pertronics lasted 50 miles ??

chuckinphx · May 2, 2010

anybody have pics on their pertronics install, it seemed simple enough 2 wires from unit 1 red to 12volt (used solonoid I side)to get 12 volts,, black from new coil to distributor , was working great fired up quick real responsive, got to a riverbottom lost idle, 10 min later shut off, changed back to points , wheeled for a couple hours and got home.. how do i check the pertronics to see if its dead?? did i do something wrong wiring??

oleguy74 · May 2, 2010

black of pertronix to - on coil red of pertronix to + on coil.did you check instructions?

chuckinphx · May 2, 2010

traded unit , it worked great in his bronco

broncnaz · May 2, 2010

I think you already verified it was dead when you reinstalled the points and it runs fine.

But usually the I terminal only has power during starting so the coil gets a full 12 volts although it probably gets back fed from the igntion switch once the engine has started then it would probably see less than 12 volts due to the resistor in the main line. So its always possible that your pertronix wasnt getting enough voltage to run. Might want to try hooking it straight up to a full 12 volt source from the ignition switch. If still no start then its dead. Then your only mistake was messing with a pertronix in the first place.

rockbronco66 · May 2, 2010

My petronics has been working great for a number of years. I keep the points in the tool box just in case but never a problem.

Ratch · May 2, 2010

rockbronco66 said:
My petronics has been working great for a number of years. I keep the points in the tool box just in case but never a problem.

X2. I and 4 of my friends run pertronix in our volkwagon rails, only seen 2 failures and they were dead out of the box, Picked them both up at the same time. I think it was a bad lot, it happens.
Definately make sure you arent running through the ballast resistor, Pertronix needs 12v.

nrramse · May 2, 2010

The one time I had my Pertronix unit go bad, my dwell meter read "0". I've had great luck with them! The first unit lasted many years and tens of thousands of miles, and was wired through the ballast.

I happily bought a Pertronix II (though I've not seen any measurable performance benefit over the the Pertronix I) and bypassed the ballast. I increase my spark plug gap and have been happy with it for about 18 months.

Newell

jray · May 3, 2010

One of the first things I did after purchasing our EB, changed plugs, wires, rotor, dizzy cap and replaced points with the pertronix unit, never had any problems.

yjzonie · May 3, 2010

chuckinphx said:
anybody have pics on their pertronics install, it seemed simple enough 2 wires from unit 1 red to 12volt (used solonoid I side)to get 12 volts,, black from new coil to distributor , was working great fired up quick real responsive, got to a riverbottom lost idle, 10 min later shut off, changed back to points , wheeled for a couple hours and got home.. how do i check the pertronics to see if its dead?? did i do something wrong wiring??

Sounds as if you wired it wrong. as already said...Black to ( - ) on COIL, Red to ( + ) on Coil, then feed a 12 volt source to the ( + ) on the Coil. Have a good coil as they do tend to burn up the oil filled ones.
Good Luck

DirtDonk · May 5, 2010

You can use a coil that runs a resistor, but you have to run the Pertronix unit from the front side of any resistor, or from a different source. They say that the units do prefer a full 12 volts to run properly.
Two things that happen a lot with these would be not enough voltage (from running on a resistor, like you were) or the ground not working properly. That's why they supply a new ground wire to make sure the plate is grounded to the distributor body.
Then you just have to make sure that the distributor is making good clean contact with the engine block.

Had some trouble firing one up a few weeks ago in a new install. Loosened the distributor clamp and spun the dizzy back and forth a few times (until I got a shock!) and then it all worked.
Evidently the block surface was not clean enough for good contact until we wiped it a bit.

Paul

pertronics lasted 50 miles ??

chuckinphx

Full Member

oleguy74

Bronco Guru

chuckinphx

Full Member

broncnaz

Bronco Guru

rockbronco66

Jr. Member

Ratch

Sr. Member

nrramse

Sr. Member

jray

Full Member

yjzonie

Sr. Member

DirtDonk

Bronco Guru

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