[T3] electronic ignition question

[Jeremy Menzies]

I think there are strong arguments for both sides of the debate and personally, I like the simplicity of the breaker points (I haven't experienced electronic though).  I was talking to a air cooled VW/Porsche guy the other day about the electronic ignition and he recommended putting one in, saying that good units are reliable and it's a simple, generally inexpensive upgrade for a solid, strong spark.  He had a bus I helped him put the engine in with a Pertronix (not to promo, just to pass on an example) unit on it and said it had been very reliable for the year plus it's been in there.  Plus, you're not supposed to have to reset timing as much and the timing won't drift as the points wear (from what I understand) and I've read that the spark is stronger, especially with the hotter coil.  I know there's an argument for not going electronic and hotter, though.
On the failure point: that's where I'd be most concerned, one minute on, the next nothing, with no warning.  To remedy this for the bus owner, the guy had a second distributor with the points and condenser all installed and set plus a mark on the dist. and case for ballpark timing.  If the elect. failed, all he has to do is set to #1 TDC (or whatever is applicable for the bus), pull the whole dead dist. out, pop in the classic set up, rotate to the timing marks and you're in range enough to at least get home!  Not everyone has an extra good dist. lying around, especially with the injection trigger contacts that the T3 needs.  I thought that was a great idea though and that would certainly be faster than any other way.
My $.02,
Jeremy

> Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 11:35:15 -0500
> From: dhbadeer at gmail.com
> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
> Subject: Re: [T3] electronic ignition question
> 
> Exactly as Dave says.  Let me add that points degrade gradually, so it will
> still run (roughly) when it's wearing out.  Electronic is either working or
> dead, no in-between.  So, you should either carry a spare e-unit or extra
> points and all accompanying hardware in case of failure.
> 
> The new aircooled.net site
> http://vwparts.aircooled.net/SearchResults.asp?Search=ignition has great
> info.  Good luck!
> Dan
> 
> On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 8:45 AM, Alex Satala <alexsatala at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Hello everybody , i have a question about t3 ignition.
> > Is an electronic ignition that replaces the points better than the classic
> > setup?
> > As you all know from my previous posts i am frustrated by the engine
> > turning off and no power and
> > i thought the electronic ignition , new ign coil and cables will make the
> > difference.
> > Another question i have is if i can combine the el ignition (a hall sensor
> > solid state relay i suppose) with
> > those electronic boards that drive the ignition coil at high frequency.
> >
> > p.s. as i was writing i understood (i think) the distributor system and i
> > think i can make the hall relay myself
> > without spending around 80$. i will use cellphone hall sensors ( i hope
> > they are fast switching).
> >
> > WBR Alex
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