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Re: Petronix woes

To: <Jwhlyadv@aol.com>, <healeys@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: Petronix woes
From: "Bob Spidell" <bspidell@comcast.net>
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 21:00:59 -0700
Jim,

Hate to say it, but putting the overheated coil on might have fried the 
Pertronix unit.

Unlike points, which switch to ground, the Pertronix switches current "above" 
the 
coil (the ground circuit is always closed).  If the old coil was a dead short, 
you might
have drawn too much current through the Pertronix.  Test the resistance of the 
old coil; I
believe Pertronix requires about 1.5 Ohms across the terminals.  If you don't 
have at least
this much resistance you probably fried the Pertronix.


bs
***************************************************************
Bob Spidell         San Jose, CA        bspidell@comcast.net
'67 Austin-Healey 3000             '56 Austin-Healey 100M
***************************************************************

Subject: Petronix woes


> After working on my BJ8 today I left the key on for several hours by mistake 
> and returned to smell the distinct odor of burning Lucas wiring. The coil got 
> very hot and I melted the wire from the coil to the points. So it seemed like 
> a good idea to finally install the Petronix unit that had been sitting on my 
> shelf since I had melted everything anyway..........
> 
> Installed the Petronix and another coil and the car started up just fine. 
> Shut it off after a minute to clean up and put away my tools. Wondered if the 
> first coil (the one that overheated) was still good so reinstalled it. Car 
>would 
> not start. Reinstalled a good coil. Car would not start, no spark. Checked 
>all 
> connections etc, no problem found. Tried a third coil, no improvement.
> 
> Following the instructions with the Petronix unit I hooked up a multimeter 
> and have 12 volts at the coil. Upon cranking the voltage should pulsate from 
>1.5 
> to 12, mine stays steady at 12. This indicates an open circuit per the 
> instructions. A bad module would read only 1.5 volts.
> 
> Any suggestions? Disconnected that annoying wire from the coil to the battery 
> cutoff switch and it makes no difference. I am using a vintage Lucas rotor 
> and Petronix units have been known to burn rotors, would that give me the 
>same 
> voltage readings? Could I have fried a rotor in less than a minute?
> 
> I'll try another rotor tomorrow but any suggestions appreciated.
> Thanks,
> 
> Jim Werner
> Louisville, KY




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