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Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? #315157
05/11/09 06:46 PM
05/11/09 06:46 PM
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The Dalles, OR.
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Dusted_Ya Offline OP
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I'm replacing my old "F"d up electonic system with a petronics plug and play distributor system and would like to eliminate the ballast resistor as well. I was told that the old coils would fry if you ran them too long on 12 volts. I can't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone else as to which brand and model of stock appearing coil I need for this. One person said I need a breakerless ignition coil, one said I need a coil with 1.4ohm primary resistance, one said I need one with .7ohm primary resistance...

HELP!

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: Dusted_Ya] #315158
05/11/09 06:53 PM
05/11/09 06:53 PM
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landon1 Offline
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idk about the pertronix systems, but i have electronic ignition and run 12V to an accel super stock coil without using the ballast resistor - no problems


'71 Satellite Sebring 440
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: Dusted_Ya] #315159
05/11/09 07:00 PM
05/11/09 07:00 PM
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Posts: 1,359
Buzzard County, FL
IronWolf Offline
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Quote:

I'm replacing my old "F"d up electonic system with a petronics plug and play distributor system and would like to eliminate the ballast resistor as well. I was told that the old coils would fry if you ran them too long on 12 volts. I can't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone else as to which brand and model of stock appearing coil I need for this. One person said I need a breakerless ignition coil, one said I need a coil with 1.4ohm primary resistance, one said I need one with .7ohm primary resistance...

HELP!




The Factory Service Manual specifies .5 - .6 ohms.
Good luck finding those ! Most are 1 ohm or more, which is OK.

I have a .25 ohm resistor, that I keep around for "special occasions".

If you think about Ohm's law and electronics at all, you will realize why , in these special moments, less is more. Good luck.

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: IronWolf] #315160
05/11/09 07:39 PM
05/11/09 07:39 PM

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For most stock type systems, and by that I mean points, Mopar ECU, or Pertronics (switching) eliminating the ballast is a BAD idea, here's why:

The entire reason that ballasts are used is to do at least two things:

They help to regulate current through the coil with changing rpm and voltage changes, IE lower voltage at idle, higher at cruise, and.....

one more very important function is that coupled with a bypass circuit for starting, this gives you a nice hot start under cranking conditions.

To my knowedge, there ARE NO old school, coil/ switching type systems, with the possible exception of the GM HEI which do NOT use a resistor in the ignition.

All it takes is just one cold dark night, a little humid, and you and your "girl" have listened to the stereo a little too long, and now the cranking speed is a little slow, and you top things off by nearly flooding the engine. So there you are, the spark is weak............

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? #315161
05/11/09 07:51 PM
05/11/09 07:51 PM
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Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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Quote:

All it takes is just one cold dark night, a little humid, and you and your "girl" have listened to the stereo a little too long, and now the cranking speed is a little slow, and you top things off by nearly flooding the engine. So there you are, the spark is weak..


Sounds exciting. I ran the big yellow Accel super coil w no ballast(hei module) & no problems & didn't know at the time that I needed one .


live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: RapidRobert] #315162
05/11/09 08:11 PM
05/11/09 08:11 PM
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Florida
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scratchnfotraction Offline
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thats why I ran a #12 standed wire in the ballest shell with the stock ends solderd on

to hide the fact it was bypassed in the ballest shell

then I got rid of the old point style volt reg and used a new replacement style soild state vr and solved the prob with the alt dis charging at idle speed

stoped the alt gauge from jumping around and was steady after that

and the pertronix unit works better with a full 12volt and the matching coil

never had a problem with the old 68 1 wire alt/charging system or the points ignition system after those 2 conversions

I swap out the elect ecu crap on all of my smoggers and drop in the points dist with a pertronix coversion in it,leaves everything wired up and in place,cant tell exept for the 2 wires from the dist right to the coil

the points dist has a better adv curve stock as well for a little added help in a smogger,IMO

thats my hickabilly shade tree fix anyways

oh!,I ran the 68 with the ballest and it cut the 12volt back to seven or so,ran it 4 yrs that way and never had a problem with it,but it was lazy and sluggish.....but when I swaped it to a full 12 volt I could feel it in the seat of the pants and by the way it started first hit

runwhatyabrung


Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: scratchnfotraction] #315163
05/11/09 08:31 PM
05/11/09 08:31 PM
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Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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Quote:

but when I swaped it to a full 12 volt it started first hit



that is what I saw w full 12V to the supercoil, it was unbelieveable, I would touch the key to start let go & it'd be running before the key snapped back.


live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? #315164
05/11/09 08:52 PM
05/11/09 08:52 PM
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 21,814
Kirkland, Washington
Pacnorthcuda Offline
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Quote:

For most stock type systems, and by that I mean points, Mopar ECU, or Pertronics (switching) eliminating the ballast is a BAD idea, here's why:

The entire reason that ballasts are used is to do at least two things:

They help to regulate current through the coil with changing rpm and voltage changes, IE lower voltage at idle, higher at cruise, and.....

one more very important function is that coupled with a bypass circuit for starting, this gives you a nice hot start under cranking conditions.

