see why it wouldnt be possible to kick over the engine if the engine was primed right etc. and cause someone to get hurt. Not sure if this is normal or not,but its worth keeping in mind and being careful.


So....BE CAREFUL even when turning on your switch!!!!!

Good post. Yes, I have seen this, and I always either have a firm grip on the prop or else my body parts out of the way when I hit the switch. Under just the right conditions, the engine could actually start all by itself.

The old Ford Model T cars had what they called buzz coils that provided the spark as soon as you turned the ignition on. My father said he had a one that quite often would fire up and run when the key was turned on without even cranking the engine over. (Usually after the engine had been recently run and then shut down.)

AV8TOR

Yup....and without properly grounding the ignition via the plug making good contact with both the cap and cylinder, on some ignitions, it will toast a component, such as a hall sensor.

Did that once to me.I was flipping the prop over to prime and when i stopped the piston,it must have been at the right position because when i turned the switch on it made a little POP!And the prop moved about a 1/4 turn.But its still a good post for anybody that doesnt know about it.
And your right,its better reading it than getting bit by the prop.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I once read when conditions are PERFECT that a glow motor can fire without a battery on the plug? Supposedly someone had a motor in the house, just flipped it for the heck of it and it popped ?

The CH ignitions have a warning about this in their operation manual.

It's a good idea to treat EVERY engine like a loaded gun.

I always treat my gas engines like they are alive and could cut me at anytime. If I'm working on it, the ignition battery is unplugged. If I'm flipping it I make DAMN sure I know when the switch is ON and when it's OFF.

I've seen an ignition system release one more spark AFTER it was turned off. I switched it off and grabbed the prop firmly. Turned it over very slowly and watched the spark plug pop one more time. Just because the ignition is off doesn't mean you can get lazy or treat it any different than you would if it was turning 8000RPM.

The ignition sure will fire when shutting off. I just got finnisned testing a ignition unit for good spark. I had the spark plug next to engine...but using the sensor & magnet on my Old time model engine in the test. When the magnet passes the pic-up spark happens no matter how slow of rotation and in both directions of rotation. I noticed a spark at plug on power down (off) . It did this just about always if the magnet in hub was near pick-up. So yes these engines can & do fire when turning ignition off. Test it for yourself with sparkplug out....with a ground wire attached so you do not cook your CD unit. Capt,n