electric choke

i got a used edelbrock 600cfm preformer carb. e/choke. pos to the altenator, and neg. grounded. the adjustment part of the choke with the adj. screws got hot right away, i disconnected it. anyone have any ideas why? is the choke no good?

 

I've always wired the positive to a keyed ignition on source. Just my 2cents
BB

 

I had an electric choke before, wired it to switched 12V that's only on when the ignition is on.. worked fine. in fact I liked it a lot better than the exhaust stove.

I could measure the resistance and/or the current @ 12V and you can compare it to yours if that helps.

BTW - I found if I'm not sure about something it's good practice to use a long thin wire. Then the wire will get hot before anything harmful will happen.

 

+1 , that is the right way.

 

thanks guys i'll do that tomarrow.

 

The electric choke housing always get's hot, but If you're on the "charge" wire you have it connected to the highest voltage in the whole system. It will be on all the time as well due to the battery. I wire them to the ignition "run" wire like the others said.

 

It has to go to a switch power source otherwise it's on all the time and will run down your battery and eventually burn out the choke heater.

 

Use a 16 Gauge wire.

 

hoop98, thanks alot for the diagram. i'll go that route in the morning. thanks guys.

 

I think some chokes were wired to the STA terminal on the alternator... that one produces some voltage when the engine is running.. but yea I'd just go to the ignition. I think that will open the choke faster, but that's ok, you normally only need the choke for a few seconds anyway.

 

In a lot of O.E. applications the electric choke thermostat was also wired thru an oil pressure sensing switch from an "ignition on" source. This prevented the choke stat from getting any current with the ignition on but the engine not running and making some oil pressure. Or maybe if you had no oil pressure the choke would stay closed and flood your engine and while you had the hood up to check out the choke problem you could also add a couple quarts of oil.

 

You could ground a 12 volt relay to the oil pressure switch for more precise control, but as long as you start the car soon after you turn the key on there should be no issues.

Hoop

 

THIS sounds like a GOOD idea!!

Cosmo

 

Your original question was that the choke body got hot, its supposed to even after you wire it properly. There is a coil of wire in there that heats up making the spring open the choke fully when it is hot enough. Situation normal.