To my knowedge, there ARE NO old school, coil/ switching type systems, with the possible exception of the GM HEI which do NOT use a resistor in the ignition.

All it takes is just one cold dark night, a little humid, and you and your "girl" have listened to the stereo a little too long, and now the cranking speed is a little slow, and you top things off by nearly flooding the engine. So there you are, the spark is weak............




Trying to follow this logic....but remember--the Mopar wiring DOES, as you state, provide a fUll battery power start during cranking by bypassing the BR.
My point? So does eliminating the BR entirely!

I don't get how the mopar BR design that provides "a nice hot start" can be an advantage over other designs that do too.

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: RapidRobert] #315165
05/11/09 08:52 PM
05/11/09 08:52 PM
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scratchnfotraction Offline
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night and day and trouble free 9+ yrs now

I see yor logic also,the BR is bypassed while cranking so its getting the full 12 volts...but mine was still sluggish and had to crank over1-2 times before liting off and running

same with the 85 truck after a intake a carb swap and the points dist droped in fires right up instant..would crank over 2-3 full turnes then fire off and run

I reachin and hit the key its running like RR said..before the key snaps back

I havent really looked any further as it works for me


Last edited by scratchnfotraction; 05/11/09 08:59 PM.
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: scratchnfotraction] #315166
05/11/09 09:02 PM
05/11/09 09:02 PM
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Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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yes I would have been getting the same voltage(& I'm sure not 12)at the super coil w no ballast as with our ballasts which are bypassed. I lost it there on that one for a brief period of time but that easy starting was nice.


live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: RapidRobert] #315167
05/11/09 09:13 PM
05/11/09 09:13 PM
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The Dalles, OR.
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Dusted_Ya Offline OP
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Thanks guys! I FINALLY got ahold of tech support at petronix... They said you need an internally resisted coil (eg: the petronix flame thrower II or accel super coil or others) and then just wire the dis to the coil and a keyswitched hot and your good to go. no overheating problems and very little power loss when the key is left on and engine is off I guess the new flamethrower 2 or 3 automatically senses driving conditions and adjusts the advance automatically. That's freaken awesome! He said with the plug and play billet dist. or the points converter and the new coil the spark's so freaken hot you can open up sparkplug gap for better flame travel increasing HP and fuel economy! I'm starting to like this new technology stuff!

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: Dusted_Ya] #315168
05/11/09 09:15 PM
05/11/09 09:15 PM
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Florida
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scratchnfotraction Offline
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I would not go to far on the gap

anything over 45 on mine used more fuel

back at 40 the mpgs came back

results may vary

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: Dusted_Ya] #315169
05/11/09 09:18 PM
05/11/09 09:18 PM
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Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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Quote:

They said you need an internally resisted coil (eg: the petronix flame thrower II or accel super coil or others)


So I didn't need a ballast w that big yellow Acell super coil after all. someone said that I did


live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? #315170
05/11/09 09:21 PM
05/11/09 09:21 PM
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North Dakota
6PakBee Offline
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Quote:

For most stock type systems, and by that I mean points, Mopar ECU, or Pertronics (switching) eliminating the ballast is a BAD idea, here's why:

The entire reason that ballasts are used is to do at least two things:

They help to regulate current through the coil with changing rpm and voltage changes, IE lower voltage at idle, higher at cruise, and.....

one more very important function is that coupled with a bypass circuit for starting, this gives you a nice hot start under cranking conditions. ...........




Almost a direct quotation from the FSM.


