1985 Ski Nautique voltage

In your previous thread you mentioned that you have an electronic ignition module and a coil that does not require an external ballast resistor.

Previous thread

How is your ignition circuit wired? Is the EI wired directly to battery voltage or through the ballast resistor? What EI module do you have?

The reason I ask is there are several ways to wire up an EI module.

Hollywood summed them up in another thread:
Half way down the second page

Hear is the text without the links to the instructions:


Originally posted by SNobsessed SNobsessed wrote:

The way 79 'splained it was that the EI circuit would limit coil current at the low RPM (which is why you need a resistor when using points).

Eh, I'm not going to take his word on all EI modules. These manufacturers seem to be pretty specific about what resistance they want.

SkiDIM currently sells the Pertronix Ignitor II, which in their product description does state to bypass the resistor. Pertronix Ignitor II instructions agree.
6. The Ignitor II ignition can be used in conjunction with most ignition coils rated at
0.45 ohms or greater.
7. All external resistors must be removed to achieve optimum performance from the
Ignitor II ignition system.
http://www.pertronix.com/docs/instruction-sheets/91141.pdf

HOWEVER, some of you may have had the Ignitor I, which DOES state a minimum resistance.
Pertronix Iginitor (the first edition) installation instructions:
4. Four and six cylinder engines require a minimum of 3.0 ohms of primary resistance and eight cylinder engines require a minimum of 1.5 ohms of primary resistance. Do not remove resistors if the coil primary resistance is less than specified.
5. If your Ignition coil has the recommended primary resistance, remove or bypass all external resistors.
http://www.pertronix.com/docs/instruction-sheets/1141.pdf

Hot-Spark:
Coil Warning: DO NOT use a low-resistance or an HEI-style coil. 4- and 6-cylinder: Use a coil that has resistance in the primary circuit of at least 3.0 Ohms (Ω). 8-Cylinder: Must be used with a coil that has resistance in the primary circuit of at least 1.5 Ω. Using a coil with insufficient primary resistance can cause the ignition module to overheat and misfire until it cools down again, or fail prematurely, which will void the Hot-Spark ignition warranty.
http://www.hot-spark.com/Coil.htm

Mallory:
NOTE: The purpose of resistance wire between the ignition switch (12V) and the ignition coil positive terminal is to restrict current flow through the ignition coil. Failure to use resistance wire will eventually destroy the Ignition Module.
http://prestoliteperformance.com/media/instructions/mallory/Mallory_Instructions_unilite_distributor_37_38_45_47.pdf

All that said, know what kit you have and what they want. Seems as though Pertronix Ignitor II is the only one that is safe to bypass the resistor no matter what coil you are using. And now I think most of you burnt up your EI modules on your own. SNobsessed, if I were you I'd wire back in the resistor.

My '85 Ski Nautique is running great now except for one issue that I thought I fixed. Before I fixed some electrical issues, the engine would skip very bad when the coil got hot. I fixed that and tested my voltage at the coil and the ballast resistor and it was all right (12v on positive side of coil for start up then drops to 9v when running). Then when it's running I get around 13.5V from the 12V side of the resistor block (a little too much?). So the boat will run great except when it sits idling for a while. It starts to skip again after sitting with the engine on or idling around for about ten minutes. It's like something is getting hot when the boat sits just running and makes it skip. Any thoughts on this would be helpful.