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Mopar Muscle article #1049711
08/09/11 12:21 AM
08/09/11 12:21 AM
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70duster340 Offline OP
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In the October 2011 issue, there is an article about whether or not a ballast resistor is needed. In the article it is stated that a ballast resistor is needed with points-type ignition, but can be removed if there is an electronic ignition in place. What is the consensus from you folks? I would like to run without one, if at all possible.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049712
08/09/11 12:44 AM
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Daty Rogers Offline
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Just carry an extra in the glovebox, the br steps the voltage down to 6v after start which is needed even after electronic ign conversion.

-Daty

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Daty Rogers] #1049713
08/09/11 12:48 AM
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3 of my cars use an MP distributor to signal an MSD unit; no "box" or ballast resistor. Use the later voltage regulator (which you should already have in a '70), and connect the ballast resistor wires with a 10ga. wire.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: topside] #1049714
08/09/11 01:13 AM
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70duster340 Offline OP
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How about the Pertronix Plug and Play distributor?

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049715
08/09/11 02:13 AM
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Kern Dog Offline
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I just read that article a few hours ago and wondered the same thing the OP asked. I'd be inclined to trust Richard Ehrenberg from Mopar Action magazine before the guys at MM. Steve Dulcich was pretty sharp too. I haven't seen him post here in a while.
I suppose that you can bypass the ballast and find out for yourself.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Kern Dog] #1049716
08/09/11 03:02 AM
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ademon Offline
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most regular coils need a ballast resistor and even have it printed on it. you would need a full 12v voltage coil to bypass the B/R

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: ademon] #1049717
08/10/11 12:30 AM
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70duster340 Offline OP
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Would removing the ballast resistor cause the ECM to burn out?

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049718
08/10/11 12:50 AM
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I neglected to mention that 2 of my cars run the MSD Blaster 2 can-style coil, the 3rd car runs the old Accel big yellow coil. One's been running that way since 1988, the other probably late '70s.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: topside] #1049719
08/10/11 01:19 AM
08/10/11 01:19 AM
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Quote:

I neglected to mention that 2 of my cars run the MSD Blaster 2 can-style coil, the 3rd car runs the old Accel big yellow coil. One's been running that way since 1988, the other probably late '70s.




Along with the Blaster II, What ignition box?
1. Mopar chrome box, the ballast resistor should be 0.25 Ohms.
2. MSD box, no ballast resistor.

Just my $0.02...

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049720
08/10/11 08:27 AM
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mikemee1331 Offline
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so soon?? your cars will run without one. it's there to increase the life of your electronic parts. plain and simple. your choice. sorta like seatbelts for your ECU or coils.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: mikemee1331] #1049721
08/10/11 10:17 AM
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540challenger Offline
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I started a thread about no ballast a few days ago losts of good info in it.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...e=6#Post6761068

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 540challenger] #1049722
08/10/11 11:38 AM
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SomeCarGuy Offline
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Haven't seen the MM article, but did see the MA.

Running a Blaster 2 w/o a ballast works fine. For a long time. For many many miles. In high heat.

I think somebody linked the other recent thread about it. I will say again that this seems to be an engineering theory that was thrown out there. People then ran with it and little actual testing was done. It's unlikely that I happened to have a one off set of parts that happen to work well, despite the dire warnings.


I want my fair share
Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049723
08/10/11 01:44 PM
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CR8CRSHR Offline
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Quote:

How about the Pertronix Plug and Play distributor?




According to the directions I have for mine, it clearly states to "by-pass" the Ballest Resistor...

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: CR8CRSHR] #1049724
08/11/11 11:01 PM
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70duster340 Offline OP
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Since I don't subscribe to MA, can someone enlighten me about that article, please?

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049725
08/12/11 02:07 AM
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It was in a "Quick Tech" segment. The gist of the article was that points style ignitions should continue to use the ballast resistor to keep from damaging or prematurely wearing out the contact points. They also contend that the electronic systems did NOT need the ballast resistor. They suggest to tie the wires together at the ballast and enjoy a hotter spark with NO ill effects.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Kern Dog] #1049726
08/12/11 03:24 AM
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All of Mopar production cars with the ECU from the factory had ballst resitors, do you think maybe they where engineered that way for a good reason would you take the word of a magazine word geek over a engineer I don't


Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)
Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Cab_Burge] #1049727
08/12/11 04:38 AM
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Kern Dog Offline
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You see.... I was thinking the same thing. The article didn't go too deep into the explanation either. My Charger has the MP conversion, so does the FrankenDuster. I'm keeping them as is.
The Chrysler engineers decided to implement a different ballast when they integrated the electronic system in 1972. Why spend the $ to develop a new part if it was unnecessary? I'm not saying that the factory never made mistakes, but I'm going to "side" with the factory on this one.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Cab_Burge] #1049728
08/12/11 07:45 AM
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Quote:

All of Mopar production cars with the ECU from the factory had ballst resitors, do you think maybe they where engineered that way for a good reason would you take the word of a magazine word geek over a engineer I don't




They also engineered some degree of performance OUT of the engines in the name of "streetability" reliability and to lessen warranty claims.

by your theory, none of us should be changing cams, heads, intake manifolds, etc.


