[Spridgets] External coil ballast?

Deikis, John G John.Deikis at va.gov
Wed Jan 2 14:28:00 MST 2008


So, while plowing out of the most recent Michigan snow with my '53 Ford
NAA "red belly," the thing conks out (very unusual).  While trying to
track down the problem (turned out to be a bad condenser), I noticed the
coil + terminal was wired to a ceramic doo-hickey behind the dash.  The
doohickey was getting battery voltage in, and it was showing the
expected 12.6 volts at its other terminal.  BUT as soon as I
re-connected the wire to the coil, that terminal read just over 6 volts.
Ahhh, says I with a smug smile.  Not to worry.  This must be an external
ballast for the coil.

Question #1:  Is it?

Question #2: How come I only saw voltage drop when I connected the coil?

Teach me.

-JohnD


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