A couple of quick observations on Pertronix;
If you put a car on a scope with a pertronix, the generated wave is an
excellent square wave reguardless of RPM. this amounts to the max voltage to
the spark plugs for the given coil you are using. The device is called a
Hall effect transister.
If you do use a hotter coil, there is a possibility that with wear of the
carbon center in the cap and the resulting tracking, you might end up with a
hole burnt through the dist cap. This happens to GM HEI ignitions too.
Last but not least, NEVER hold a spark plug wire while moving the crank even
by hand or be prepared for the worst high tension spark of your life that
will numb parts of your body remote from the contact!!!
Ron
----- Original Message -----
From: Daniel Neuman <dneuman@quark.sfsu.edu>
To: <Fred_Katz@ci.sf.ca.us>
Cc: <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 4:06 PM
Subject: Re: Pertronix Debate
> All right so.. I can't adjust the 'dwell' of the pertronix and I realize
that
> I don't exactly know what dwell is. Oh well... I don't have a problem
with
> the Pertronix unit. I think it works great and I will never ever go back
to
> points. The only problem I had was somehow the wires got caught on the
rotor
> and spun up and ripped off. But I bought a spare off of ross and I should
be
> good to go.
> Daniel 69 2000
> SF CA
>
> > Hi Daniel,
> >
> > Nice idea but I'm not sure that would work. Aren't there magnets
embedded
> > in the Pertronix that sense the rotational position of the center cam,
for
> > firing purposes. Changing to an offset for the mounting plate will
simply
> > alter the rotational position, which is the same effect as adjusting the
> > timing (rotating the distributor as a whole). The standard ignition
points
> > are more mechanical in nature, where the offset of the mounting plate
> > changes the interval of time that the points are opened before they
close.
> >
> > Probably the best place to experiment is in the electronics areas,
> > particularly the coil. Some people tell me the Pertronix works great
with a
> > hotter coil. Good luck, I'm looking forward to hearing of successes with
> > these units.
> >
> > Fred - So.SF
> >
> > ______________________ Reply Separator ________________________
> > >Subject: Pertronix Debate
> > >Author: Daniel Neuman <dneuman@quark.sfsu.edu>
> > >Date: 7/10/2001 1:48 PM
> > >
> > >Hello All,
> > >I have a 'spare' pertronix unit that I want to try to jigger to see if
> > >I can make it work a bit better. I know that Fred Katz does not like
> > >them because you can not adjust the dwell. The two mounting screws do
> > >not allow for any adjsutment of when it 'fires' I want to circularly
> > >ovalize these two mounting screws so that the unit can be slightly
> > >rotated back and forth for some dwell adjsutment. Does anybody have
> > >any ideas about the usefullness of this excercise?
> > >Because of the MSD ignition I can't actually check the swell with a
> > >meter so I guess I am just going to tweak the plate one way or the
> > >other and see if it makes any difference...can't really afford a bunch
> > >of dyno runs ya know..
> > >Daniel 69 2000
> > >SF CA
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