Aldon Ignitor - Experiences?

[nebogipfel]

Hello All,

I've always argued in favour of keeping points in the distributor - keep it simple say I

That said, it seems impossible to buy decent points/condensers these days.

Anyone got any comments on the Aldon setup?

Thanks

[chrishewett]

You couldn't get it any simpler than the aldon ignitor- fit it and forget it. I bought one in a new dizzy from them and have had no problems with it since. I wish I could say that about the rest of the car!
Chris

[paros]

Hi
Yes I agree it is simple and reliable - no points to have to adjust beneath the carbs is a blessing. Only problem is that you have to guesstimate the setting for No1 firing by finding the magnet in the head of the snesor - a small steel screwdiver easily does this. Then a strobe to set it all at 1000 rpm etc.
Aldon suggest using their coil - low impedance if I remember and this is not cheap but I have to say it all works well
Richard

[jeff jackson]

Hi I bought an Aldon ignitor, and at first all seemed well. Must admit that the car was off the road for three years, having practically everything rebuilt. ( including the twin cam) Put the Aldon ignitor back in the dizzy... nothing, no spark whatsoever. Replaced with new points and condenser, and away I went. The Aldon ignitor did about 1000 miles, if that. Get the feeling I've wasted my ?75.
Regards
Jeff 72+2

[nebogipfel]

mmmm

2 positive

1 negative

Close call so far

[thor]

I've got Lumenition in my +2S now,had an Aldon in a GT6 some years back. VERY happy with both, and I'd never dream of putting points in any classic .....

[Elanman99]

I have no connections with Aldon/Pertronix (or whoever they are) but having had one on my Elan for about 10 years would respectfully suggest that you ignore the negative results and just fit one!

To be fair I did have a problem with my Aldon Ignitor when the plastic mouldings that hold the magnets started to dismantle itself allowing the magnets to move out of position. I glued the two parts together with RTV silicone and it has never missed a beat since. I believe that the design of that part has been improved since.

Ian Phillips

[nebogipfel]

Thanks for the comments so far ........ it's starting to look good


Just had a look at this site

www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/


It looks like I could buy an ignitor and coil including carriage from these guys for the UK price of the ignitor module only.

Another question ......... anything known about this company?

[miked]

John,

Igniter is good in my opinion but the Flame thrower coil is not. It is 40 Kv. Higher than the cap will withstand. If you look back in the posting there is quite a lot of banter about it.

Normal coil or (as I recall) gold coil DLB 105 is max that the dizzy cap will take.

I broke down a good few caps. Keith (type 26) put me right!


Mike

[nebogipfel]

Mike

I've done a search and found Keith's comments about the limitations of the material used in the cap/rotor to withstand high voltages.

I assume the Aldon Igniter is happy running on a standard coil?

It is really the points I want to eliminate because I've now had two sets let me down at VERY low mileages

[Hamish Coutts]

Got to echo the positive guys. I fitted an ignitor yesterday and it was really simple. (it's really tiny too!) That said, it didn't fit the base plate of my dissy so I had to cobble up a fitting. Seems to work OK though.

I replaced an aging Lumenition set up that was an original accessory to the car. Must be at least 30 years old. I called lumenition with my problem and they thought the infrared transmittor was giving up the ghost - after 30 years I can't blame it. Also when I said the wing mounted box was starting to swell in the middle they thought the power transistor had had it. I did think on replacing the original with a new one but as I am not competing I didn't think the extra money worth it. The Lumenition guys were very, very helpful though.

I also fitted a flamethrower coil as my old one was suspect. Engine seems very keen to start in the morning with only a couple of pumps of the throttle.

The comments on the extra strength coil are noted. I too read Keith's posts with more than a little interest. (what a pity he aint posting any more, his knowledge was encyclopedic. To use a Scots word, he seems 'thrawn', much like me. If you know anything about the Scots language, you'll take the word as a compliment; as it is meant to be. He's probably looking up his books now - hi Keith, did you like the Matra sound track?)

Thought I had the whole car sorted but to empathise with Chris. I left the car ticking over while I checked the tyre pressures. What happend? It started firing on 2 then stopped. (many grumblings and spaners being fired across the garage floor later !!!) After about an hour I discovered that the needle valve in the front carb was leaking and as I have an electric pump (pressure OK by the way) the carb was flooding.
I have since replaced troublesome component and all seems well. Until tomorrow night when I do a road test when something else will rear it's ugly head, no doubt. Will these problems never end?

Another thing - I overhauled my front calipers as well yesterday. For the life of me. I can't get a descent pedal. I'm bleeding the breaks in the right order with the assistance of the lovely 'her indoors' but if I stamp on the pedal - it almosy hits the floor - aaarrrrg!!!

Think I'll buy a traction engine. Anything will be easier than this!!

Rant over,

Hamish.

PS Having said all this, I've just had the car out and it went like a bloody rocket. Better than ever. God, this is like golf - one good round followed by a couple of bad ones .......... then a couple of lessons .. then a couple of bad rounds .... mmm.....

PPS I have given up golf to work on the Lotus. Good decision??

[type36lotus]

I put an ignitor in my Esprit, after 10+ years the magnets fell out. Replaced it with same, figuring after more than 10 years of heat cycles it was fair to put it to rest. Also installed an ignitor in my Elan. These are great gizmos, would NEVER hassle with points again.

[nebogipfel]

Thanks for all the replies


Hamish, re your bleeding problem

Have you tried propping the pedal down (ie pressure on the pedal) overnight?
It's an old trade trick but I've seen it cure a spongy pedal more than once.

I assume we are talking about a spongy pedal and not the pedal collapsing under sustained pressure which would indicate duff master cylinder.

[Hamish Coutts]

John,

Yes it is a spongy pedal. I've heard of the pedal propping trick but had forgotten about it. Well reminded. I'll give it a go tonight.

Hamish.

[freddy22112211]

Fitted one myself recently, goes very well. At first I couldn't grasp how to fit it, but just as I was about to file a bit off the base plate to make it fit, I realised you have to take the base plate off the rest of it to fit the thing! (Amazing that this isn't written in the instructions - or did I miss something?)

Years ago I fitted a complete electronic ignition (capacitor discharge type) that ran well for a few days, but then the engine stopped. I found a thick black carbon trace on the inside of the distributor cap, that was shorting the high voltage out. It appears that the voltage of this unit was far higher than the standard components could stand. I tried it one more time but was lucky enough to look under the bonnet at night - there were sparks going everywhere - even across to the carbs!!! So you can imagine how fast I removed the unit!

Gordon