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Smoking Ballast resistor

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Salvarican, Apr 19, 2009.

  1. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The diagram that 58Fridge100 showed is how the resistor should be wired. As you are using the foot button starter you won't have the connection on the solenoid for the resistor bypass wire and will probably have to wire in a bypass wire with a separate switch.

    With the key "on" check the voltage to the + side of the coil. Through the resistor you should have around nine volts.
    If there is no voltage check the voltage on both sides of the resistor. For some reason the resistor may have fried on the first try and is not conducting electricity now.

    The lower voltage to the coil when using the resistor is to help the points last longer.
    You still need 12 volts to the coil to start the engine on cranking.
    If it were mine I'd wire in push button on or under the dash in a bypass circuit.
    That would be in the wire it shows going from the switch past the resistor to the coil in th diagram.
    Turn on the key, hit the foot pedal to crank, hit the push button for 12 V to the coil, Varoom. It might also serve as a pretty decent anti theft item as there is one more step involved is starting the rig.
     
  2. Salvarican
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 82

    Salvarican
    Member

    Well, the way i had the resistor was right before the coil. So what i did was split the wire in half and connected each end to the ends of the resistor.
     
  3. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
    Member

    To see if it's working you might hook up the ballast resistor, bypass the resistor with a jumper wire, start the car, remove the jumper wire and see if it kills the engine. If the engine stays running, then you'll have to figure a way of starting the car on 12 volts.
    Larry T
     
  4. this quote is a little misleading - it infers that the engine starts easier by doubling the voltage during starting. That is far from the truth, the only thing that brings the voltage back up during cranking is a by pass of the resistor (or some CD ignition boxes).

     
  5. is there a R terminal on the starter solenoid ?
     
  6. Salvarican
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 82

    Salvarican
    Member

    What do i need to do to wire it for a bypass?
     
  7. Salvarican
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 82

    Salvarican
    Member

    Ill check when i get home from work.
     
  8. if there is a R , that is for the bypass of the ballast resistor...14 gauge wire from that to the + side of coil

    SBC starters have a R and a S on the solenoid....not sure of chevy 6s
     
  9. Salvarican
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 82

    Salvarican
    Member

    Ill check. But does this wire go along with the other wire that has the resistor?
     
  10. Shifty Shifterton
    Joined: Oct 1, 2006
    Posts: 4,964

    Shifty Shifterton
    Member

    Good info hot rod don.

    I'm suprised internal ballast coils are that simple. Had always found the cranking 12v wire to be so important for reliable starting......never imagined that's how those higher resistance coils were but in hindsight it explains a few things. learn something new everyday.
     
  11. As stated in post #1- the cars starts without the resistor.

    But good clarification about the resistor being completely by-passed during starting.
     
  12. 53sled
    Joined: Jul 5, 2005
    Posts: 5,817

    53sled
    Member
    from KCMO

    I put in a points dizzy, used a clean little BR from a dodge, looked real nice. it got super hot, smoked and quit working. put the hei back in, runs fine. the coil was removed from my running 235, from my car, only new thing was the resistor.
     
  13. My guess is if you are using a 6 volt starter it won't have a second terminal. If you are using a 12 volt starter it "Should" have a second small terminal on the solenoid. run a wire from there to the + side of the coil (not to the ballast resister) and that will give you full voltage during starting. Your truck should want to start then and should run after that.
     
  14. that's why my comment that it is probably not getting enough voltage during cranking because of the resistor, yet the resistor could still be fine.
     
  15. Salvarican
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 82

    Salvarican
    Member

    I dont think i have a 12 volt starter. I think its still 6 volt. If i do have the second terminal and i hook up the wire to the coil, will i still have the other wire with the ballast resistor hooked up to the (+) coil as well?

     
  16. Salvarican
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 82

    Salvarican
    Member

  17. yes ;)
     
  18. milorat
    Joined: Dec 22, 2006
    Posts: 121

    milorat
    BANNED

    Just read 36-3window's 3 posts and forget the rest.He's right on..........
     
  19. except that his 6 volt starter probably doesn't have the R teminal in the first place :cool:
     
  20. in a nutshell u must get a full 12 volts to the + side of the coil when cranking.
    install a 14ga. wire from the cold side of your starter contact to the + side of the coil.
     
  21. Salvarican
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 82

    Salvarican
    Member

    Ok, here is the latest. I installed the resistor again and it stopped smoking and the truck turned on. But it ran like total crap. Felt like it the points burned and was misfiring. So i took it off again and the truck started right up and ran like a champ. Im confused now. Do i need the resistor or not? By the way, my starter only has one terminal. Its an old starter.
     
  22. Shifty Shifterton
    Joined: Oct 1, 2006
    Posts: 4,964

    Shifty Shifterton
    Member

    This might be a crazy question, but is there any chance that somehow thru this process your points got a little burned and your off-the-cuff diagnosis is right on the money? The symptoms do line up if you make the assumption the points were cooked when the ballast was installed, and that the ballast smoke is natural.
    Good luck
     
  23. At this point I would check the points, make sure they are not burned. Reset your point gap and timing and see where you are. If the coil is marked for use with ballast resistor, you really should diagnose your problem and run one. JMHO.
     
  24. volt meter (dvom)........:).

    by the way i've had cars without the kick up wire installed and they start fine, yes they like 12v on start up but don't HAVE to have it. anyways, re-check points, timing ..... as said above and check voltage you should have around 7-9 volts. if you have a meter you can check the resistor also and then get the correct one.

    just thought of something.......you need to check the voltage WITHOUT the resistor when it's running good, maybe there is resistance in the wire already and now your adding a resistor making it too much.
     
  25. the condenser looking thing on the coil bracket is a noise suppressor for the radio.
     
  26. lostforawhile
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,160

    lostforawhile
    Member

    use a standard 12 volt relay, wire it so the normally open side of the terminals are across the resistor, one side of the relay coil to ground, and the other to the key switched side of the start solonoid. when you turn the key to start, the relay contacts close,bypassing the ballast resistor for higher voltage, when you let go of the key the relay contacts open putting it back in the circuit. make sure you run an inline fuse for about an amp as close to where you take power from the solonoid as possible, this protects the relay wiring.
     
  27. Road Runner
    Joined: Feb 7, 2007
    Posts: 1,256

    Road Runner
    Member

    If it runs well when driving and under load without a resistor, you are very close to wrapping this guessing game up.
    As 1oldtimer suggests, you may have a 'resistor wire' already installed and don't need an additional resistor at all.
    You just don't want to run too much voltage/current through your points that they burn up after a short while. The condensor (capacitor) will also last longer.

    A volt/ohm meter would tell you in less than a minute what you are dealing with, leaving you enlightened and without confusion.
    Always nice being able to understand and diagnose your ride on your own, in case you get stranded one day without any help around.
    You don't need to drive around with diagnostic tools, but learning from and taking readings in situations like this can go a long way for whatever may come along one day.
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2009
  28. cheviac
    Joined: Apr 23, 2008
    Posts: 28

    cheviac
    Member
    from new jersey

    All point systems use some kind of resister in the set-up after the car starts. Later models use a resistor wire after it starts on 12 volts. You can put a 12 volt switch in to the coil where you put the 12 volts on to start, then hit the switch to the resistor and it should run. There is no internal resistor system. Ask me how I know.
     

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