Pamco Electronic ignition vs. high output?

how reliable are the pamco ignitions? are they easy to install?

i'm rebuilding a 79 xs650 special. i picked it up at a salvage yard, the contacts were taken off and the auto advance is rusted to hell.

i was going to keep it as stock as possible but i'm willing to sacrifice stock parts for reliability
 
estewart- To install a PAMCO you will need the advance set up from a points model. That is to say the atc kit. I believe the PAMCO to be easy to install and set the timing.At least it was for me. That being said I am not a points guy. You can carry a spare set of points with you and slap them on in a pinch. Ask Pete how reliable his set up is.
PAMCO install on youtube
 
The Pamco is very easy to instal! no hassle for me really, and i'm not much of an electrical goorooo either!

I do have a question though, say one of my spark plugs became ungrounded on accident onetime, somehow, while my green monster was doing it's thing... does that mean that it arched internally and is bad now?
What does this mean for the pamco?
annnd, would the bike still run ok afterwards... because mine did i think?
 
Barring the effects of a massive EMP (say, if you lived next to a nuclear weapon testing site, this may be an issue for you), the Pamco should be much more reliable than points. More pertinent, maint free.
 
cheftay said:
The Pamco is very easy to instal! no hassle for me really, and i'm not much of an electrical goorooo either!

I do have a question though, say one of my spark plugs became ungrounded on accident onetime, somehow, while my green monster was doing it's thing... does that mean that it arched internally and is bad now?
What does this mean for the pamco?
annnd, would the bike still run ok afterwards... because mine did i think?
Click to expand...

- very simple and, for me, so far, with around 20K, totally reliable...am considering getting one for my rephase
- ive never run a green monster but am led to believe theyre rather sensitive to ungrounded plugs, theyre very high voltage, ca 75k, and that has to go someplace
 
cheftay said:
The Pamco is very easy to instal! no hassle for me really, and i'm not much of an electrical goorooo either!

I do have a question though, say one of my spark plugs became ungrounded on accident onetime, somehow, while my green monster was doing it's thing... does that mean that it arched internally and is bad now?
What does this mean for the pamco?
annnd, would the bike still run ok afterwards... because mine did i think?
Click to expand...

Well, like inxs says, "75,000 Volts has to go somewhere." For all the benefits that the "Green Monster" coil has, it is very susceptible to internal arcing if one or both plug wires are left disconnected. Mike sent me two brand new "Green Monster" coils to test on my test setup and I fried both of them with the first pulse with one plug wire disconnected. When they are fried, they generally are toast because the internal arc will carbonize and form a permanent short either to the center frame of the coil or to the primary winding.

However, as I said above, the coil will survive most incidental open conditions because of the fact that 75,000 Volts will jump at least 1 inch of free air. If you had a plug wire come loose in the coil tower, the voltage would arc to the loose wire as long as it is not separated by more than an inch. That would provide a path for the voltage and therefore no damage done. Same is true if the plug wire somehow comes loose on the plug itself. As long as it doesn't fall free, but still hangs on to the spark plug, the 75,000 volts will arc to the plug and no harm done.

This means that in general, the only thing that can fry the coil is if you deliberately disconnect the plug wire and forget to reconnect it before starting the engine. If you catch yourself doing this just as you turn on the ignition switch, then do not turn the switch off. Just reach down and reconnect the plug wire.
 
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Mkay I think I might be okay then... It was when I had my cap plugged into an old plug and clamped onto the frame to ground it when I was checking the timing and the clamp slipped and so the plug was just dangling....
 
i was goint go get the pamco ignition system sets but mikesxs is sold out. so i was going to buy the piece that replaces the points and the others as well. i'm wondering if its still possible to run 2 seperate ignition coils or if i need to upgrade to the green monster?
 
estewart,

I think that Mike is just out of the "Green Monster" coil, not the PAMCO, so you could order the other kit for with the 17-6822 coil.
 
Will these high out put coils work on other two cylinder bikes? I have a V50 moto Guzzi V twin with Dyna S ignition and would like to boost the fire power of the plugs
 
gmj,

Check the coil spec for the V50 and/or measure the primary resistance. If it is 2.5 to 3.5 Ohms and it's a dual output coil, then it should work.

The coil, like all coils, must be mounted with the center core bolted firmly to the frame for heat dissipation, so if the mounting centers are different, you will have to rig up a suitable mounting bracket.

Have a look on my site, www.yamahaxs650.com for some suggested mounting methods using ground strap clamps.
 
Ok, I got the basic ignition kit and I can't figure out how to wire it up. I am really inexperienced with electrics, just terrible. I need some help. I checked out the youtube videos but it skips the wiring part, so not of much help.

First in the instructions it says:Connect the Red/White wire from the wiring harness (switched battery) to its original or positive terminal on the coil. What does switched battery mean?

And second:
No other wires should be connected to the green wire terminal.
Does that mean that the black coil wire isn't plugged into anything?

Oh and when I hook the coil up to the red/white wire, which side? Does it matter? I have a left and a right side Red/White wire. For each of the coils.

Here are some pics of what I did. Thanks
P3160004.jpg
P3160001.jpg
P3160003.jpg
P3160002.jpg
 
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Switched battery: Those are the two red/white wires that come from the kill SWITCH so they are "switched" on and off by the kill switch.

1. The coil is not polarity sensitive. You can connect the red/white wire to either terminal. Connect the green PAMCO wire to the other terminal.
2. Connect one of the red/white wires to one terminal on the coil, and connect the other red/white wire to the PAMCO red wire.
3. The green wire is connected to the other coil terminal. No other wire is connected to that terminal.
4. The black wire is connected to the frame.

You should crimp connectors to the wires and secure them to the coil and frame even if you are just testing the setup. Having them just loose like you show in the pic could fry the PAMCO if one of them comes loose.

Hopefully, you are just lashing the coil in to test it because it must be securely clamped to the frame for heat dissipation.

Check into my web site www.yamahaxs650.com to see some recommended ways to mount the coil.
 
Pete , are you still recommending putting an inline fuse looped out to under the seat for the switched power? Mine is that way.
 

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