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Makes sense but this sounds like it's happening in American cars. Japanese
cars don't use Ballast or any thing like this.
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/moodledata_shared/CDX%20eTextbook/dswmedia/electrical/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
Tim wrote:
In article <4c4c698d-7372-4005-b9fc-1da5b2da7a31@
70g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, cresswellavenue@talktalk.net says...
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 -
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..
--
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5"
In article <4c4c698d-7372-4005-b9fc-1da5b2da7a31@
70g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, cresswellavenue@talktalk.net says...
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 -
Hello all. First time poster to the newsgroup.
Actually, sci.electronics.basics would have been more appropriate.
Ohm's Law:reduce voltage in an open circuit,
a closed circuit, or both?
E = I ROhm's Law:
E = I / R
In words: The voltage drop across the resistor
is directly proportion to the current flowing thru it.
JeffM wrote:
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.)
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/moodledata_shared/CDX%20eTextbook/dswmedia/electrical/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
"Leon Rowell" <leon429@netins.net> wrote in message
news:foq155$hk6$1@news.netins.net...
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/moodledata_shared/CDX%20eTextbook/dswmedia/electrical/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
The bit that's nagging at you might be explained thus: the meter itselfHello 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/moodledata_shared/CDX%20eTextbook/dswmedia/electrical/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.
I have a question about a ballast resistor
[...](an automotive ignition resistor)
Jakthehammer wrote:
[...]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.
Leon Rowell wrote:
I have a question about a ballast resistor
[...](an automotive ignition resistor)
Jakthehammer wrote:
[...]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).
Leon Rowell wrote:
I have a question about a ballast resistor
[...](an automotive ignition resistor)
Jakthehammer wrote:
[...]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).
Leon Rowell wrote:
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/moodledata_shared/CDX%20eTextbook/dswmedia/electrical/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.
--
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 coil needs the full voltage to generate a very hot spark to get theThe 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
In article <4c4c698d-7372-4005-b9fc-1da5b2da7a31@
70g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, cresswellavenue@talktalk.net says...
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 -
there's two things wrong with that training.