> <excellent treatise on ignition dwell deleted>
>the coil will begin to saturate. (By the way - this is what the "ballast"
>resistor in series with the coil/battery is for: to limit the saturation
>current, and therefore the amount of core saturation, at low speed.)
>
> <more stuff deleted>
>
Now I'M cornfused. I always thought the purpose of the ballast resistor
was to limit current at normal running speeds, thereby saving the points.
I thought the ballast resistor was bypassed during engine start (key in
"START" position), allowing the full 12+ volts to be applied to the coil.
When the engine is running (key in "RUN" position) the ballast resistor (or
wire) would cut both the current and the voltage of the primary ignition
circuit.
If the ballast resistor does indeed limit current at low speed, how is
the switching from non-ballasted to ballasted primary current accomplished?
Bob "Enquiring Mind" Spidell
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