MSD 6al2 Box SHOCKED ME!!!

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Shainesboostin

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Ok, now that I got your attention, so far, I am not having luck with MSD products in general, (I WONT RANT). Anyways, just wired up my 6al2 box. Wired as per instructions. Got my switched 12 by removing ballast, tieing Brown and Blue wire together...So, I went to start the car, while i started it, I was HOLDING the box, to verify the light was on. IT SHOCKED the hell outta me, but the car did run, ran good. I could then touch it and it didnt shock me. At this point the box was just laying on the carpet under the dash, I decided to MOUNT it on the passenger side kickpannel. Got it mounted...NO SPARK or start. Took it back down, set it on the carpet...started rite up. Basically, anytime the box touches metal, it like grounds out and wont work. Any ideas? Another bad MSD box?
 
Why are you mounting it directly to metal? When they come new, they come with rubber mounts.
 
Brad4406 said:
Why are you mounting it directly to metal? When they come new, they come with rubber mounts.
Click to expand...

Well, not directly, im saying even with the rubber mounts, than you SCREW it down, it grounds out. It was mouted with the supplied bushings.
 
With the coil wire about a 1/2 inch from your tongue... Put the box on the carpet and give it a crank... When you wake up... Send the box back.. It's shorted....

P.S.... Dont do the first part....lol
 
Ha, yea was on the phone with speedway motors awhile ago. They test em for free and are local, but they said "Sounds like a bad ground". I was like...seriously?
 
Cool... Hope it's not to much to fix.... Replacing them can get pricey after awhile....
 
This is the 2nd one. Those cheap *** Ebay HEI dizzys are starting to look good. Im outta funds after this. Ill call MSD tommorow before I send it. If its crazy, I may go a different route.
 
After the 2nd or 3rd Ebay HEI Dizzy eats itself when it seizes on the shaft and rips the pickup assembly off its mounting screws you'll change your mind. DAMHIK
 
I'm more of a "stock distributor with a Pertronics" type of guy. Keep it simple on a stock type engine.
 
Others are having this shocking problem too...

MSD is a mess, they just buy ignition companies making a monopoly, but not support good engineering.
 
What is wrong with the your unit is there is likely a transistor that does not have isolation to case. Safe systems ground case, to provide safety, and improve tolerance to EMI. There could be 450V or more there, and could be lethal. Rubber isolators are for vibration, not electrical isolation, most rubber has carbon, other fillers and is conductive. Remember those snake fire works, seen rubber do that when improperly used in power circuits.
 
KitCarlson said:
What is wrong with the your unit is there is likely a transistor that does not have isolation to case. Safe systems ground case, to provide safety, and improve tolerance to EMI. There could be 450V or more there, and could be lethal. They might get by UL, because it is a 12V supply, that is not good. Rubber isolators are for vibration, not electrical isolation, most rubber has carbon, other fillers and is conductive. Remember those snake fire works, seen rubber do that when improperly used in power circuits.
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Yea I know that's what the rubber pieces are for. Get by UL??? I work as a maintenence guy so I've been shocked before, but this thing was BAD! Ha made me feel funny for a few minutes. scared of it now.
 
soooooooo like
shocked.jpg
 
Well, had a good local Mopar guy come by and he to recommended Pertronix. Doing some research now.
 
I had an MSD box+blaster coil smack me years ago while setting timing on my old truck. Flexed my entire upper body so hard+fast it threw me onto my a$$ away from the truck before I even knew what happened. Arms, shoulders and chest muscles all were sore for about a week! Maybe someone should market this? "Try MSD's Multiple Spark Muscle Ripper routine for a whole body workout in a split second!" Glad you're ok, the boxes and coils certainly can put out more juice than is considered "safe for human consumption".

I've never had a failure on anything MSD street/strip car oriented, boxes, coils, window switches etc. I have read in forums over the years about people having failures, and yea it happens. But considering the abuse and downright shoddy installs I've seen-and performed myself in my younger years:BangHead: -MSD has a better survival rate than most of the performance parts companies I've used. But maybe I've just been lucky with ignition stuff, and happen to hurt other parts instead? We occasionally killed some MSD stuff on the fuel funny car, but nitro just murders parts in general so I can't really fault the MSD parts there.

I'd highly recommend the Pertronix setup. Pertronix ignitor 1 or 2 drop-in+MSD box and blaster coil has been my go-to setup on street/strip cars for years, good strong spark and never had a failure. I throw the points in the glove box and wire the msd box so it's easily reverted back to stock ignition on the side of the road in a pinch. Never had to do so, murphy's law after all!

The all in one pertronix ignitor 3 setup looks intriguing but I haven't used it. I would expect it to be reliable given their track record with the ignitor 1+2 series stuff. Good luck, and let us know if you run one of the 3 series setups.
 
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