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Ballast resistor

L

Leon Rowell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello all. First time poster to the newsgroup.

I have a question about a ballast resistor. Would the ballast resistor
pictured here,

<http://moodle.student.cnwl.ac.uk/mo...al/ignition/conBreakComp/ballastresistor.html>

(an automotive ignition resistor) reduce voltage in an open circuit, a
closed circuit, or both? If it had 12v input and I connected a voltmeter
to the output side, with nothing else connected to it, would it read 12
volts or a reduced voltage.

Here is a statement I read:

Basic electrical thing: You always read full voltage on an open circuit.

Is this still true if there is a ballast resistor in the circuit? It
doesn't seem like it would be to me but I'm no electrical guru.

Thanks for any assistance you can offer…

Leon
 
J

JeffM

Jan 1, 1970
0
Leon said:
Hello all. First time poster to the newsgroup.
Actually, sci.electronics.basics would have been more appropriate.
Would the ballast resistor[...]reduce voltage in an open circuit,
a closed circuit, or both?

Ohm's Law:
E = I / R

In words: The voltage drop across the resistor
is directly proportion to the current flowing thru it.
 
J

JeffM

Jan 1, 1970
0
JeffM said:
Ohm's Law:
E = I / R

In words: The voltage drop across the resistor
is directly proportion to the current flowing thru it.

E = I R
(Product--not quotient.)
 
J

Jakthehammer

Jan 1, 1970
0
JeffM said:
E = I R
(Product--not quotient.)



That's better, I was about to scream at you!!

And better yet, for the poster, E means the Voltage that you asked about.
Definitely the voltage will drop, but it depends on your target load
(distributor), your Ballast Resistor is part of the load......
Heeheee.......Donchaknow............
 
J

Jakthehammer

Jan 1, 1970
0
Leon Rowell said:
Hello all. First time poster to the newsgroup.

I have a question about a ballast resistor. Would the ballast resistor
pictured here,

<http://moodle.student.cnwl.ac.uk/mo...al/ignition/conBreakComp/ballastresistor.html>

(an automotive ignition resistor) reduce voltage in an open circuit, a
closed circuit, or both? If it had 12v input and I connected a voltmeter
to the output side, with nothing else connected to it, would it read 12
volts or a reduced voltage.


You misundertand, you can't test it on a stand-alone unit. It has to be
installed with your distributor to reduce the current/energy going to your
distributor. The question is why do you think you need Ballast R? They
claim it will reduce misfiring, that's their claim, it may not be the
cause. Find the root cause of your problem first, ask yourself Did anyone
adjust your spark plug too close? If Yes, then that's where your problem
is, you wouldn't need Ba R.
Here is a statement I read:

Basic electrical thing: You always read full voltage on an open circuit.

Is this still true if there is a ballast resistor in the circuit? It
doesn't seem like it would be to me but I'm no electrical guru.

Thanks for any assistance you can offer…

Leon



Yes it will reduce the energy going to your Distributor. Bad idea, too,
your car will sucks lots of gas and will be weaker.



Jack
 
J

Jakthehammer

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jakthehammer said:
You misundertand, you can't test it on a stand-alone unit. It has to be
installed with your distributor to reduce the current/energy going to
your
distributor. The question is why do you think you need Ballast R? They
claim it will reduce misfiring, that's their claim, it may not be the
cause. Find the root cause of your problem first, ask yourself Did
anyone
adjust your spark plug too close? If Yes, then that's where your problem
is, you wouldn't need Ba R.




Yes it will reduce the energy going to your Distributor. Bad idea, too,
your car will sucks lots of gas and will be weaker.



Jack


Something else I want to throw in, if you had a dragging brake, that maybe
the cause of your engine getting too hot, when engine is too hot, misfiring
can occur.

Jack
 
C

clifto

Jan 1, 1970
0
Leon said:
Hello all. First time poster to the newsgroup.

