Points with a bad or failed condenser can exhibit a 20ms rise time when the
points open which significantly retards the spark as well as weakening it.
But with sound components you get a 15kHz oscillation for about 5ms the
instant the points open which instantly generates the HT spark. It is the
tuned circuit comprising the inductance of the coil and the capacitance of
the condenser that gives this, and this has to be the case for any trigger
system or the spark suffers. There may well be more energy in true
electronic systems that deliver a high-voltage AC pulse to the coil primary,
but the Pertronix is only an electronic 'switch' replacing the points.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles & Peggy Robinson" <ccrobins@ktc.com>
To: <WSpohn4@aol.com>
Cc: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2003 12:56 AM
Subject: Re: Distributor repair
> Electronic ignition triggering gives you a cleaner spark pulse than
> a points ignition. IOW, there's more energy in the electronically
> triggered pulse than if you use points. When you make and break a set
> of ignition points you get arcing at the contact surfaces. This arcing
> messes up the rise and fall time of the ignition pulse. IOW, both the
> on and off dwell times vary and there's a measurable amount of energy
> lost. That's one reason electronic ignitions took ove; there was less
> arcing at the low current draws. If you look at yur automotive
> history, you'll see that the points-controlled transistor ignitions got
> better gas mileage than points-only ignitions. That means a better spark.
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|