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Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.Copyright Infinitybox, LLC 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Ignition

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In our last post, we talked about wiring the starter solenoid to the POWERCELL in your 20-Circuit Kit.  Now it is time to wire the ignition.  There is a dedicated output on your POWERCELL that supplies battery voltage for your ignition.  This is your “key-on” power.  In this post, we are going to talk about wiring the POWERCELL output.  We’ll discuss wiring the MASTERCELL input to the ignition switch in later posts.

Our Infinitybox system can power any type of ignition system.  It can be a basic set of points or a highly sophisticated EFI system.  In either case, we are going to power the ignition system when the key is on.  In the case of this 1967 Mustang, the customer is using the Ford Coyote Crate Motor with the Ford ECU.

Check the configuration sheet that came with your kit.  It will define which output is for the ignition.  In most cases, it is the light-green wire on the front POWERCELL.  This is output 3 on the B connector.

You need to carefully read the instructions for your ignition system.  In most cases, there will be a wire that needs to connect directly to the battery to give it constant 12-volt power.  There will also be a key-on or ignition power feed.  That will come from the light-green wire on your POWERCELL.  Over the years, we have accumulated many different wiring diagrams for different ignition systems.  They can be found in posts on our blog or in our reference library.  We’ll highlight some of the most popular in this post.

The most common ignition system that we see customers using is a ignition box from MSD.  The MSD 6A or 6AL are some of the most popular.  There is a heavy red and heavy black wire in their harness.  These wires need to connect directly to the battery and to chassis ground, respectively.  Then there is a lighter gauge red wire that is for the key-on power.  This will connect to the ignition output on your POWERCELL.  See the picture below for more details.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

This link will take you to a blog post talking in more detail about wiring an MSD ignition box to our POWERCELL.

We also have many different posts that talk about how to wire the ignition outputs to EFI systems.  This picture shows wiring our ignition outputs to the FAST EZ-EFI system.

Picture of wiring diagram showing how to wire the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection system with the Infinitybox system.

Picture of wiring diagram showing how to wire the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection system with the Infinitybox system.

Our ignition output from the POWERCELL connects to the pink wire in the EZ-EFI harness.  You can read the entire blog post on the FAST wiring at this link.

Another popular option for our customers is the Holley Dominator EFI system.  This link shows you a picture of how to wire that into our system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

In the case of our customer’s 1967 Mustang, they are using the Ford Coyote crate engine for this car.  We have a complete schematic that shows you how to connect the ignition output from the POWERCELL to the ECU.  You can see that schematic at this link.

Once you have your ignition system or EFI system wired to the ignition output, you also have to think about the other things that you want to come on with your ignition switch.  Remember that each POWERCELL output has the capacity of 25-amps.  You can use this single output to power many different functions.  You are going to use this same ignition output to power your gauges, your transmission controller, your radio power or any other function that you need to power with ignition.

In earlier posts in this series, we talked about how to splice off of POWERCELL outputs for multiple taps.  These examples included your headlights, high-beams and parking lights.  For your ignition, we recommend creating a ignition bus that you can use to power the many different switched functions in your car.  You can use a terminal strip to create a common point for your ignition functions.

You can purchase terminal strips like this from companies like Del City and Waytek Wire.  Make sure that you pick a terminal strip that has an insulating cover on it.  You want to make sure that you protect these wires from getting shorted to ground.

Another option is to use our Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit.  This is a simple accessory that makes connecting a POWERCELL output to multiple wires robust and reliable.  This picture shows you how you can use the Splice Saver Kit to create a sealed junction point for everything that needs to get powered off of your ignition.

Wiring ignition key-on power with the Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit

Wiring ignition key-on power with the Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit

Please contact us with questions about wiring the ignition output on your Infinitybox system.  Click this link to reach out to a member of our team.

 

 

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.Copyright Infinitybox, LLC 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Wiring the MSD Ignition System

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Our Infinitybox systems are used to power all of the electrical functions in your car.  This includes all of the systems that run your engine.  One of the most popular ignition systems in the automotive restoration and performance space is from MSD.  The MSD 6AL is a powerful and easy to install Ignition Control system.  It gets the spark to the engine but our Infinitybox system gets it the power it needs to run.  This blog post shows how easy it is to wire on your key-on or ignition power to the MSD 6AL.  This instructions will work for any of the Ignition Control systems in the MSD lineup.

Before you get too far, it is very important that you read and follow the instructions that come with your ignition system.  We are going to show you how to wire the key-on power.  You need to refer to their instructions and diagrams to wire all of the other connections that go to their box.  Their manual highlights warnings and critical things to follow when you are wiring their boxes.  Be sure to read these and completely understand them before you proceed.  You can download a copy of the MSD manual by clicking on this link.

Also, this blog post and wiring diagram show you only how to wire the key-on power to the ignition system.  See the manual that came with your Infinitybox harness kit and other wiring diagrams for the rest of the functions in the car.

This picture shows you a simple diagram for wiring the MSD 6AL.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

There are three wires from the MSD 6AL that we will consider for this wiring diagram.  The heavy red wire, the heavy black wire and the smaller red wire.

  • Heavy Red (Positive)- This wire connects directly to the battery positive (+) terminal or to a positive battery junction or the positive side of the starter solenoid. Note: Never connect this to the alternator.
  • Heavy Black (Negative)- This wire connects to a good ground, either at the battery negative (-) terminal or to the engine.  We can’t stress enough the importance of good ground connections.  Spend some time here and do this right.
  • Red- This wire connects to the POWERCELL ignition output on the Infinitybox system. See your configuration sheet for the location and color of this wire.
  • Connect the remaining wires according to the MSD instruction manual.

The heavy red wire that brings the primary power from the battery is fused internally to the MSD 6AL but this does not protect the wire if it were to get shorted to ground.  We recommend putting a fuse ahead of this wire at the point where you connect it to the battery.  A 25-amp fuse in this wire would safely protect it.

You are then going to connect the MASTERCELL input for ignition to your ignition switch.  The input works by simply being connected to ground.  See the configuration sheet that came with your kit for the connector location and wire color for the ignition input.  You can also choose to use our integrated one-button start input to control both the ignition and the starter.  Again, see your configuration sheet for the location and color of this wire.

The POWERCELL ignition output is your key-on power.  You are going to connect this to the red wire on the MSD.  You can also use this wire to power other accessories in the car that need ignition power.  Examples include gauge power, ignition power for a head-unit and ignition power for a Vintage Air system.  You can create a simple ignition power bus using a terminal strip for all of these functions.  You can use the Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit to create a reliable buss bar. 

You need to insert a fuse into the POWERCELL to protect the ignition harness.  Remember that a fuse is designed to protect the wiring in the harness.  The fuse should be sized to protect the smallest gauge of wire in the harness connected to that output.  All of our standard harnesses are 14-AWG wire, so you can protect them with a 25-amp fuse.  If you connect any smaller wires to these outputs, you need to choose the right size fuse to protect the wire.  See other posts in our blog about proper selection of fuses for different wire gauges.

You can download a PDF of this wiring diagram by clicking this link. 

If you have any questions about this wiring diagram or anything else with our Infinitybox system, give our technical support team a call.  We can be reached at (847) 232-1991 or sales@infinitybox.com.  You can contact our team directly by clicking this link.