I have a question about a ballast resistor. Would the ballast resistor
pictured here,

<http://moodle.student.cnwl.ac.uk/mo...al/ignition/conBreakComp/ballastresistor.html>

(an automotive ignition resistor) reduce voltage in an open circuit, a
closed circuit, or both? If it had 12v input and I connected a voltmeter
to the output side, with nothing else connected to it, would it read 12
volts or a reduced voltage.

Here is a statement I read:

Basic electrical thing: You always read full voltage on an open circuit.

Is this still true if there is a ballast resistor in the circuit? It
doesn't seem like it would be to me but I'm no electrical guru.

The bit that's nagging at you might be explained thus: the meter itself
has resistance as well. Putting the meter in series with the ballast
resistor would form a voltage divider, which one would think would put
some voltage across the meter and some across the ballast. It does in fact.
But the ballast, if okay, is only a few ohms, while a typical digital meter
is ten million ohms; so the meter will get 99.99+% of the voltage, which is
close enough for the measurement you want to make.
 
J

JeffM

Jan 1, 1970
0
Leon said:
I have a question about a ballast resistor
[...](an automotive ignition resistor)
Jakthehammer said:
[...]The question is why do you think you need Ballast R?
They claim it will reduce misfiring,

[...]it will reduce the energy going to your Distributor. Bad idea, too,
your car will sucks lots of gas and will be weaker.
This assumes that the OP is dealing with a modern system.

Here's my understanding of the way this worked:

For decades, the traditional (Kettering) ignition system
would drive the hell out of the igition coil
during the few second of *cranking*.
After the engine caught,
the ballast would be inserted into the primary circuit
and *that* current would be enough to *run* the thing.

Bypassing the ballast permanantly
and running the ignition system at cranking power *all the time*
would shorten the life of the ignition coil (and points).
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
JeffM said:
Leon said:
I have a question about a ballast resistor
[...](an automotive ignition resistor)
Jakthehammer said:
[...]The question is why do you think you need Ballast R?
They claim it will reduce misfiring,

[...]it will reduce the energy going to your Distributor. Bad idea, too,
your car will sucks lots of gas and will be weaker.
This assumes that the OP is dealing with a modern system.

Here's my understanding of the way this worked:

For decades, the traditional (Kettering) ignition system
would drive the hell out of the igition coil
during the few second of *cranking*.
After the engine caught,
the ballast would be inserted into the primary circuit
and *that* current would be enough to *run* the thing.


yes. the ballast resistor was shorted out to compensate for the
lover available voltage while starting an engine. It wasn't needed with
a new battery, and a warm engine, but in cold climates the voltage
available to the coil could sag to 6 volts. The standard ignition coil
is a 6 volt coil, and used wth the ballast to use it at 12 volts.


Bypassing the ballast permanantly
and running the ignition system at cranking power *all the time*
would shorten the life of the ignition coil (and points).


It will damage the insulation on the plug wires, as well.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
J

Jakthehammer

Jan 1, 1970
0
JeffM said:
Leon said:
I have a question about a ballast resistor
[...](an automotive ignition resistor)
Jakthehammer said:
[...]The question is why do you think you need Ballast R?
They claim it will reduce misfiring,

[...]it will reduce the energy going to your Distributor. Bad idea, too,
your car will sucks lots of gas and will be weaker.
This assumes that the OP is dealing with a modern system.

Here's my understanding of the way this worked:

For decades, the traditional (Kettering) ignition system
would drive the hell out of the igition coil
during the few second of *cranking*.
After the engine caught,
the ballast would be inserted into the primary circuit
and *that* current would be enough to *run* the thing.

Bypassing the ballast permanantly
and running the ignition system at cranking power *all the time*
would shorten the life of the ignition coil (and points).



Hey man, sorry to say you assumed wrongly. Ballast has never installed in
a car by the modern carmaker. They made the ignition coil correctly
without the need of B.R., only when you want to buy the alternative
ignition coil to replace the OEM part, sometimes the alternative could be
too hot or excessive for the car. That's why the maker of Ballast Resistor
recommended reducing the power for the alternative Ignition coil.
 
