I’ve burned out two of them by leaving the ign on engine not running. Can’t recall exactly how long - not more than 20 mins to 1/2 hour for sure.
I’ve done the same thing, Terry. That’s one of the reasons that I went to a 123 Ignition distributor. If it senses that the engine isn’t running, it shuts off the power to the coil after a few seconds.
My 67 project is upgraded to the 123
Again this is another 400 dollar upgrade instead of the 90 dollar Petronix
BUT your now in the space age!
I can adjust advance and all by my cell phone
While driving!
Great piece of kit just another advancement over time
The Petronius is great for the money
Gtjoey1314
Other than fitting some kind of ECU mapped distributorless system, I agree that the 123 dissy is the best thing since sliced bread.
I have been looking into the 123 for my SIII,
Turns out There is a guy in the Netherlands called 123-conversations that poss does that by sending your dist. to him.
I am awaiting a reply as to aprxx $ and time.
123 was the ones that recc him.
Eagerly awaiting your feedback on this.
Sent email on Thursday but havent received a response as of yet.
I have never had Pertronix burn out but when I installed mine I spliced a long length of wire into the Pertronix power wire. This way I could run it thru an on/off switch that I hid in the cockpit as a small theft deterrent and where I would not have to alter anything original. I will now also use it too when I have the key on without the engine running. (Don’t tell the bad guys since my hope is they will just think it is a old Jag that does not want to start and move on.)
David
68 E-type FHC
David smart idea
On a series 2 you can use the rocker switch at the end if you don’t have defrost!
Gtjoey1314
I’m running twisted copper ignition wires with Champion resistor caps, Flamethrower coil and Pertronix D177600 dizzy w/ vacuum advance. 9000+ miles problem free.
The first switch I used only lasted a few months before it quit working. It was just cheapo two position toggle switch I got off the rack at one of the chain auto parts stores. I then went shopping for a heavy duty one that was rated to run a bigger electrical load like on my shop grinder motor. It has been fine now for 10+ years. My theory was there is a lot of voltage involved here and burned out the light duty one. After opening up a few Series 2 type rockers for cleaning they seem pretty fragile to me even though I still have a few in my car that are probably 51 years old. Do you think a 2 position rocker would last for this ?
David
68 E-type FHC
John Farrel turned my on to that last rocker years ago, it carried the load for the defrost which ran current constant, the switches are no bargain as you have said but its a good location.
See,try it, I bet it works pretty good.
gtjoey1314
from 123ignition conversions: 
Hello
At this moment we do not have the fingers in stock.
they are at this moment not available.
Met vriendelijke groeten,
With kind regards,
Henry en Marlies Hebels
14 years here on a lot of driving wit the same Pertronix. Wouldn’t leave home without it.
I was recently asked if I had a working OPUS amplifier as replacement for a dead S3. When digging about in my garage cupboards I came across a V12 dissy already fitted with a Petronix Ignitor AND a vacuum advance unit. I suspect it came off the S3 which I had to re-commission a few years ago but I never gave it a second thought because I did not regard Pertronix/Ignitor as a very good solution (and still do).
Anyhow, the owner seemed quite desperate to get his car running again, so I thought I should have a good look at it on the bench. Video of the setup here: Bench testing Petronix V12 ignition
I chose this thread as being the most appropriate to post my findings as I can now explain why the V12 Petronix solution MAY indeed suffer failure due to burn out.
Its important to understand that Petronix offers 3 types of Ignitor:
- Ignitor;
- Ignitor-2;
- Ignitor-3
A very brief description of each:
1) Ignitor
A most basic, unintelligent ignition system. No dwell (coil charge time) control or voltage compensation or temperature protection. When a magnet in the rotor is close enough to the sensor the Ignitor will OPEN the coil primary circuit and keep it open for as long as the magnet is close enough to the sensor. When a magnet is away far enough, the Ignitor will CLOSE the coil primary circuit and KEEP IT CLOSED ( herein lies the problem - more on this below); It is however, its “dumbness” that allows it to work on the V12 above 4000rpm;
2) Ignitor-2 is much more intelligent than Ignitor with intelligent dwell control, voltage compensation, temperature protection. Only trouble with Ignitor-2 is that it can not handle the sparks per second required by a V12 @ 6000 rpm (600 sparks per second). It is therefore really only suitable on a V8. If your V12 will “never” go above 4000rpm, Ignitor-2 should work fine up to about 4000rpm (but may work much higher as there seems to be talk of it working on V8s up to 9000rpm)
3) Ignitor-3 is very similar to Ignitor-2 but will do multiple sparks per combustion event at lower RPMs - similar to MSD
So here is why the Petronix Ignitor and or coil may burn out:
If the engine is stopped with ignition on and the trigger disc positioned such that a magnet is not close enough to the sensor to open the circuit, current will flow through the coil and the ignitor. In my setup, I used a coil with a 3 Ohm coil primary circuit (as measured between coil+ and coil-) WITHOUT a ballast resistor. Using 12.5V as supply voltage, 3.24Amp was flowing through the coil and the Ignitor.
Using the formula W=I² x R, we get 31.5 Watt of heat being generated in the coil and with 1.08V over the Ignitor itself using W=I x V, we get 3.5 Watt of heat being generated in the Ignitor itself.
Now, to put 31.5 Watt into perspective, take a normal 20W incandescent brake light, apply 12V to it, and see how long you can hold it between your fingers. Unless you are Iron man, I doubt you will hold it for longer than a minute. Sure, that amount of heat into a coil will take much longer to heat up the coil - to the point where it will suffer damage. This is also the reason why a BETTER APPROACH would be to use a coil with a very low coil primary resistance in conjunction with an external ballast resistor. This way, approx 66% of the heat will be generated in the ballast resistor with only about 34% being generated in the coil itself giving it a much better chance of survival.
The bigger problem is actually the 3.5 Watt being generated in the Ignitor. Whilst the amount of Watts is “small”, the physical size of the Ignitor (being rather small) will result in it getting rather hot, rather quickly. With no temperature protection, its only a matter of time before something inside will fail.
Conclusion:
Tthe Petronix Ignitor system can work but I maintain that the Lucas ignition system as found on HE V12 engines is a better solution, or otherwise the Lumenition system.
My car came to me with a Pertronix distributor already installed. Is there a way to determine which Ignitor it contains?
BTW, stock coil and ballast resistor.
Yep, remove dissy cap. See what it says on the back of the “pickup”. 99% it well be #1, the basic Ignitor.
If the module is black in color it is the basic. If red it is the #2, not sure of the color on #3?
Glenn