Atco deluxe 14" clutch problems

Welcome to the forum.

The coil on your engine probably has a condenser encapsulated within it so the thin wire just goes to the contact breaker points. I can't remember for sure but I believe that those coils had a little condenser symbol embossed  into their covering - but may be not.

Memory also says that those press button levers were pretty horrible and prone to wear. In the day we would just bin them and fit another. Rather than just concentrating on the lever it  may be worth giving some attention to the clutch itself. I'm assuming that yours has the two " plastic" thrust plates riveted to the swinging fork  to disengage it. They can be rotated to present another wear face and then the forks may be adjusted to give minimum clearance when the clutch is engaged giving maximum travel when disengaged.

Thanks for that, I turned the pads 180 deg and it has helped a bit. How much clearance should there be between the pads and the throw out ring? When you say minimal do you mean one thou? There is a bit of run out so I will have to take the highest spot. Is there any trick aligning the fork?

The engine does run so the wire must be for a kill switch though I haven't seen any on mowers like mine on youtube.

Thanks

The engine is running so I presume that the wire did go to a kill switch?

Pad clearance - just enough so that they don't rub with the clutch engaged.

The wire. Odd one that . Certainly UK sold machines did not have a kill switch, just the cut out strip on the plug. On the usual set up there was just the one wire from the coil to the points and the condenser, if fitted , would share the connection there, not have a separate wire from the coil.

I adjusted the clutch so that there was about one thou between the pads and throw out ring, it seemed ok, but, when the engine was running the clutch would drag. I'm not sure where the fork position should be in it's slot, is there a setting? I am building the lever up with weld and sleeving the pivot to take slack out of the handle lever.

It seems as though you are following the correct path by eliminating excessive play in the pivot and wear pads. I have not seen a manual for your particular machine but an earlier manual suggests that the lever pivot bolt be adjusted to give half an inch of free travel in the gate on the handlebars before taking up the slack.

It is also possible that the clutch plates of your mower need to be dismantled cleaned to remove any contamination from the friction surfaces, these can over time become covered with over generous lubrication, this will often cause both slip under load and drag when released. Also check that the clutch plates are free to move in their guide slots in the clutch drum.

I have reassembled the clutch lever and adjusted clutch to just over one thou between pads and throw out ring at the highest spot (there is a little run out) and hey presto it works! 

One thing when you mention over generous oiling does that mean that the clutch friction plates should have some oil applied? 

I am thinking that the mower is a B14 of around the 1970's it has a plastic petrol tap. I cannot find any serial number on the machine.

Thanks for all you help 

Good to hear that the clutch is working now.

Re lubricating the clutch plates they are best left dry as any lubricant on the friction surfaces will cause the clutch to slip under load plus as said earlier oil on the plates can become sticky causing the plates to drag when released.   

The only parts of the clutch that need lubrication are the pilot bearing, the sliding pressure plate and the wear pads that operate the clutch. That should be applied sparingly to avoid contamination of the clutch plates.

Re my earlier comment about free play at the clutch operating lever I have just learned that your mower has a cable operated clutch so my remarks about the amount of play do not apply to your mower. Sorry for any confusion.

Just be aware that composition friction plates of that age may contain asbestos and take the appropriate  precautions.  The usual cause of drag on that pattern of clutch is rust / corrosion on the steel plates and , as Hillsider says, the plates not sliding freely in the clutch basket. 

Thanks for the help Hillsider and Wristpin.

I think the lever was causing the problems as that is where most of the play/wear was. The mower works well, however when the engine is revving at a high speed the reel creeps very slightly. 

The reel is quite dull do you recommend back lapping? It seems to cut ok. I have a lot of moss on the lawn, but, it handles that as well. The Wet coast of Canada! 

If your moss is similar to ours it will absorb power as it forms a small " bow wave" that the machine has to push in front of it.

Plenty of discussion about back lapping on this forum but basically it is a maintenance operation to maintain the edge  on a sharp cylinder, not to create an edge on a blunt one; that said some people maintain that it will. Nothing to loose by giving it a try!