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Fire hazard after converting to pertronix electronic ignition. help!

T

tauket2

New member
Hi all,
i just converted my points ignition (on mercruiser 3.0 140hp) to pertronix electronic ignition with the flamethrower coil. I connected the black wire from the ignition to the negative on the coil and the red wire to the positive on the coil. Turned the key... thick white smoke coming from the distribution cap and noticed the red wire from ignition module to coil was melting its plastic sleeve off.
Any idea what caused this and how to fix it? Some are saying it would be the resistor wire hidden in the wire harness but why would a higher resistance make a wire heat up so much that it would burn?
Thanks!
Chris
 
you pinched something or the module was defective. put the points back in, learn to adjust them correctly and go boating . They work just as good as any electronic box
 
Bt Doctur said:
you pinched something or the module was defective. put the points back in, learn to adjust them correctly and go boating . They work just as good as any electronic box
Click to expand...

I agree.
Use a dwell meter to set the contact points. Setting/adjusting point gap is an estimate only for correct dwell angle.

Plus, the Pertronix system uses Hall Effect. Nothing wrong with Hall Effect until you see how Petronix incorporates it.
 
, if your more concerned with the dwell I used to set the dwell and then go back and measure the point gap and record it for future installs of new points. If you were not worried about 2 -4 deg off then just set the points at .018 and go have some fun. Dwell time in degrees is the amount of time the coil in energized before the points open up and the field in the coil collapses and creates the high voltage for the spark. The more saturation , the better the spark.
But dwell affects the timing . each .001 of gap will advance or retard the timing tighter =advance. wider=retard
 
Last edited:
tauket2 said:
Hi all,
i just converted my points ignition (on mercruiser 3.0 140hp) to pertronix electronic ignition with the flamethrower coil. I connected the black wire from the ignition to the negative on the coil and the red wire to the positive on the coil. Turned the key... thick white smoke coming from the distribution cap and noticed the red wire from ignition module to coil was melting its plastic sleeve off.
Any idea what caused this and how to fix it? Some are saying it would be the resistor wire hidden in the wire harness but why would a higher resistance make a wire heat up so much that it would burn?
Thanks!
Chris
Click to expand...

Please post what the instructions for wiring the pick up sensor from Pertonix.

Curious what they say which wires go where.
 
Why would neg/black wire go to coil neg.

Wouldnt it go to ground?
.been many years since i installed one.
 
I've used the Pertronix in the past with no problems at all. I probably had 10 years on the first module before the rotor piece lost the magnet. I can't remember for sure because it's been so many years but I think that some motors had a ballast resistor wire for the points that you had to remove or wire before it. You probably won't be able to tell if it's a resistor wire so you have to check the wiring diagram for the motor.
 
rman said:
I've used the Pertronix in the past with no problems at all. I probably had 10 years on the first module before the rotor piece lost the magnet.
Click to expand...

That is just one of my Pet Peeves re; the Pertronix conversion system.
The small diameter magnet embedded plastic wheel is cheezy at best!

By admission, Pertronix themselves have noted errors of up to 1.5 degrees.
1.5 degrees at the distributor = 3 degrees at the crankshaft!

Just say'n!


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