help, dwell Options

[bd1308]

i plug in my dwell meter...
(-) goes to ground
(+) goes to neg side of coil

start car and look at meter

numbers constantly changing....try to hold probe to give steady connection....nothing.

i use the hold button to sample some numbers

112
42
23
and 1 (overflow)

changed out the condensor, and points looked okay when i put them in (new)

what gives?

point gap .013

[Dr. Roger]

dude, your petronix replaces your points.. i must have missed something.....

Quote from another source.....

Power to the coil and to the Pertronics are two different things. If
using the original coil, then the ballast or resistance wire MUST remain
to the COIL (and tachometer) but NOT the Pertronics unit. It requires a
full 12 volts. The ballast or resistance wire is to protect the coil
only. A separate wire of full voltage pulled from before the ballast or
resistance wire should be routed to the electronic unit for proper
functioning. It's a little confusing in the directions - but that's
what they say.

The Pertronics and Crane units pull almost no power themselves, but
require full system voltage routed to them. Yes, I and many others have
run the Pertronics directly from the + terminal of the coil on the Fords
which have a resistance wire - but it is not recommended that way from
the factory. The reason (they say) is that during high loads on the
electrical system, the voltage may fall below the minimum required for
the electronic unit to function, and the engine misfires, mysteriously
quits or won't start.

I have had this happen (almost) when driving at night and the charging
system wasn't up-to-par due to a bad ground I later found. The engine
started sputtering and missing when I accelerated from the last 2 stop
signs to my house. It went from mildly missing to hardly running in
about 1/2 mile. Fortunate I was so close to home. If I had a piece of
wire I could have jumped directly to the battery to keep it going a
while longer at full voltage. This is why the unit should be at full
voltage in the first place.