"We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended".
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: 6PakBee] #315171
05/11/09 09:24 PM
05/11/09 09:24 PM
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Florida
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Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: 6PakBee] #315172
05/11/09 10:06 PM
05/11/09 10:06 PM
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Marysville, O-H-I-O
70Cuda383 Offline
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Quote:

For most stock type systems, and by that I mean points, Mopar ECU, or Pertronics (switching) eliminating the ballast is a BAD idea, here's why:

The entire reason that ballasts are used is to do at least two things:

They help to regulate current through the coil with changing rpm and voltage changes, IE lower voltage at idle, higher at cruise, and.....

one more very important function is that coupled with a bypass circuit for starting, this gives you a nice hot start under cranking conditions. ...........





yea, but it's that whole "COUPLED WITH BYPASS" that gives you a "nice hot start"

why wouldn't the "permanent bypass" give you "continuously nice hot ignition"?


from what I understood, stock coils would burn up because they were designed to operate at LESS than 12V, because they needed to be able to function while the engine is cranking, and they are seeing LESS than 12V anyway.

when cranking, and the starter motor is taking all that battery power up, there might only be 7-9 volts available to fire the coil, so they design it to operate at 7-9 volts. ok, now that the engine is running, alternator is making power...system voltage is up to 13 or 14...now we're nearly doubled what the coil is meant to see...and it needs stepped down...enter, the Ballast Resistor!

at least, that's how it was explained to me by an "old timer"

and from reading literatre from today's ingition folks like MSD, they have coils that are designed to operate on the full 12-14v system without needed the BR--I don't know if that's because they decided to sacrifice start up ability for driving performance (a coil meant for 12-14V that's only getting 7-9, won't fire as hot at start up) or if the change was because today's modern batteries don't experience as much of a voltage drop at start up as older batteries, or if the average starter motor today is more efficent...but if you read their tech info, they will tell you most of their coils can be run without a BR.


**Photobucket sucks**
Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: 70Cuda383] #315173
05/11/09 10:15 PM
05/11/09 10:15 PM
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Kirkland, Washington
Pacnorthcuda Offline
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The first time I pulled a wire from the cap of my 440 (with an MSD 6AL and a Blaster E-coil) while it was running I was AMAZED. THATS LIGHTNING FOLKS! Far more energy than I have ever seen on any stock ignition. We're talking CRACK CRACK CRACK with arcs easily 1/2 inch or more long. Not a weak little snap snap snap.
There is no comparison.

I have a MUCH higher level of respect for avoiding getting zapped with capacitive discharge ignitions.

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: Pacnorthcuda] #315174
05/11/09 10:27 PM
05/11/09 10:27 PM

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Quote:

The first time I pulled a wire from the cap of my 440 (with an MSD 6AL and a Blaster E-coil) while it was running I was AMAZED. THATS LIGHTNING FOLKS! Far more energy than I have ever seen on any stock ignition. We're talking CRACK CRACK CRACK with arcs easily 1/2 inch or more long. Not a weak little snap snap snap.
There is no comparison.

I have a MUCH higher level of respect for avoiding getting zapped with capacitive discharge ignitions.




An MSD (remember it stands for MULTIPLE SPARK DISCHARGE) has nothing at all to do with stock ignitions that is, "switching" types such as the MOPAR ECU or Pertronix

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? [Re: Pacnorthcuda] #315175
05/11/09 10:31 PM
05/11/09 10:31 PM
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The Dalles, OR.
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Dusted_Ya Offline OP
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I think the old style coils were designed and built on the technology of engines that operated on 6 volts continuously. 12 volt starting systems came about because of the lower line losses and highter efficiencies of a higher voltage. most gauges will operate from 3-48 volts fine but they used a constant voltage regulator to keep them accurate. The Coils on the other hand could operate only briefly at 12volts before overheating and meltdown.

Re: Eliminating ballast resistor... What coil do I need? #315176
05/11/09 10:31 PM
05/11/09 10:31 PM
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Kirkland, Washington
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Quote:

Quote:

The first time I pulled a wire from the cap of my 440 (with an MSD 6AL and a Blaster E-coil) while it was running I was AMAZED. THATS LIGHTNING FOLKS! Far more energy than I have ever seen on any stock ignition. We're talking CRACK CRACK CRACK with arcs easily 1/2 inch or more long. Not a weak little snap snap snap.
There is no comparison.

I have a MUCH higher level of respect for avoiding getting zapped with capacitive discharge ignitions.




An MSD (remember it stands for MULTIPLE SPARK DISCHARGE) has nothing at all to do with stock ignitions that is, "switching" types such as the MOPAR ECU or Pertronix




Except that it provides a nice hot spark(s) (Multiple at 3000 or less RPM) in ALL conditions.

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