J

Jakthehammer

Jan 1, 1970
0
clifto said:
The bit that's nagging at you might be explained thus: the meter itself
has resistance as well. Putting the meter in series with the ballast
resistor would form a voltage divider, which one would think would put
some voltage across the meter and some across the ballast. It does in
fact.
But the ballast, if okay, is only a few ohms, while a typical digital
meter
is ten million ohms; so the meter will get 99.99+% of the voltage, which
is
close enough for the measurement you want to make.

--
God help us all.
Because we're down to PIAPS, B. Hussein or McStain,
the next President of the United States can only be a liberal
Democrat,



The resistance in a meter is 0.01 ohm, not to worry about. You can always
subtract it off your reading.

People don't put a volt meter in series with a circuit, only in Amp reading
mode.
 
M

Marra

Jan 1, 1970
0
The resistor will only drop a voltage if there is current going
through it.

The ballast resistor reduces the voltage in normal running of the
engine.

While the engine is being turned over the battery voltage drops a few
volts so the ballast resistor is shorted out to make up for this.
 
T

Tim

Jan 1, 1970
0
The resistor will only drop a voltage if there is current going
through it.

The ballast resistor reduces the voltage in normal running of the
engine.

While the engine is being turned over the battery voltage drops a few
volts so the ballast resistor is shorted out to make up for this.
I was trained that the ballast resistor is bypassed during start because
the coil needs the full voltage to generate a very hot spark to get the
ignition started. If the coil did not have the ballast in line during
normal operation it would overheat and fail.

- Tim -
 
J

Jamie

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
I was trained that the ballast resistor is bypassed during start because
the coil needs the full voltage to generate a very hot spark to get the
ignition started. If the coil did not have the ballast in line during
normal operation it would overheat and fail.

- Tim -
there's two things wrong with that training.

Yes the ballast by pastes during starting how ever, this is due to
load on the battery during turning over in cold conditions. The battery
is not as full of life at cold temps and does drop the voltage either
way when turning over the engine.

The coil must operate at the correct voltage for long term operation
to prevent over heated spark and miss timing.. both you do not want.

The ballast also served as a noise canceling device for your car's
electronics. It was normally mounted on the firewall in a carefully
designed mount that extracted heat and help keep noise from the points
from traveling around the mounted structure..
 
C

Camsid

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
I was trained that the ballast resistor is bypassed during start because
the coil needs the full voltage to generate a very hot spark to get the
ignition started. If the coil did not have the ballast in line during
normal operation it would overheat and fail.

- Tim -



Maybe true for older technology.
 
C

Camsid

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jamie said:
there's two things wrong with that training.

Yes the ballast by pastes during starting how ever, this is due to
load on the battery during turning over in cold conditions. The battery
is not as full of life at cold temps and does drop the voltage either
way when turning over the engine.

The coil must operate at the correct voltage for long term operation
to prevent over heated spark and miss timing.. both you do not want.

The ballast also served as a noise canceling device for your car's
electronics. It was normally mounted on the firewall in a carefully
designed mount that extracted heat and help keep noise from the points
from traveling around the mounted structure..



Makes sense but this sounds like it's happening in American cars. Japanese
cars don't use Ballast or any thing like this.
 
L

Leon Rowell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thanks for all the replies. In my case the ballast resistor reduces the
voltage to the coil and distributor points. If the ballast resistor is
removed the points will burn and cease to function. The circuit through
the starter solenoid provides 12 volts when it is engaged during
starting. After the vehicle has started the ignition circuit provides
6-8 volts through the resistor.

Leon
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Camsid said:
Makes sense but this sounds like it's happening in American cars. Japanese
cars don't use Ballast or any thing like this.


Who wants a Japanese car? Give me old, American built iron, any day.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
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