Re: Electronic ignition

Posted by HH56 On 2023/9/10 15:37:51

The big thing with 6v Pertronix units seems to be voltage drop. The electronic components in the unit need a specific and stable voltage at around 5v. Some solid state logic families can only tolerate as little as 1 or 2 tenths of a volt up or down from their design point before operation becomes erratic. Power supply chips in the units are present to keep operating voltage in the correct range and while 12v units can tolerate a lot of voltage loss because of bad conditions before the unit acts up, with a 6v supply there is not much extra to spare before even the power supply cannot regulate to spec.

As long as the battery has enough capacity and is in good conditon, cables are sized correctly, wires good, and terminal connections and switch contacts are clean all should be good. Let any of those conditions change and the available voltage to the unit drops enough that the electronic components become unstable.

Starters are another issue. A lot of complaints have to do with engines failing to start reliably with the Pertronix units. If something is wrong in the starter and it is working hard and needing to pull more current than normal the excess load has to come from somewhere. Not only will the starter affect voltage to the coil so it is putting out a weaker spark but so will voltage to the Pertronix be affected making what spark there is be erratic or maybe not at all.