Pertronix or Crane XR-700?

[Z-Luke]

The price difference is near as makes no difference. I've heard the benefits of Pertronix, but the Crane unit. I heard the Crane unit won't burn out if the key is left on, and the Pertronix will. This insurance is with the extra twenty bux or so.

Any Crane Xr-700 stories to share?

[d240zx2]

No experience with the Crane product, but ZERO issues with my Pertronix.

[Arne]

The big reason I went with the Pertronix was that I did not want to have to find a place and drill holes to mount the Crane under the hood of my car. The Pertronix is self-contained inside the stock distributor, so no drilling or such-like was necessary.

I've had both a Pertronix and a ZX (E12-80) in my car, both were similar. In both cases, everything better be 100% for either to work properly. Worn plugs or too much voltage drop will cause less than optimal performance.

[alhbln]

The price difference is near as makes no difference. I've heard the benefits of Pertronix, but the Crane unit. I heard the Crane unit won't burn out if the key is left on, and the Pertronix will. This insurance is with the extra twenty bux or so.

Any Crane Xr-700 stories to share?

From an engineers perspective i would recommend the XR-700, the power unit has its own, well cooled enclosure and the output stage is more powerful than the Pertronix Ignitor I. Also the power circuit is separated from the distributor/trigger, which is good engineering.

Another plus to me is that the Crane XR-700 setup can be easily repaired if ever required whereas the Pertronix Ignitor is potted, and can only be replaced if it should break.

Both units control dwell based on the static trigger gap (optical, magnet distance), there is no variable dwell, which is a good thing to have. You might want to consider to have a look at the slightly more expensive XR-3000, which has variable dwell control as well as adaptive coil current to avoid coil saturation.

There is no functional difference in using a hall trigger (Pertronix) compared to an optical trigger (Crane).

That Pertronix did not add current control to the Ignitor I (e.g. no burning out of the output stage if the ignition is switched on for a longer time) seems to be marketing related to have an extra feature for the more expensive Ignitor II and III units. Current control only adds cents in the production stage and is standard with most HEI, Bosch and Marelli transistor modules since decades.

[cygnusx1]

I am running the Pertronix in my newly built 240Z with Webers and it was a no brainer to set up. So far so good. I don't know if this means anything, but the coil is only warm to the touch after a long drive.

Current limiter for the Pertronix? Is there a way to protect the Pertronix from toasting if you leave the key on by accident?

[alhbln]

Current limiter for the Pertronix? Is there a way to protect the Pertronix from toasting if you leave the key on by accident?

Nothing practical except an illuminated "ignition on" toggle switch on the dashboard, racecar style. (Silly, i know).

The problem only arises when the Pertronix switches current to the coil, so it depends on the actual position of the trigger ring in the distributor if your Ignitor is toasted after some time when the ignition is switched on.

You won't have this problem if you use the Pertronix Ignitor to trigger another ignition thogh (MSD 6A, Crane Hi6 etc), the current flowing through the Ignitor in such a setup is quite small.

[cygnusx1]

Thanks. I will have to remember to turn it off when I am working on it, or pull out the trigger ring.