My understanding of the issue, is that the older coils were designed to run on 6-8 volts. this ensured they had enough voltage available to make a hot enough spark while the starter was sucking the battery juice to crank the engine...since your system voltage drops from 12.5 down to 8-ish volts while cranking the engine. but a coil designed to run on 6-8 volts won't last very long when you start feeding it the 14 volts from a running engine with the alternator providing charge.


but on today's newer coils, they've designed them to run on 12-14v allowing you to eliminate the resistor for more volts to the coil, and more volts to your spark plugs.


Following that theory, I bought a new coil, old school orange box, no ballast resistor and proceeded to drive 4,000 street miles in all kinds of weather, over a 5 year period, and not once did I have a problem with the coil or orange box "burning out"


**Photobucket sucks**
Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Kern Dog] #1049729
08/12/11 12:26 PM
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SomeCarGuy Offline
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Quote:

It was in a "Quick Tech" segment. The gist of the article was that points style ignitions should continue to use the ballast resistor to keep from damaging or prematurely wearing out the contact points. They also contend that the electronic systems did NOT need the ballast resistor. They suggest to tie the wires together at the ballast and enjoy a hotter spark with NO ill effects.




No, Eberg claimed you will overheat the ECU running no ballast. I don't think he has ever actually tried it, as what he said isn't the reality. I continue to think that overheating was a "possiblity" thrown out there way back when that has since become "fact" since nobody ever tested to see if that was the case.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: SomeCarGuy] #1049730
08/12/11 03:25 PM
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I've never read a study on how long an OEM coil and ecu will run on 12v but it's indisputable that they were designed to run on 9v to provide better starting characteristics. Run any electrical device with more volts than it was designed for and it will work, how long would come down to how much of a safety factor was built into the original design.


70 Sport Fury
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Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049731
08/12/11 03:52 PM
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can.al Offline
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...why do you want to remove it?

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: can.al] #1049732
08/12/11 05:28 PM
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Kern Dog Offline
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The article claims that without the ballast resistor, the spark energy is higher.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: can.al] #1049733
08/12/11 10:58 PM
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70duster340 Offline OP
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Quote:

...why do you want to remove it?




It's not that I want to remove it, I just wanted to know if the possibility exists that the car will perform as well if not better without the ballast resistor.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: furious70] #1049734
08/13/11 12:08 AM
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SomeCarGuy Offline
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Quote:

I've never read a study on how long an OEM coil and ecu will run on 12v but it's indisputable that they were designed to run on 9v to provide better starting characteristics. Run any electrical device with more volts than it was designed for and it will work, how long would come down to how much of a safety factor was built into the original design.





We're aren't and never were talking about running a 9 volt coil on 12 volts.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049735
08/13/11 12:10 AM
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Quote:

Quote:

...why do you want to remove it?




It's not that I want to remove it, I just wanted to know if the possibility exists that the car will perform as well if not better without the ballast resistor.




It absolutely will run better, it's questionable if you will notice though IMO. The MA blurb said it will run better. Burning up the ECU is the only consideration. Empirical evidence shows it won't.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: SomeCarGuy] #1049736
08/13/11 10:16 AM
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In the last few weeks I have spent more time reading articles about what/why/where/ and when you need a ballast then I really care to admit! Pretty much here is what I’ve come up with-
1) if you run points you need the ballast to extend the life of the points regardless of coil type.
2) if you run an ECU (any color) with a STOCK coil (6-9volts) you need the coil manufacturers recommended ballast. The coil will eventually fail/overheat.
3) If you run an ECU (any color) with a PERFORMANCE coil (12 volt) you shouldn’t need one but you should confirm that with the manufacture.
4) If you run a multi-spark ECU you shouldn’t need it regardless of coil type. The coil doesn’t hold the current long enough to cause overheating. Again, confirm that with the manufacturer.

The bottom line here is when you start mixing and matching you have to pay attention to each component’s requirement. Are you going to see any performance gains if you were using one when you didn’t need to, I don’t know but I tend to think the output voltage from the coil won’t be that different but wouldn’t know how to measure that.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: mikemee1331] #1049737
08/13/11 03:37 PM
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Kern Dog Offline
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Sound advise and well written!

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Kern Dog] #1049738
08/13/11 06:18 PM
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The ballast resistor takes MINUTES to change values.

Why doesn't someone set up a test with one of those cheap (now) laser thermal sensors ? Run the car ; record the temp at the ECU with the crappola parts store ballast resistor, Then, run with a low resistance ballast and record the temp at the ECU. Same time period obviously.

I've already run this test without recording the values. I've heard all the BS and ignored it. Don't stick to points or the crappola stock coil !

Scientific method rules.

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: IronWolf] #1049739
08/15/11 03:22 PM
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70duster340 Offline OP
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Thanks for all the replies, folks!

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: 70duster340] #1049740
08/15/11 03:24 PM
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Kern Dog Offline
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See what you started?

Re: Mopar Muscle article [Re: Kern Dog] #1049741
08/15/11 03:27 PM
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Didn't mean to start anything, believe me!!!

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