TOPIC:

So not having experienced it but wanting to be prepared what if any signs does the ignitor
display at the onset of failure. Had one go out on my h1 years ago, It would get hot and shutdown.
On cooling off it would fire back up.
Thanks Greg

Hi Greg.

Can't speak from experience regarding the Igniter but can with respect to the Voltage Regulator and the Auto Turn Signal cancel unit. The problems I had with these and many other non motorcycle electric components are, I believe, similar.
All suffered from bad solder connections ! The higher the voltage/current, the more obvious the fault. Unfortunately this can't be predicted. In my cases of the V'R and signal unit, I had to dig-out the potting material from around each of the wires to find the one causing the problem. The most obvious was with the V/R. I hypothesized the high current and bad soldering connection started to create arching which on several yellow inputs had vaporized the solder. The damage was obvious ! With the signal cancel unit; Needed some magnification to see the solder fault.
Some of these OEM components are readily available so it's possible to replace them - if you're wiling to take a chance on something used.
Personally, I have no problem attempting these types of repairs. The "work" is in accessing the connection. The re-soldering takes seconds!
This doesn't omit the chance that, for an Igniter, a component hasn't failed. That's another thread !
Hope this gives you something to consider.
The pictures are from a thread I did. This is my OEM V/R. I replaced it with a MOSPHET unit.

I'm with you, I'd rather fix the issue than gamble on a used part that may or may not work.
Just didn't know if the part or parts are subject to deteriorating. Not going to take it apart
until it stops working. but would like to be prepared in case it happens. Was someone on the forum making
new Ignitors? not long ago? I seem to remember seeing a post awhile back.
Thanks Greg

Daro is your guy.

A couple of things to consider Greg.
First, there is no over current protection in these igniters.
Second, the Darlington transistors have a maximum through put in amps that they can handle.
When you turn on the ignition, there's power available to the Darlingtons, but until the pulser coil produces a 3-7 volt signal., the Darlingtons remain open which is a good thing. The only time we see over current is when the primary circuit has less than minimum resistance which is 2.7 ohms or in an over voltage situation.
The ignition coils could end up with less primary resistance when they short in the primary winding. This can happen from overheating over time.
The resistor block will not short and only fail open circuit.
The Darlingtons work in conjunction with the pulser coils creating a dwell time set in the electrical design.
So, where am I going with this- Everyone wants a hotter spark so in an effort to achieve this, some change out the ignition coils for lower resistance coils which will increase the amp draw in the primary circuit. That will cause more heat generated in the ignition primary circuit and possibly enough to burn the insulation on the primary windings such that the windings will short which further reduces the resistance in the primary windings.
Some people feel that by removing the resistor block will increase the power going to the coils and increase the spark output. Yes it will since the voltage to the coil increases. Increasing the voltage or lowering the resistance has the same effect. More power going to the coil creating heat within the coil and possibly baking the insulation off of the primary winding.
In either case. overpowering the primary circuit will increase the amperage in the primary circuit and the Darlingtons are the switches that have to carry the flow. Darlingtons are fairly robust as far as transistors go but they do have limits. I'm not sure which Darlingtons were used in our igniters but I'll suggest they are somewhere in the 8-10 amp range.
Daro did some preliminary testing on the stock ignition system and found that the ignitors in stock form with the resistor block and stock coils were saturating the coils to maximum magnetic flux all the way up to around 6000 rpm, then there was a drop off in saturation due to the lack of dwell at the higher rpms. He opted to go with aftermarket ignitors from HEI ignition systems (off the top of my head I don’t remember which ones) and also low resistance coils that worked with the igniters. An interesting topic.
Another thing that’s happened over the years is changing out the secondary coil wires, resistor caps and going to resistor sparkplugs. Some of our members have changed out the coils to AW82 coils used on many Honda motorcycles. The primary winding resistance is within spec (around 2.2 ohms) and it also gives an opportunity to install ignition wires. I’ve seen pics of many different types of wires used and I suspect some may have elected to used carbon core wires which have resistance. Couple that with resistor caps which are generally 5K ohm caps and then add in BPR6ES plugs with a internal resistor of 5K ohms.
The original set up in the 1979 model was solid core wires with a 5K ohm resistor cap and BP6es spark plugs. Solid core wires have 0 resistance and the BP6ES plugs had 0 resistance so the only noise suppression was provided by the resistor cap.
My plan is the AW82 coils married to solid core wires with spark plug caps with no resistor and Denso spark plugs IW20TT which have a 5K ohm resistor. This will achieve a secondary resistance of 5K ohm at the spark plug which is the same as the original setup used in the 1979’s. The IW20TT Denso sparkplugs have an iridium center electrode and a platinum ground pin both are .4 mm in diameter. The smaller electrodes will lower the voltage required to ionize the mixture at the plug and in theory should increase the dwell time of the spark itself slightly (more burn time)
Bottom line-
Respect the primary ignition resistance and ensure its above 2.7 ohms minimum and that should keep the draw through the Darlingtons at a reasonable level.
Keep the resistance in all of your electrical connections clean to keep your resistance through the connections down which keeps the power through your circuits at maximum by design.
Consider replacing your voltage regulator with a series voltage regulator like the Shindingen SH847. The stock regulators are shunt regulators and are known to fail closed circuit overcharging the battery circuit which is the source of power for the ignition circuit.
Everything in harmony.

Kawboy, I've already switched over to the accel coils and taken every connector out for cleaning. I'm trying to get the old girl taken care of before the first start
after a long slumber. I'ts been a job but fun as well, Just trying to forsee any failures before it happens, Getting stuck along side the highway is not my idea
of good times. Thanks for the great writeup I understand most of it, Electrical is not my strong point ( I sweat like a gypsy with a mortgage when fooling with it)
great amount of knowledge on this forum!! Thank you all Greg