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bkaelin
PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2001 4:11 pm 
My 64 Valiant has an aftermarket electronic ignition. Does it absolutely need the ballast resistor, Yes or No, and WHY, My mechanic insists that it does not need it, and denies any connection with the fact that my ignition wire just melted down. Please help. thanks,
Brian

bkkaelin@cs.com
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Chuck Rivers
PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2001 4:18 pm 
Quote:
: My 64 Valiant has an aftermarket electronic
: ignition. Does it absolutely need the
: ballast resistor, Yes or No, and WHY, My
: mechanic insists that it does not need it,
: and denies any connection with the fact that
: my ignition wire just melted down. Please
: help. thanks,
: Brian


What does the documentation for your ignition say?

Chuck

webmaster@omnipages.com
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kesteb
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2001 8:47 am 
Quote:
: My 64 Valiant has an aftermarket electronic
: ignition. Does it absolutely need the
: ballast resistor, Yes or No, and WHY, My
: mechanic insists that it does not need it,
: and denies any connection with the fact that
: my ignition wire just melted down. Please
: help. thanks,
: Brian


When I upgraded the points distributor on my '64 Dart GT to a stock electronic distributor the power wire (blue wire) from the bulkhead connector to the ignition switch did a "melt down". I pulled the wire and used a heavier gauge and did not have the problem again.



klesteb@aol.com
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Jerry
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2001 1:51 pm 
Quote:
: What does the documentation for your ignition
: say?
:
: Chuck


Brian:
I was taught that the coil decides if you need a resistor in the line or not. Some coils are for use with an external resistor. The why is that if you take a 10 volt coil for example and feed it direct with 12 volts while starting you will get a stronger spark, when you release the key to the run position, it runs the 12 volts thru the resistor dropping it to the 10 volts the coil was designed for. If you run a 10 volt coil on 12 volts for an extended time it may/will cook the coil and other wires. Your voltages may vary:)
Jerry

roxnjer@aol.com
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Dart270
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2001 3:38 pm 
Quote:
: Brian: I was taught that the coil decides if
: you need a resistor in the line or not. Some
: coils are for use with an external resistor.
: The why is that if you take a 10 volt coil
: for example and feed it direct with 12 volts
: while starting you will get a stronger
: spark, when you release the key to the run
: position, it runs the 12 volts thru the
: resistor dropping it to the 10 volts the
: coil was designed for. If you run a 10 volt
: coil on 12 volts for an extended time it
: may/will cook the coil and other wires. Your
: voltages may vary:)
: Jerry


I'd say Jerry is the winner here. Check your coil documentation, or I bet if the coil is fed by your ECU (like Jacobs), then you don't need the ballast.

Lou

madsenl@caltech.edu
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Chuck Rivers
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2001 10:43 pm 
Quote:
: Brian: I was taught that the coil decides if
: you need a resistor in the line or not. Some
: coils are for use with an external resistor.
: The why is that if you take a 10 volt coil
: for example and feed it direct with 12 volts
: while starting you will get a stronger
: spark, when you release the key to the run
: position, it runs the 12 volts thru the
: resistor dropping it to the 10 volts the
: coil was designed for. If you run a 10 volt
: coil on 12 volts for an extended time it
: may/will cook the coil and other wires. Your
: voltages may vary:)
: Jerry


The resistor is actually used to limit the current through the coil, not set the voltage. Although some coils may be designed for use without it, I don't see any resaon NOT to use the resistor since there is one on the car. I used the existing resistor when I converted.

Chuck


webmaster@omnipages.com
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Dan
 Post subject: Re: So does this mean...
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2001 11:55 pm 
Quote:
: The resistor is actually used to limit the
: current through the coil, not set the
: voltage. Although some coils may be designed
: for use without it, I don't see any resaon
: NOT to use the resistor since there is one
: on the car. I used the existing resistor
: when I converted.
:
: Chuck


In the case of my 74 duster that I can use a hotter coil with the stock electronics? And could I subsequently run a larger gap in the plugs?
Dan


dlaray@earthlink.net
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Jerry
PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2001 12:15 pm 
Quote:
: The resistor is actually used to limit the
: current through the coil, not set the
: voltage. Although some coils may be designed
: for use without it, I don't see any resaon
: NOT to use the resistor since there is one
: on the car. I used the existing resistor
: when I converted.
:
: Chuck


Chuck is correct, resistors do limit current. They do so by turning electrical energy into heat energy, perfect vs non perfect conductor, this is why the ballast resistor will become hot when working properly. This is also why the voltage will be reduced as the ballast resistor is a built to be (poor) conductor. It's easy to measure a voltage drop across a resistor with the new digital meters, I think it would be harder to detect a currant drop in the crank vs run mode with the load of the starter in the mix.
Jerry

roxnjer@aol.com
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