Just musing....

[GDPR]

Anyone who has had Lumenition issues should know that you test the power module by flashing the blue to the black wire on the leadouts to the optical trigger - a spark is produced as the contact is made.

So... that being said, can anyone give me any good reason why this cannot be done by a set of points as a make and break switch, other than you would need to time it on the back of the cam to fire as they close and as a consequence may have to tweak the distributor cap locating lug or the rotor locating lug to adjust the cap/rotor pole alignment?

It just struck me earlier that a redundant Lumenition module could be put to good use in this way.... the only possible problem I could see is if it is not permissible to take the black wire to earth in which case a fully insulated set of points would be needed..

[jleyton]

I haven't got a clue about your answer Russ but I do have a tip about Lumenition that some may find useful.

The 8 point rotating object is described as the 'chopper' and it simply 'chops', or interrupts the flow of light between the upper and lower parts of the unit. When all is well, electrical trickery then takes over and, lo and behold, your plugs spark.

If you've got a non-runner, a simple way to check if the Lumenition is working is to take off the distributor cap and remove chopper and the king lead from the distributor cap. Then, with the ignition on, just pass something like a business card between the upper and lower parts of the unit (as the chopper would do). With the loose end of the king lead held (carefully ) close to an earth point (and away from any fuel ), a spark should be produced, if it's working ok.

If the car had been running ok before then this simple check will almost definitely determine if the Lumenition and coil are doing their job and it's more likely that the cause of non-running is fuel related. As ever, nothing is 100% definite - your coil could produce a spark with 'no load' but not enough to power the plugs - but it is a very handy and simple test.

Sorry Russ - now back to the more complicated answers hopefully

Cheers

Julian

[wilf]

I have never checked it, but I wonder if the lumenition chopper unit has a variable resistance output that is less variable than the simple zero/infinite resistance that you would get from points? Still worth a play though.

[V Mad]

Its worth a try. Apart from a bit of bounce at high revs, no reason I can think of why it shouldnt work with points only, no capacitor. The small black wire is grounded so no problem with that.

Points are supposed to have a 'wetting' current passed through them to help keep a good low contact resistance. Not sure if that would be supplied by the module though.

[GDPR]

Found some more info - triggering is achieved by changing the voltage between the blue and black from 2.7 to 1.0v, and one can assume from this that shorting the blue and black drops it to zero and sets it off. There is a caveat in the leaflet that says you must not leave the power module powered up for more than 15 minutes with the optical module disconnected - which effectively it would be - but is that because something would be shunting current and cause a thermal failure simply because it cannot switch and 15 minutes is as much heat it can take in an idle state?

[wilf]

Very likely thermal runaway of an output transistor due to a permanently "on" current state?

[V Mad]

There must be a component inside which is overstressed if the output switching transistor cannot be held in one of the states (probably ON). With points the output can be in either state when the engine is stopped.