123 VW RV The v stands for vacuum. Sometimes there is a ‘4’ in the name too . I guess denoting 4 cylinder. The one I bought is shown in the link. Yeh, I had a new coil as a spare and I fitted this. Bosch Blue went for the none programmable version- so no blue tooth advance curves. Mine still has many pre programmed curves via a dial. Like most people I just chose the standard curve zero. https://www.vwjim.co.uk/ourshop/prod_7182224-123-Distributor-With-Vacuum.html
I just pulled apart my Pertronix Ignitor 1 that I blew up by crossing the beams early in my VW ownership and which was knocking around a box of parts I had pulled off the bus but maybe wanted to look at again. Using a Dremel and a centre punch and a hammer, the rock hard encapsulation gave way. Inside is a really simple circuit - a Hall effect sensor switching the gate of a big IGBT (proper contact breaker replacement, hard to blow up with huge voltage spikes in normal operation) , a load of resistors, a small capacitor and two diodes. Nothing to go wrong really - except the IGBT had a worm hole from inside letting out the magic smoke... None of the "shutoff when no ignition pulses" or "adaptive dwell" circuitry .Just a simple points replacement with a magnetic sensor. Well made, the power transistor is properly heatsinked to the fixing bracket with a mica washer insulator. The Ignitor 1 is in a low slung package only slightly larger than the TO-220 power transistor, labelled "Pertronix Ignitor" , the later China Specials e.g. Powerspark are taller with a stepped profile housing because the circuit board is square. After a bit of poking round the wreckage, this is the basic schematic of the Ignitor 1. Component values and types are not all known exactly as a Dremel tool with a tungsten carbide burr is a bit violent. No comment on how thats worth $90 If you have one and it works, I dont think it will fail. Except through idiots crossing the red and black wires that is.
