Pertronics

[Habusailor]

I might have had a wiring situation where I blew out my pertronic on my 49 ford. Is there a way to test the unit to see if it is still working? Starter spins over well but no spark. 6 volt positive ground, flamethrower coil. I get about 4.5 volts to the coil. Car ran great, yesterday I reinstalled the old radio took power from the ignition switch radio worked, car started and ran great for about 2 minutes. Died and now no spark.?.

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[tubman]

I'm afraid the title of the thread tells it all.

[4dFord/SC]

At least it didn't strand you at the side of the road.

[JSeery]

Do you use a ballast resistor on a Pertronix?

[4dFord/SC]

Originally Posted by JSeery

Do you use a ballast resistor on a pertronics?

No--I was told to bypass it when I used a Pertronix conversion some years ago. Have since returned to points with no regrets. As they say, "Points will get you home."

[JSeery]

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Originally Posted by 4dFord/SC

No--I was told to bypass it when I used a Pertronix conversion some years ago. Have since returned to points with no regrets. As they say, "Points will get you home."

That's what I was thinking, so don't understand the 4.5v at the coil. I would think it should be 6 to 7 volts.

[40cpe]

Originally Posted by Habusailor

Is there a way to test the unit to see if it is still working?

I don't know how to test it, but I had a coil go bad and burned up a pertronix that had ran well for 10-12 years. I didn't know it was the coil, so I bought another Pertronix and the coil promptly burned it up. I called the tech line, they asked me if the unit had a brown/burned spot on the label. It did, so they cautioned me about the coil. I bought their coil and they replaced the Pertronix. I never had another problem till I sold the car after another 10 or so years.

[Habusailor]

Originally Posted by JSeery

That's what I was thinking, so don't understand the 4.5v at the coil. I would think it should be 6 to 7 volts.

4dford that’s what I was thinking, could I have a bad ignition switch? It seems to work well every time I turn on the switch the amp meter shows a bit of discharge


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[4dFord/SC]

Try jumping the coil straight from the battery to see if it makes a difference.

[JSeery]

You can also check the voltage into the ignition switch and out of the ignition switch. There should be very little to no voltage drop.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

It just might be your coil. I always use a ballast resistor with a Pertronivs ignition - had conversations with Bubba’s about my problem a few years sgo and we came to the conclusion to use a ballast resistor so as not to burn up coils.

[JSeery]

Tom, 6v or 12v?

[Habusailor]

Tom 6 volt pos ground. I ran a jumper directly from the battery to the coil still nothing. With the cap off I checked to see that the rotor turned do not the distribution shaft or gear. Followed Pertronics trouble shooting guide, electro ic unit checks out ok coil shows the correct resistance. Not sure what my next step is??


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[4dFord/SC]

Try another coil.

[fordor41]

Contact Pertronix and they'll send you a sheet telling you how to test your coil and what readings you should have.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

Sorry, I should have been clearer in my prior post - I am 12v neg ground. I apologize .....

[flatheadmurre]

Start by unhooking and loading the wire coming from ignition with a big bulb like a headlight bulb...measure voltage...if you get 4.5v you have a bad ignition switch or connection.
When you hooked up stuff under the dash you might have moved things around...or you added to much load burrning the contact points in the switch.
A pertronics won´t be happy on 4.5v !!

[JimNNN]

I talked with Pertronics the other day. They were pretty adamant about using a coil that's 1.5 ohms across the coil terminals in my 12 volt application. That's for the "Ignitor" version.

[Habusailor]

Flathead in response to your reply about low voltage I had the same thought, but I hooked the coil directly to the coil, battery was at 6.5 volts still nothing


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[Drbrown]

Bubba's can test your unit. The Pentronix units are extremely sensitive to voltage spikes. I ran a Pentronix unit for years then they started to fail. Pentronix told me 14.8 volts max. Bubba and I could not figure out what was causing the failures. I burned out 3 of those pricey units and finally had Charlie NY put together and test run a stock distributor with points. Been fine ever since .... and a lot cheaper.