points BURNING out?!

[velomann]

i just got my car back and my engine god told me that the bogging down and dieing was caused by my point literally frying inside my distributor. what would cause this???? i am running standard points, rotor, cap, with a pertronix flame thrower coil. have not installed the msd box yet, and now do not know if i could!!! what is the thought on this???

[Bill Verburg]

The purpose of the condensor in the dist. is to absorb the energy that would otherwise form a spark when the points open or close causing them to burn.

One posssible suspect is a bad condensor

[Plays with cars]

Bill nailed it. If the capacitance of the condensor is off spec you'll eat up points.

[copper]

Two questions

1) Does Pertronix require a ballast resistor with that coil to reduce voltage?

2) Do you leave the ignition key on at all while working on the car and its not running? Can also burn them awat from sitting where they are with current flow.

Jim

[velomann]

that sounds very logical!!! i would be willing to bet it was a bad condensor. no ballast resistor in the original install directions, but i am goig to double check for the application. thanks guys!!! it amazes me how fast you guys nail these down.....

[velomann]

also, i do not leave the key on when i work on it....i have heard that is bad for heating up the coil and bad for the system!! good question though.

[wholberg]

I had an old truck that started to eat points every couple of weeks. Traced it down to a bad ballast resistor. Did you have a ballast resistor at one point that was taken off? With point ignition, if you do not have a ballast resistor, then you need a coil with an internal resistor. Pertronix sells both, so check the part number and make sure that you have the right coil.

On that same vehicle, I upgraded to Pertronix flame thrower coil and wires and it started to eat points again. I finally determined that this was happening because of the high coil voltage. I could never figure out if the coil was burning up the condensor or ballast resistor, but I permanently solved the problem by installing a Flamethrower coil with an internal resistor and a Pertronix Ignitor.

FYI, Pertronix was very helpful over the phone.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by velomann
also, i do not leave the key on when i work on it....i have heard that is bad for heating up the coil and bad for the system!! good question though.

If the points are open while the key is on they can arc the entire time, burning them very fast.

Bill hit it on the head, change out the condensor.

Joe A

[john walker's workshop]

cut down the voltage going into the coil with a ballast resistor. the 55 chevy one with a mounting bracket works well. the usual sign of a bad condenser is metal transfer. a hole in one side of the points and pointed buildup on the other. condensers can last 50 years, but that was 50 years ago. quality was probably better then.

[911pcars]

Check the primary circuit (points circuit) with a voltmeter. It should be around 9 volts (with a ballest resistor). 12 volts will overheat the points.

BTW, if the points are open with the ignition ON, there is no current flow in the circuit (unless the condenser is shorting to ground). In addition, a spark only occurs as the points open. Even with the ignition ON, there is no spark until this happens.

Hope this helps,
Sherwood

[Cordts]

With a Pertronix system,, if you leave the ignition on and the point system just happens to be closed.. the pertronix system will burn up in less than 1 minute.. bank on it. If you think your pertronix is bad, just look at the Pertronix label on it... It is heat sensitive, if it is black or looks burned,, you can bet that it is fried,, user error.. Call Carl at Pertronix and he can help you.. typically not replaced under warranty.. but if you are nice,, no telling...

[HarryD]

Duh....

Am I missing something here. I think Velomann was saying he is running a standard kettering ignition system instead of a CDI system typically installed in our cars. Unless I am mistaken, Porsche went to CDI to get a fast enough cycle time to get a decent spark at the higher rpms we typically run.

Velomann, why are you going backwards?