New PAMCO electronic ignition on Mike's XS?

Looking good.

Out of curiosity, what's the limiting factor on the coil primary resistance/current? Lack of heat sinks on the MOSFETs?
 
BBS360 said:
Looking good.

Out of curiosity, what's the limiting factor on the coil primary resistance/current? Lack of heat sinks on the MOSFETs?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is correct. The price point objective was less than $200 and that was achieved by using a plastic box and no heat sinks among other design features. There are not that many suitable coils for the XS400 that are less than 4 Ohms and we also wanted to encourage the use of stock coils to keep the installed cost down. The IGBT transistors will actually carry more than 10 Amps without a heat sink, so it was really the choice of an inexpensive plastic box rather than an aluminium box that could act as a heat sink.

The blue box is from Hammond manufacturing in Guelph, Ontario, by the way.
 
Cool. :thumbsup:

My grandparents lived most of their lives in Guelph after immigrating to Canada. Nice place.
 
pamcopete said:
Yes, that is correct. The price point objective was less than $200 and that was achieved by using a plastic box and no heat sinks among other design features. There are not that many suitable coils for the XS400 that are less than 4 Ohms and we also wanted to encourage the use of stock coils to keep the installed cost down. The IGBT transistors will actually carry more than 10 Amps without a heat sink, so it was really the choice of an inexpensive plastic box rather than an aluminium box that could act as a heat sink.

The blue box is from Hammond manufacturing in Guelph, Ontario, by the way.
Click to expand...

The stock 80-82 sohc xs400 uses a 3ohm coil. :)
 
Suddenly my curiosity question is more important.
Looking at the hidden specs in the back of my Haynes manual reveals that my new-to-me SJ does run 3.0 ohm coils stock. :(
 
OK. you can now select one of two XS400E's. The original XS400E at 4 to 5 Ohms coil or the very new XS400E-HD for 2.5 to 5 Ohms coil. The difference is that the HD model is in an aluminum enclosure with the transistors bolted to the case for heat dissipation.

Standard PAMCO XS400E $189.95
Heavy Duty PAMCO XS400E-HD $207.95

The web site has been updated to provide two ordering choices. www.xs400ignition.com
 
Wow. Now that's a good turnaround time for design changes.
Have to get back to work to pay for everything the new bike will need....
 
Last stupid question. Dwell angle, 60 vs 105 degree stock?
I imagine it's a lot more efficient than points and doesn't need to charge the coils as long?

It'd answer a question in another thread about your igntions being better on the alternator.
 
I was getting ready to rewire my stock tci today. Took the cover off and low and behold, I have some traces lifting off the board. Who knows how long it would have survived. I can repair it with jumpers, but I wouldn't trust it as anything other than a backup now.

I'll be ordering the setup from you tomorrow. What's the turnaround time after ordering? Are they ready to go?
 
There's nothing wrong with the mechanical advance version as long as there's nothing wrong with the stock mechanical advancer on the bike.
The new version is primarily a replacement for bikes with dying TCI units. Since there are no new TCI units being made Pete's is one of the few possible alternatives for owners of TCI bikes.
 
BBS360 said:
Last stupid question. Dwell angle, 60 vs 105 degree stock?
I imagine it's a lot more efficient than points and doesn't need to charge the coils as long?

It'd answer a question in another thread about your igntions being better on the alternator.
Click to expand...

A stock points system with a 4 Ohm coil and a 105 degree dwell will draw 14V/4Ohms = 3.5 A X 105/360 = 1 A X 2 coils = 2 Amps.

The PAMCO with a 60 degree dwell will draw 13/4 = 3.25 A X 60/360 = .54 A X 2 coils = 1 Amp. I use 13 Volts for the PAMCO because there is a 1 Volt drop across the transistor.

Any electronic ignition will also produce up to 50% higher voltage from a given coil due to the faster rise time with no capacitor so the PAMCO will use 50% of the power but produce 50% more spark. This allows you to do things like open up the plug gap or use exotic spark plugs, like Iridiums. You may have to increase the main jets up one size to take full advantage of this, but your gas mileage will actually increase due to the greater efficiency. The 60 degree rotor also means that the coils will run cooler so their resistance will not increase as much so the coils will produce closer to optimum voltage longer.

Here is a chart showing some test results from a series of runs I did a few years ago with my XS650.

iridium.jpg


Like they say on other miracle products, your results may vary. I was deliberately trying for the best mileage. The tires were inflated to 32 PSI, the run was 60 miles round trip on mostly highway type roads with very little traffic or stop lights and I never exceeded 55 MPH. I filled up at the same pump after each run.

The electronics in the XS650 ignition are identical to the XS400 and they both use a 60 degree rotor.
 
Dang, you really do go above and beyond with the answers. Awesome. :thumbsup:

Sadly not even close to being able to test my TCI, nevermind ordering a replacement. Tempted to throw it on Ebay as soon as I can verify its condition. Could cover half the replacement cost right there.
 
I bought the model that uses the stock condenser from mikes xs. It ran great for a week, much better than points then it suddenly stopped running. I've gone over the whole bike with a motorcycle mechanic friend of mine. We are 90% sure its the new ignition. :-( i was so excited about this product and now my bike won't run.
 
Whats with the resistor in the spark plug boots? I didn't instal those as the boots on my bike are newish. Did i break something or if i install them now will it help? I'll give it a shot.
 
Resistor boots/caps with non-resistor plugs or non-resistor caps with resistor plugs.

I'll let Pete or a pamco user chime for the rest but I didn't think the condenser was retained with the electronic ignition.
 
How exactly did you hook everything up? No condenser should be involved at all, they are used with points systems not electronic ignitions.

Don't worry about resistor plug caps, they are for suppression of emi. You can use them or not.
 

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