Hi James,
As far as I know the ballast resistor is there to reduce the voltage at the
coil to 6-8V under normal running. When starting up the resistor is bypassed
and the coil gets the full battery voltage resulting in a stronger spark and
better starting. It needs this because the load from the starter causes the
battery voltage to drop below 12V... if the resistor wasn't bypassed the coil
would get <6V and so would give a weak spark. However the coil isn't designed
to run continuously at 12V so removing the ballast resistor could cause
damage!
I think this is right, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Cheers,
David
>>> "James Carruthers" <j.carruthers@rave.ac.uk> 11/29/02 02:25pm >>>
Thanks John,
So where does the ballast resistor go to and from?
At the minute it goes from the + side of the coil to the bracket where the
coil mounts - but this doesnt seem like the right place because this is on
the body of the car, and there for grounded, so it should short, if it
werent for the paint.
I don't have points if I have electronic ignition? But I do... Im
confused... do I still need it?
James
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